If rumors are to be believed, Apple will finally dive into the foldable phone market in 2026 with the much-rumored iPhone Fold. Rumors have been all over the place when it comes to the the screen size of this unreleased device, but seemed to have settled on around 7.7 inches for the interior panel.
That claim was backed up today (July 25) by regular leaker Digital Chat Station, who posted on Weibo that the iPhone Fold would feature a 7.7-inch unfolded screen and a cover display of 5.49-inches. This isn't the first time Digital Chat Station has made that claim, previously saying it came from an iPhone Fold prototype.
"The screen size of the first foldable iPhone has been revealed," DCS said in this most recent machine-translated post. "5.5-inch outer screen + 7.7-inch inner screen." They added that the current prototype has shrunk a bit from the February version.
It's an iota smaller than recent rumors that had the device featuring a 7.8-inch internal display, similar to numbers from Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo who reported the same measurements back in March. Kuo also believes the phone will measure between 9 and 9.5mm thick when folded and 4 and 4.5mm when opened.
Small screen compared to rivals
While thin, the iPhone Fold would be thicker than the Galaxy Z Fold 7 which measures 4.2mm when unfolded and 8.9mm closed.
If those numbers are true it would additionally make Apple's device smaller than a number of the best foldable phones available including Samsung's newly released Fold, which features an 8-inch unfolded screen and a 6.5-inch exterior display.
The upcoming Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold — which we're expecting to see at Google's August 20 event — is supposed to feature a 6.4-inch exterior display while retaining the same 8-inch inner screen as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. The Oppo Find N5 features a huge 8.12-inch inner display alongside a 6.62-inch front screen.
iPad-esque
The iPhone Fold's smaller screen may not be a deal breaker, as rumors hint that Apple is looking for customized display ratio of 4:3, similar to the iPad. This would make the foldable iPhone more familiar to Apple fans who have used iPads before.
Plus, Apple is reportedly developing iOS 27 for foldable phones which takes inspiration from the latest version of iPadOS.
Apple is years behind its rivals when it comes to foldable phones, but the company is allegedly obsessed with only releasing one once a creaseless display was possible. Reportedly, that finally became possible thanks to a partnership with Samsung Display.
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