Pro tip: don’t buy the foldable iPhone next year, wait for its sequel

Apple has taken years and years waiting to release the foldable iPhone, hoping to make the most perfect foldable flagship that the industry has ever seen. Here’s the thing, though, it won’t be perfect. In fact, if I had my say, I’d advise people to skip the first iteration of the foldable iPhone entirely.

Wait for the foldable iPhone 2, if it ever happens. You’ll be grateful you did. Here’s why.

The foldable iPhone is not perfect

Despite Apple’s years of work, the foldable iPhone is not perfect. Nothing ever really is, but this phone, according to all reports coming in, does not meet the strict criteria that Apple had set for it: that of a completely crease-free display. Sure, the company’s got time till September of 2026, but it is very unlikely that such a thing will be made by then.

And that’s not the only problem, either. If the foldable iPhone still has a crease, it will not be worse than the one found on the Galaxy Z Fold 7, and that is basically completely invisible during everyday use. No, the foldable iPhone has another problem, its design.

Apple is trying out an unorthodox design with its foldable next year. The phone is wider than it is tall when unfolded. This isn’t a novel design, but it is definitely uncommon, and there will probably be many consumers who won’t like it.

The foldable iPhone is somewhat outdated when it comes to other specifications as well. It is apparently thicker than the Fold 7 (around 10 mm compared to 8.9 mm) and weighs more than Samsung’s phone too (255 grams compared to 215 grams). So it goes without saying that it has already lost in those categories to next year’s Galaxy Z Fold 8.

But none of the above is the main reason why you should skip the foldable iPhone. That honor falls to another consideration that you should be making before your purchase.

It’s an experimental first-generation product

Apple is still trying things out, and everything that is true for the foldable iPhone is subject to change in successive iterations. The wide folding design might be abandoned, the Touch ID might be replaced with Face ID, and we know for a fact that the camera setup will change.

Currently, the phone is expected to feature Touch ID in the side-mounted power button because Apple cannot fit other sensors in the chassis. Under-display Touch ID or the traditional Face ID could allegedly not be added to the phone without messing up the revolutionary new hinge, or without making it even bulkier.

Meanwhile, both the exterior and the main displays will feature punch hole camera setups. This is in line with Apple’s plans for the iPhone 18 series, which is also moving to punch hole cameras.

However, Apple plans to get rid of punch hole cameras the very next year. The iPhone 20 Pro will apparently be a new Pro model that will have no cutouts across its display at all, with the edges melding into the chassis on all four sides.

This same design might make it to the new foldable iPhone that could come out alongside the iPhone 20 series. If it doesn’t, then it surely will a generation or two later, as the base models also get rid of the display cutouts.

Lastly, the first-generation foldable iPhone is going to be very expensive. Current reports put it at around $2,400, but that is probably going to change. Samsung and Apple phones are getting more expensive due to industrywide shortages, and the foldable iPhone will most assuredly be affected.



It’s a first-generation product that hasn’t settled on a design, or layout, or anything, really. We don’t even know how competently it will support iOS and iPadOS apps, and it’s going to be stupidly expensive to boot. Just wait a year, watch some videos about it if you’re curious, or read our eventual review (wink wink), but I’d definitely advise waiting until a second or third generation.

Ah, who am I kidding? It’s going to sell like candy before Halloween.

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