There's good news for those of you hoping to pick up the iPhone Fold as soon as possible. Rumor has it that the phone could launch as early as next year, and according to a new report Apple now has a functioning prototype of the device.
According to DigiTimes, Apple kickstarted the iPhone Fold's prototyping phase last month, which is expected to continue until the end of the year. Once complete, the phone should enter the Engineering Verification Test (EVT) phase, which is another crucial step ahead of mass production.
If that all goes according to plan, it means the iPhone Fold may well go on sale alongside the iPhone 18 series next September.
There's no guarantee things will go swimmingly, but it means that after a fairly long and troubled-sounding development, the iPhone Fold should now be on track to arrive in the near future. Sadly it sounds like the same can't be said for Apple's foldable iPad.
What's happening to the foldable iPad?
There had been some uncertainty as to whether the iPhone Fold would arrive before or after the iPad Fold —but now it sounds like the iPhone is more of a certainty.
As DigiTimes reports, Apple "has decided to pause progress on the larger foldable device for the time being." Industry experts claim this is due to a combination of manufacturing difficulties, increased production costs and the fact there isn't a whole lot of demand for a larger foldable tablet.
Predictions for the tablet have been a little bit inconsistent, with the likes of Jeff Pu promising a 2026 launch while Mark Gurman said 2028 at the absolute earliest. But with this latest report the timeline is increasingly unclear.
Then again it makes sense that Apple would want to nail the iPhone Fold before it invests too heavily in a larger version, After all, the foldable iPhone screen will essentially turn the phone into a tablet that will fill part of the niche currently occupied by non-folding iPads.
On top of that, it's unclear how successful the iPhone Fold will be. With reports claiming only 15-20 million units have been ordered for the first few years of the foldable's lifespan, Apple's clearly playing it safe with the iPhone Fold — at least at first. Which means pausing development on the second foldable makes perfect sense.
In the meantime be sure to check out our iPhone Fold hub for all the latest news and rumors about the Apple foldable.
More from Tom's Guide
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
