Apple’s Foldable iPhone Is Coming in September — Everything the Leaks Reveal

Apple has placed a 10-million-unit order for its first foldable iPhone, according to multiple supply chain sources — and the launch window is September 2026, alongside the iPhone 18 lineup. After years of watching Samsung, Google, and Motorola establish the foldable category, Apple is entering it with what’s expected to be a fundamentally different form factor than anything currently on the market.

Here’s everything confirmed or credibly leaked so far.

The Form Factor: A Wider, Passport-Style Design

Apple’s foldable is expected to use a 4:3 aspect ratio when open — what analysts are calling a “passport” or “wide” form factor. This is a significant departure from the tall, narrow book-style that Samsung’s Z Fold series popularized.

The 4:3 ratio means the device opens to something closer to a small tablet than a stretched phone. In practical terms: reading, browsing, and watching video in landscape mode becomes the primary use case, rather than phone calls and one-handed texting. Apple’s own iPad mini uses a 4:3 ratio — this foldable would essentially be a pocketable version of that.

Interestingly, Samsung’s own Galaxy Z Fold 8 (announced at Unpacked July 22) is also shifting to a wider 4:3 form factor. Samsung confirmed this was partly influenced by Apple’s decision to go the same direction — a rare instance of the two companies converging on a design language simultaneously rather than one following the other.

What We Know About Specs

Based on supply chain reports and FCC filings:

Chip: A19 Pro — the same chip expected in the iPhone 18 Pro Max. Apple won’t put last-generation silicon in a flagship product at this price point.

Display: Two OLED panels — a 5.5-inch cover display and an 8-inch inner display when unfolded. The inner display is expected to be the thinnest foldable panel ever put in a consumer device, targeting a crease that’s noticeably less visible than current Samsung panels.

Camera: The rear camera system is reportedly the same triple-camera array from the iPhone 18 Pro, with 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 5x telephoto. Apple is not compromising on cameras to achieve the slim profile — the hinge mechanism was redesigned multiple times to accommodate the full camera module.

Battery: Smaller than iPhone 18 Pro Max due to the split form factor, but larger than the standard iPhone 18. Wireless charging and MagSafe confirmed.

Price and Name

The device is expected to carry the “iPhone Fold” branding rather than “Ultra” or a numbered variant. Pricing rumors range from $1,799 to $1,999 — making it Apple’s most expensive iPhone ever at launch.

That $1,800+ price point is positioning against the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra, not against the standard iPhone. Apple is treating this as a new product category, not a variant of the existing iPhone line. That distinction matters for how it gets marketed and who buys it first.

The 10-Million Unit Order: Why It’s Significant

Apple’s reported 10-million-unit production order is noteworthy because it’s comparatively conservative. The iPhone 18 Pro is expected to ship at around 60 million units in its first year. Ordering 10 million for the foldable suggests Apple is treating this as a high-margin, limited-volume flagship rather than a mass-market device.

That’s the smart play. Samsung has sold roughly 3–4 million Z Fold units per year globally. Google’s Pixel Fold does around 500,000. The foldable category as a whole is enthusiast-tier, not mainstream. Apple is entering it at a scale that matches where the market actually is, not where foldable fans wish it were.

Ten million units at $1,900 average selling price is still roughly $19 billion in revenue. Not mass market, but not a rounding error either.

What About the Jony Ive Device?

Apple’s foldable iPhone is separate from the OpenAI/Jony Ive device that’s been rumored for late 2026. The Ive project is a dedicated AI hardware product — not a phone — being developed through io Products in collaboration with OpenAI. The timing may create confusion at launch, but these are two completely different products from two completely different companies (though the Apple lawsuit against OpenAI adds an unexpected layer of drama to both announcements).

For a full breakdown of what Samsung is announcing at the same time, our Samsung Unpacked July 22 preview covers the Z Fold 8 Ultra, Z Flip 8, and Galaxy Glasses. And if you want to understand what Apple Intelligence brings to whichever iPhone you end up buying, our piece on Apple Intelligence and iOS 27 has everything confirmed so far.