APPLE might ditch an iconic iPhone feature on a new smartphone next year.
A top expert says that Apple’s long-awaited “foldable iPhone” is now just over a year away – and will introduce a big change.
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Gadget giants like Google, Samsung, and Huawei have all produced foldable smartphones.
These devices have huge screens that can be folded down to fit in your pocket.
But Apple has stuck to a more traditional smartphone shape for its iPhone.
Now a fresh prediction from industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that a foldable iPhone is nearly here – and it’ll abandon Face ID.
The Apple expert says that the foldable iPhone will use a Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
And its Face ID – which unlocks the iPhone using your face – won’t appear “due to thickness and internal space constraints”.
Face ID was first introduced with the iPhone X in 2017, and is now an iconic part of Apple’s smartphone design.
Meanwhile Apple was thought to have killed off Touch ID on the iPhone.
Touch ID most recently featured on 2022’s iPhone SE, but didn’t appear on the gadget’s spiritual successor: the 2025 iPhone 16e.
Now Apple may be set to bring it back on the foldable phone, which is set to have the biggest screen of any iPhone to date.
“The foldable iPhone will have a book-style design,” said Kuo, of TF International Securities.
“Featuring an approximately 7.8-inch crease-free inner display and an approximately 5.5-inch outer display.”
He said that the gadget will feature a dual-lens setup, with a front-facing camera “available in both folded and unfolded states”.
The gadget is expected to be between 9mm and 9.5mm thick when folded.
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DO WE NEED A FOLDABLE IPHONE?
Here’s what The Sun’s tech editor Sean Keach has to say…
How badly do you want a foldable phone? Unless you’re a tech geek, you probably never even think about it.
I am a tech geek – and I hardly give it thought.
Of course, foldable phones are a good idea if perfectly executed.
After all, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a phone that can have both a regular screen and giant one too – but still fit in your pocket.
The problem is that there are so many trade-offs.
You’ll have to deal with a big old crease down the middle of the screen.
And foldable phones so often end up very thick, or long, or both.
That’s not to mention the price of foldable phones, which often cost hundreds more than their regular counterparts.
Wallets are strained under the growing cost of life, not to mention tech and subscriptions – so new gadgets needs to feel very useful to justify forking out extra.
So until a company can resolve at least some of these problems with foldable phones, they’ll struggle to reach the mainstream in the way that regular phones have.
Apple is often brilliant at making things catch on, even if it’s not always first across the line.
And if Apple can solve at least the creasing issue – and maybe the thickness problem too – then it could make foldable phones more desirable.
Maybe I’ll finally be converted.
For now, I’m sticking with tapping my flat slab of metal and glass.
And that thickness will drop to between 4.5 and 4.8mm when unfolded.
Of course Apple hasn’t confirmed any plans to launch a foldable iPhone.
But Kuo said that Apple will have “locked in” the final specs for the device by the end of June this year.
And it’s set to release in the second half of 2026, with plans to mass-produce a “second-generation foldable iPhone” in late 2027.
IPHONE SCREEN SIZES – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
Here’s how iPhone screen sizes have changed over the years – as measured in inches diagonally from corner to corner…
- iPhone (2007) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 3G (2008) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 3GS (2009) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 4 (2010) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 4S (2011) – 3.5 inches
- iPhone 5 (2012) – 4 inches
- iPhone 5S (2013) – 4 inches
- iPhone 5C (2013) – 4 inches
- iPhone 6 (2014) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 6+ (2014) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone 6S (2015) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 6S+ (2015) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone SE (2016) – 4 inches
- iPhone 7 (2016) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 7+ (2016) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone 8 (2017) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 8+ (2017) – 5.5 inches
- iPhone X (2017) – 5.8 inches
- iPhone XS (2018) – 5.8 inches
- iPhone XR (2018) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone XS Max (2018) – 6.5 inches
- iPhone 11 (2019) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 11 Pro (2019) – 5.8 inches
- iPhone 11 Pro Max (2019) – 6.5 inches
- iPhone SE 2nd gen (2020) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 12 Mini (2020) – 5.4 inches
- iPhone 12 (2020) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 12 Pro (2020) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 12 Pro Max (2020) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 13 Mini (2021) – 5.4 inches
- iPhone 13 (2021) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 13 Pro (2021) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 13 Pro Max (2021) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone SE 3rd gen (2022) – 4.7 inches
- iPhone 14 (2022) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 14 Plus (2022) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 14 Pro (2022) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 14 Pro Max (2022) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 15 (2023) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 15 Plus (2023) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 15 Pro (2023) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 15 Pro Max (2023) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 16 (2024) – 6.1 inches
- iPhone 16 Plus (2024) – 6.7 inches
- iPhone 16 Pro (2024) – 6.3 inches
- iPhone 16 Pro Max (2024) – 6.9 inches
- iPhone 16e (2025) – 6.1 inches
Picture Credit: Apple / The Sun
Kuo says that there will only be between three and five million foldable iPhones available in 2026 due to the “complexity” of the device. The gadget has a predicted price of between “$2,000 and $2,500”.
It’s worth noting that Apple likely won’t reveal any details about a foldable iPhone – if it even exists – until an official launch event.
And even if Kuo’s claims are true today, it doesn’t guarantee that Apple’s plans won’t change.
But prolific Apple leaker and Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman recently said that Apple is looking at “finishing up development of its first foldable device for 2026”.
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And Apple will be feeling the pressure from gadget fans as its rivals continue to churn out foldable smartphones.
Foldable phones properly began in late 2018 with the Flexpai from Chinese start-up Royole.
Then it stepped up a notch with the Samsung Galaxy Fold in 2019.
Since then, we’ve seen foldable phones from Huawei, Motorola, Google, and Vivo – but nothing from Apple.
Now Apple may be just over a year away from revealing its own version.