TL;DR
- Early Use: Several unnamed people of unknown Apple affiliation report having used Apple’s unannounced foldable phone, which opens to a wider screen.
- Core Trade-Off: The wide screen supports two apps; the phone reportedly uses Touch ID and omits a telephoto camera.
- Launch Window: Apple is expected to unveil the phone in September, but its price, order date and final specifications remain unconfirmed.
Apple’s first foldable iPhone is taking shape as a short, pocketable phone that opens into a wider screen built for side-by-side apps. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported that several unnamed people had used the unannounced device.
Gurman’s account offers the clearest view yet of how Apple may adapt the iPhone to the book-style design Samsung has sold for years. It does not amount to a public test. The people were not identified, their relationship to Apple is unknown, and no test conditions were disclosed.
People inside Apple reportedly call the project iPhone Ultra, although that internal name may not reach stores. The expected design pairs a compact outer screen with a much wider folding display, then uses a modified version of iOS to make the extra space useful. That screen-and-software relationship has to justify an expected price of roughly $2,000, especially because the phone reportedly replaces Face ID with Touch ID and omits a dedicated telephoto camera.
A Small Phone That Opens Into a Workspace
The device is expected to close like a book around a 5.5-inch outer display. That screen would handle ordinary phone tasks while keeping the folded hardware short enough for a pocket. Opening it would reveal an inner display of roughly 7.8 inches, with a wider shape closer to an iPad mini than to a tall conventional phone.
The dimensions matter because the two screens have different jobs. The outer display preserves quick, one-handed phone use. The inner display supplies room for video, a larger camera viewfinder and two apps beside each other. Apple is not simply stretching the same interface across more glass.
Earlier Bloomberg-origin reporting said iOS would gain iPad-like sidebars, larger controls and side-by-side multitasking for the foldable screen. The phone would still run iOS rather than iPadOS, so the report does not establish full iPad windowing or native access to every iPad app. Code inspected in an iOS 27 beta also referred to fold state, hinge angle and multiple built-in displays. Those references support active software preparation, though beta code can change or remain unused.
That compact-to-wide transition gives the design a clearer purpose than novelty alone. It would let an iPhone serve as a familiar small phone when closed and a broader reading, viewing or two-app surface when open. The fold earns its place only if apps move between those states smoothly and the wider layouts remain useful after the first impression.
Thinness Forces Visible Trade-Offs
The open phone is expected to measure about 4.5 to 4.8 millimeters thick. Apple reportedly cannot fit its usual Face ID hardware into the thin front section, so the foldable would return to Touch ID in a side button. That choice keeps biometric unlocking while moving the sensor away from the display assembly.
The camera system poses a more consequential compromise. Reports point to main and ultrawide rear cameras but no dedicated telephoto lens. The large inner display may be an excellent viewfinder, as the early users reportedly found, but a larger preview cannot replace optical reach. At a price near $2,000, buyers would be asked to value the folding screen and software over a camera option available on other premium phones.
Released foldables show that manufacturers can make different choices. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 family includes a model with a 5.5-inch cover screen and a 7.6-inch inner display, close to Apple’s reported shape. The larger Fold8 Ultra measures 4.1 millimeters when open and adds a telephoto camera. Google lists a 5.0-millimeter open body, an 8-inch inner display and a 5x telephoto camera for the Pixel 11 Pro Fold. The designs use different bodies and measurement methods, so they do not prove that Apple could add the same hardware without another compromise. They do show that thinness alone cannot explain every camera decision.
Apple’s reported priorities have been visible for more than a year. Reports from March 2025 described the same book-style form, dual displays, Touch ID and two-camera approach. The August account adds limited use impressions to that design lineage rather than introducing a wholly new set of specifications.
A Good Hinge Impression Is Not a Durability Test
The unnamed users reportedly found the hinge sturdy, and earlier reporting said Apple had reduced the display crease. Both points address persistent weaknesses in book-style foldables: the mechanical joint must open smoothly, while the flexible screen must bend thousands of times without a distracting line or early failure.
Gurman’s report does not say how long the devices were used, what environments they encountered or whether the people examined production hardware. Long-term hinge and screen durability remain unknown.
Other foldables illustrate why those limits matter. An iFixit teardown of Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold8 found sophisticated hinge engineering but also showed fine particles reaching the mechanism during a disclosed, non-certification dust test. That Samsung result demonstrates that opening feel, dust resistance, screen aging and long-term durability are important aspects, even when a hinge feels polished on day one.
September May Bring an Introduction, Not Immediate Sales
Supply-chain publication The Elec reported in June that panel-module production has already started, while the fold-aware iOS references show software work tied to multiple displays. Panel-module production and fold-aware beta code place the project in an advanced product program, but neither establishes a finished retail device.
Timing reports also describe different milestones. Apple is expected to introduce the foldable alongside its next premium iPhones in September 2026. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has separately suggested that preorders could begin later in the fourth quarter, while supply-chain reporting has identified hinge production as a schedule risk. An unveiling, a preorder window and store availability are not interchangeable.
Apple has not confirmed the name, displays, cameras, price or sales date described in the reports.
Apple’s reported foldable would use a small outer screen to remain a practical phone, then ask its wider display and adapted iOS layouts to justify the cost and the missing camera reach. An Apple announcement and public review hardware would establish whether that coherent pre-release idea survives as a product people can buy.
