Suggestions that Apple’s foldable iPhone will be delayed are far from reality, a Chinese leaker claimed today.
In a post on Weibo, the leaker known as Fixed Focus Digital said that rumors of a launch delay were “false” and that suggestions that the device’s release had been pushed back to next year were “far-fetched.”
Multiple reports suggest that Apple’s first foldable iPhone could be revealed alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in September, and the leaker believes this is still on the table. “The most likely scenario is that it launches alongside the iPhone 18 series,” Fixed Focus Digital said in another article earlier this month. “Even if there is a delay, it would probably only be delayed by about a month before it goes on sale,” they added.
There have been sporadic reports that Apple’s first foldable device faced engineering challenges during the late stages of development. In May, for example, Instant Digital claimed that Apple’s foldable iPhone continued to have durability issues with its hinge mechanism. Apple is believed to have largely overcome concerns about screen wrinkling, but the leaker said the long-term reliability of the hinges is not yet up to company standards.
Apple is known for imposing strict reliability standards on new product categories, but continued concerns about the hinge itself would be an unusual situation as an early launch approaches.
BloombergMark Gurman of Mark Gurman said in March that the new foldable iPhone might not ship to customers in the same September time frame as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. Before Gurman’s report, Barclays analyst Tim Long suggested the foldable iPhone wouldn’t ship until December, opening up a roughly three-month delay between the all-new device and the iPhone 18 Pro models.
Apple has already done a split launch, shipping one model later than another. When the iPhone Even though Apple plans to ship the iPhone Fold after September, expect to see it showcased at the annual iPhone event that will showcase the iPhone 18 Pro models. Apple will likely announce all three phones at once, then offer them to customers when they’re ready.
The foldable iPhone is expected to feature a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.5-inch cover display, the A20 chip and C2 modem, a Touch ID power button instead of Face ID, and dual rear cameras, with an estimated price of around $2,000. Apple’s book-style foldable could launch under the name ‘iPhone Ultra’, as reports suggest.
