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Apple's rumored folding iPhone is starting to take shape [1]

['Séamus Bellamy']

Date: 2025-12-22  

Tired of waiting for Apple to release a folding phone, I recently opted to pick up a Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold. So, of course, not a week after my new handset showed up on my doorstep, credible intel of what Apple's long-rumored folding phone may look like dropped.

According to Tom's Guide, a leaker with a track record of accurate information dropped a potential truth bomb on Chinese chat service Weibo:

Apple's wide foldable phone features a side-mounted Touch ID fingerprint sensor. The decision not to use 3D Face ID or 3D ultrasonic fingerprint technology is for the sake of a thinner body. The hinge design is very strong. The engineering prototype has a 7.58"* UPC under-display front camera + a 5.25"‡ HIAA punch-hole screen, and a 48MP dual-camera setup. It's expected to revitalize the foldable screen market next year. As previously mentioned, Samsung is also evaluating a wide foldable phone, but the industry's first large-size horizontal wide foldable phone will likely be won by a Chinese manufacturer.

So, a horizontal fold, instead of the side-by-side slabs that we've become accustomed to. Depending on the handset's dimensions, this could be a real perk for those of us who like to take our productivity on the road with as little to carry as possible. Current folders, like the OnePlus Open, Pixel Fold, and the wicked-thin hardware Samsung released earlier this year, have a near-1:1 display ratio. This is great for using a pair of phone apps side by side. But having something shaped to run iPad apps, provided Apple's quality assurances, would make their folding handset the productivity device to beat. Whether you like Apple and its walled garden or not, there's no denying that the quality and variety of apps, many of which are exclusive to their platforms, are still head and shoulders above what Android can offer (remember, I'm running a Pixel phone now, so this is not fanboy BS, just fact). But a phone that can run iPad apps, natively? Boy howdy, this thing's going to be as popular as it is expensive.

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/12/22/apples-rumored-folding-iphone-is-starting-to-take-shape.html

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