What you need to know
- Apple was previously expected to announce a foldable iPhone as soon as 2023.
- A new report by display analyst Ross Young now suggests we could be waiting until 2025 at the very earliest.
- A bendy iPhone is high on some people's wishlist and this new news will be disappointing.
Apple is unlikely to ship a foldable iPhone until 2025 at the earliest according to display analyst Ross Young.
In a wider research note on the world of foldable smartphones, Display Supply Chain Consultants analyst Ross Young has shared details on the current situation in terms of when Apple will ship a foldable iPhone — and it's bad news for those hoping to be bending their iPhone in half as soon as next year.
While previous expectations were that Apple could have a foldable iPhone ready to go in 2023, that has now been pushed all the way to 2025 at the earliest based on information from Young's "supply chain contacts."
We delayed our expectations for Apple entering the foldable smartphone market by two years to 2025 after discussions with our supply chain contacts. The company does not appear to be in a hurry to enter the foldable smartphone market, and it may even take longer than that.
The news is disappointing but perhaps not all that surprising. Apple has a history of preferring to be late to the party than ship a product that it feels is flawed in some way. Foldable devices still have their problems, although things have improved considerably since the arrival of the first Galaxy Fold a few years ago.
None of this means that things aren't progressing in terms of iPhone displays, however. This year's iPhone 14 Pro devices are expected to ditch the notch in favor of a hole-punch and pill-shaped cutout, for example. The removal of the notch is still a poor substitute for a foldable iPhone, however.
