The foldable iPhone has leaked. Now, where is the real foldable iPhone?

A render of the upcoming foldable iPhone. | Image credit – Apple Insider

It was exactly a year ago – almost to the day – that along came a report that one of Apple's most beloved tablets – the iPad mini – could be soon replaced by Cupertino's first foldable.

That was in February 2024. It's 2025 already and once again, we're talking about a foldable Apple mobile device. Not a tablet, but a foldable iPhone, a.k.a. the iPhold:

• You can now picture Apple's thin and large foldable iPhone as core specs have leaked

All I can say is: "That's great. Now, where is the real foldable iPhone?"

Why am I being so skeptical about it?

The trouble with iPhold on the outside

OK, OK, fans around the world have been asking for a foldable iPhone for so long that we shouldn't be dismissive of it the second it appears (even in leaks). However, we shouldn't be praising anything just because we've been eagerly waiting for it for years now.

Let's keep a cool head (if that's even possible on a Friday) and check things out.

For starters, the leaker says the device is expected to feature a large foldable screen, measuring approximately 12 inches when unfolded. The machine-translated post reads that "the inner screen is equivalent to two 6.1-inch phones folded in half, with a total of more than 12 inches".

Whoa, calm down, chief. Just because six and six adds up to twelve, doesn't automatically mean that the foldable iPhone is going to sport a 12-inch inner display.

I'd say the foldable iPhone will instead arrive with a 8.6-inch inner display.

Since the two mentioned 6.1-inch screens are placed side by side, the width of the display effectively doubles, while the height remains the same. Using the Pythagorean theorem (which calculates the diagonal of a rectangle based on its width and height), the total screen size becomes approximately 8.6 inches diagonally.

This calculation accounts for the standard aspect ratio of modern smartphones, typically 19.5:9 (the aspect ratio of the iPhone 16 Pro, for example), which describes the proportional relationship between the width and height of the screen.



The leak also claims the foldable iPhone will have "a left-side fold" with a thickness of 9.2 mm when closed and 4.6 mm for each panel when open. Nice. For comparison, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 6 measures 5.6 mm in thickness when unfolded and 12.1 mm when folded. 9.1 mm thick is certainly better than 12.1 mm.

It's also claimed that Samsung is exclusively developing the foldable display for the alleged iPhold, while Lens Technology is working on the ultra-thin glass (UTG) cover. The screen support structure may use titanium alloy, stainless steel, or carbon fiber, but a final decision has not been made.

The hinge, designed by Apple, is expected to cost around $110 per unit.

The device's aluminum alloy frame is projected to cost between $80 and $90, with Foxconn exclusively handling the NPI (New Product Introduction) stage.

For printed circuit boards (PCB), the value of flexible circuits is expected to increase by 70%, while module boards could see nearly a 100% price jump. Additionally, substrate-like PCBs (SLP) will incorporate RCC material, raising their cost from $12 to $18, a 40% increase.

Please, don't expect the foldable iPhone to be "cheap".

The trouble with iPhold on the inside

The juicy leak also talks about a few things under the hood.

For starters, optics will also see notable advancements. The front camera will utilize Apple's metalens ultra-thin technology.

Unlike traditional smartphone lenses that rely on curved surfaces to direct light, metalenses use nanostructured materials to achieve the same effect. These flat, lightweight lenses can replace bulky optical components, freeing up space in devices.

Foxconn and LG will work on the camera module. The rear camera system will feature a hybrid glass-plastic design for both the main and ultra-wide sensors.

Now, to the not-so-great part:

The foldable iPhone is claimed to arrive with a dual stainless steel-cased battery setup. The total battery capacity is expected to be close to 5,000mAh, featuring 3D stacked cells (likely to reduce battery size while maintaining its capacity) exclusively developed by ATL.

Is that enough? Well… barely.

Don't get me wrong: iOS handles battery capacity differently than Android, so things could be fine all in all.

The iPhone 16 Pro Max packs a 4,685 mAh battery, while the Galaxy S24 Ultra sports a 5,000 mAh cell. Yet our PhoneArena tests paint a different picture to what one could assume: