iPhone Fold could look like an iPhone Air merged with an iPad mini — with the biggest ever iPhone battery

It seems we can’t turn around without running into some iPhone Fold specs leaking online. Following a major specs leak in the middle of last month, two fresh new leaks are shedding light on the kind of hardware we can expect from Apple’s first foldable — including very good news about the battery life.

A Weibo user known only as Fixed Focus Digital claims that the upcoming foldable could feature a 5,500 mAh battery. Not only would that make it the largest iPhone battery to date, dwarfing the 5,088 mAh battery in the iPhone 17 Pro Max, it would also make it noticeably larger than rival foldables.

For reference, the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold has a 5,015 mAh battery, while the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s is 4,400 mAh.

It’s not the first time we’ve heard news about the iPhone Fold having such a large battery. Past rumors suggested that we could be looking at anything between 5,000 mAh and 5,500 mAh. Being able to put a more exact figure on it at the top end of that scale, however tenuous the leak might be, can only be a good thing.

Considering Apple’s flagships are known for their long-lasting battery life, aided by the relationship between Apple’s hardware and software, this can only be a good thing for the iPhone Fold. Sure, the folding screen will need more power by virtue of its large size, but the extra drain shouldn’t be so much that a 5,500 mAh power cell doesn’t last a very long time.

There’s more than just battery leaks

If you’re after more than just raw battery power, then notable leaker Instant Digital has the leak for you. The leaker posted a bunch of information about the phone on their Weibo account, noting some of the design features we should expect from the iPhone Fold.

The first is that volume buttons will apparently be on the top right corner of the screen, rather than the traditional left-hand positioning on non-folding iPhones — much like the iPad mini 7. However, they also claim that the power and Camera Control buttons will remain on the right side of the phone.

Apparently, this change is down to the motherboard sitting on the right side of the phone, and Apple doesn’t want to run cables from one side of the phone to another. Which is sensible considering there’s a big hinge in the way. This means that all buttons are on the right, while the left side will apparently be smooth and button-free.

In fact, Instant Digital claims that the left side will dedicate almost its entire internal space to the battery. Which is presumably how Apple can fit such a large power pack inside the phone.

They reiterate that the power button will have integrated Touch ID, with past rumors claiming that the iPhone Fold will skip Face ID altogether. Without all the facial recognition hardware, the front camera will apparently be a single hole-punch design.

Other design features include an internal stacking structure that is “both shocking and rationally elegant” according to machine translation. Meanwhile, the camera module appears to be similar to that of the iPhone Air, with a circular camera bar stretching the full length of the phone — featuring two camera lenses.

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