'iPhone Fold' as 'iPad Mini' Folded
The biggest question I had about the forthcoming 'iPhone Fold' is which OS it would run. Given that it's still an iPhone, you'd assume iOS. But that would presumably require some new flavor of iOS given the whole foldable screen element. That mixed with the fact that it sure looked like the interior screen, when unfolded, would be similar to an iPad mini led me to wonder if we might get a true hybrid: iOS on the outside, iPadOS on the inside. A sort of mullet device.
Not so, says Mark Gurman in his latest report about the device for Bloomberg:
Apple is developing new iOS app layouts and revamping its core iPhone programs to add sidebars along the left edge of the screen, similar to many of its iPad apps. Developers will also be able to adapt their iPhone software for the new interface, which will use proportions similar to an iPad in landscape mode.
Despite offering an iPad-like app experience, the foldable iPhone will run the standard iOS — not iPadOS, the company’s tablet operating system. This means it will retain a simpler multitasking system, rather than adopting the more desktop-like interface introduced in iPadOS 26. It also won’t run existing iPad apps out of the box.
While the foldable iPhone won’t run several windows at once like an iPad mini, it will be able to show two apps side by side. That matches a key feature of the foldable phones offered by Samsung, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and others.
So the experience will be "iPad-like" but not actually iPadOS. Instead, we get a version of iOS that looks more like iPadOS, but without the true windowed multitasking (though we can argue about how "true" that system is, even now). This sounds potentially confusing for iPad owners – in particular if the inner screen truly is iPad mini-like in size – if it looks like an iPad, but can't do iPad things. But it undoubtedly would have been more confusing to run two different OSes with different functionalities, simply depending on if the device was folded or not. And there's no real point in running standard iOS (just scaled to a new screen size) without taking advantage of the new screen real estate in some way. So this sounds like the compromise: iPadOS-looking iOS.
I'm just as curious about the actual form-factor here, because it continues to sound – and look, via CAD leaks! – like it will be quite different from other foldables to date. I've had a few versions of the Pixel Fold now, which I like and has gotten better with each iteration, but it's really just exactly what it sounds like: a fairly standard smartphone that can unfold into a bigger-screen smartphone. Yes, it's interesting that it's a more square-like experience inside – and yes, it can do the app side-by-side thing – but it still just feels like a smartphone. I think there's a pretty good chance that the 'iPhone Fold' (if Apple even calls it that – all bets are off after the wildcard 'MacBook Neo' naming scheme) will actually feel like something a bit different than just a "foldable iPhone" given the form factor.
In my mind at least, it almost seems more like a 'iPhone mini' on the outside, while yes, an 'iPad mini' on the inside. But this new iOS will be key to the experience, of course. Does Apple tailor it to leverage those new screens in ways that differentiate it from a "regular" iPhone? I suspect they might! Maybe that front screen becomes your sort of "vital" apps/widgets screen. Things you always open and/or apps for fast actions. While inside, that's where you do your real "work" (or play, I suppose!).
I obviously won't even pretend that I'm torn on getting one. I'll certainly have to to see what it's like. I am a bit torn on leaving the old, trusty "standard" iPhone form-factor behind, but would I really "dual-wield" like I'm Ahsoka or something? That's a pretty expensive proposition!
Speaking of, there's also some new leaks around potential pricing for the device. Are you ready? Take a deep breath...
According to the Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital – who had a strong track-record on such things – the range will be from $2,320 to $2,900, depending on storage options (from 256GB up to 1TB). That's, um, quite a bit above my early (and obvious) $1,999 starting point guess I made a year ago.
Of course, those numbers are extrapolated from the more rounded prices in Chinese Yuan by the leaker. When I asked AI to extrapolate how those implied numbers might translate into USD, sure enough, the $1,999 starting price point seems quite likely. Then again, given everything going on with chip shortages and pricing issues around memory... who knows. Perhaps not even Apple just yet.
Would anyone buy a $1,999 iPhone? I mean, yes, it's Apple.
And some already do, as Apple hit that mark with the 2TB iPhone 17 Pro Max option. What about a fully-loaded 'iPhone Fold' at, say, $2,999? It wasn't that long ago that we were debating the viability of a $1,000 iPhone. That seems quaint now. The iPhone Pro models are huge hits for Apple. There's undoubtedly still room to grow – and importantly for Apple, grow that ASP.
One more thing: As I wondered in my prediction post for the year, what if any sort of newfangled experience for the 'iPhone Fold' also included a new type of accessory? Maybe an 'Apple Pencil Mini' – heaven forbid, the actual 'Apple Stylus'?!
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler
M.G. Siegler