Apple reportedly halts work on foldable iPhone after one of its concerns comes true

What the flip is going on with Apple? A little more than a week ago, the word on the street was that a foldable iPhone was looking more and more like a sure thing as Apple had reportedly developed a clamshell foldable iPhone prototype similar to Samsung's Galaxy Z Flip series. Even though Apple had concerns over the durability and the utility of such a device, it was reportedly meeting with one Asian manufacturer to discuss the production of components for two foldable iPhone models.

Today, a tech video blogger using the title Fixed Focus Digital, with a huge following on China's Weibo platform, said that Apple has halted development of a foldable iPhone because of a concern that we mentioned in the first paragraph, Apparently, Apple was worried about the durability of a clamshell foldable iPhone. The report added that Apple has been buying foldable phones made by rival manufacturers including Samsung.

The Weibo post states that Apple is reverse engineering the foldable phones from other manufacturers that it purchased and at least one of the prototypes it made used a display supplied by Samsung. But Fixed Focus Digital says that a Samsung-supplied foldable display used in a prototype foldable iPhone "broke down after a few days" of going through heavy-duty testing by Apple. This has led Apple to halt further work on a foldable iPhone until a more durable display can be sourced that could meet Apple's high standards.

Foldables do not appear in Apple's roadmaps for 2024 and 2025 and if today's report is legit, it would seem that at this stage we shouldn't be expecting a foldable iPhone anytime soon. However, the report doesn't mention whether Apple is giving up on the rumored portable iPad. There are some advantages to such a device when it comes to durability since a foldable iPad wouldn't be expected to spend time in the user's pockets, and the device would be thicker than a foldable iPhone.

Recently, The Elec reported that for the 20th anniversary of the iPhone in 2027, Apple is considering the release of a foldable iPad to replace the 8.3-inch iPad mini. These rumors seem to change very quickly, so keep checking in with us at PhoneArena for the latest.