iPhone Fold could succeed where other foldables have failed — with a crease-free display

The iPhone Fold has been a long time coming, and one of the reasons why the Apple foldable has taken so long to arrive is due to the company's (reported) pickiness when it comes to various aspects of the design. One of the most notable is the display crease, with reports suggesting Apple wasn't happy releasing a phone with any visible creases in the display.

Anyone who's ever used a foldable phone, or even seen them, knows that creasing is not something you can easily avoid. Plenty of brands have made a lot of progress in minimizing the display crease, but none of them have been able to eliminate it completely, especially over extended periods of time. But Apple could just have them all beat.

This news comes from leaker Fixed Focus Digital over on Weibo. They claim (via machine translation) that the "industry perspective" on iPhone Fold is that the "screen may have a flat screen exceeding that of many currently available domestically produced foldable screen models".

They, of course, mean models developed by Chinese phone makers, who have had significantly more success at eliminating the display crease compared to the likes of Samsung and Google. In fact, multiple generations of Oppo phones have made the crease nearly invisible — though it can still be noticeable if you're looking closely enough. We were particularly impressed with Oppo's foldable Find N5 last year.

Apple unwilling to compromise

Many reports have suggested that the display crease is one of the things Apple was unwilling to compromise on — regardless of how much it might cost to achieve. Progress didn't really happen until last February, when reports surfaced claiming that "a new material property had been developed to make the crease disappear."

I'm not entirely sure the crease is as big a deal as Apple reportedly thinks. But I guess not having the noticeable dip and distortion in the center of the display can only be a good thing.

Those reports suggested that production on the iPhone Fold was due to begin at the end of last year, ready for release in the second half of 2026. More recently, a separate report from Instant Digital claims that the foldable will enter mass production within the next few months. That's a very big milestone for any device, and hitting it is essential if Apple wants to launch the foldable this fall alongside iPhone 18 Pro.

After so many delays and speculation going back almost a decade, the fact that the iPhone Fold is almost here is quite cathartic. Though since prices are expected to begin at $2,000, this phone isn't exactly affordable. I'm still not sure how Apple is expecting to sell 20 million, regardless of how crease-free the display might be.

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