Apple‘s foldable plans may have hit a roadblock. According to a tipster, the company has temporarily halted the development work due to display issues. Its early display tests have reportedly failed. It is unclear whether this will delay the launch of the first foldable iPhone.
Apple faces a display setback in foldable iPhone development
Foldable smartphones have existed since 2019, but Apple has not entered the scene. The Cupertino-based tech behemoth, which overtook Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor in 2023, isn’t rumored to release a foldable iPhone before 2027. At the earliest, it might debut the first-gen model in 2026. To put that into perspective, Samsung will introduce its eighth-gen foldables in 2026.
Apple is likely taking its time to perfect everything, from the design and specs to the build quality and durability. Perhaps eliminate the display crease too. A tipster on the Chinese microblogging site Weibo says the company has purchased a bunch of existing foldable phones from various brands and is thoroughly examining them. Its research and development team has dismantled the device to dive into the internal structure.
The iPhone maker may be looking at how each company has done things differently and learning from them. All of this might eventually help Apple determine the areas where it can do better than the competition. That’s one way to go about a product that still needs a lot of refinement. However, the source adds that the firm has temporarily shelved its foldable project. Its display team allegedly “failed to pass the screen test.”
It’s worth mentioning here that the Weibo post is written in Chinese. We used Google Translate to translate it into English. There’s a possibility that something was lost in translation. However, from what we can see, Apple’s foldable project isn’t progressing smoothly. Roadblocks aren’t uncommon when you are doing something new. It remains to be seen whether this temporary halt affects the launch timeline.
Apple could first launch a folding iPad
There is a lot of uncertainty around Apple’s first foldable product. Some industry experts believe the company will launch a folding iPad ahead of a folding iPhone. We should get a clearer picture as the development progresses. While Apple does a better job at plugging leaks than the likes of Google and Samsung, a few of them sneak out once in a while. We will keep you posted accordingly. In the meantime, Samsung is gearing up to launch its sixth-gen foldables—Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6—later this year.
2024-02-17 15:06:37