Apple Needs to Launch Its Foldable iPhone Flip in 2026. Here’s Why

Source Domain: www.cnet.com

I love Apple’s flagship cosmic orange iPhone 17 Pro — even when I managed to turn mine pink — but I was disappointed not to see the company’s long-rumored foldable iPhone Flip. Pretty much every major Android phone-maker, including Samsung, Google, Motorola, OnePlus, Xiaomi and Honor are now multiple generations into their own folding phone lineups, with the hardware continuing to become more and more refined with each revision. Oppo is now in its fifth year of foldables and its latest Find N6 is the result of those years of development. Apple isn’t even at step one yet and it’s beginning to feel like it’s late to the party. That might be a problem.

Apple dominates in the premium phone category, but foldables — which fit into the premium space in terms of price — are already nipping at its heels, with Motorola telling CNET that 20% of customers buying its Razr foldable jumped ship from Apple. Meanwhile, Samsung is in the seventh generation of its Flip and Fold series. As Lisa Eadicicco discovered during a visit to Seoul, “foldables are everywhere” in Samsung’s home country of South Korea.

Would Apple go with a smaller format like the Galaxy Z Flip series?

Amy Kim/CNET

With nearly every major Android phone-maker entering the foldable market, Apple risks losing potential customers. It also runs the risk of letting a rival like Samsung or Motorola becoming the go-to name for foldables, which could make it harder for Apple to make an impact if it eventually launches its own device. Furthermore, early adopters drawn to foldable tech may be too entrenched in the Android ecosystem by the time Apple’s phone arrives to want to switch to iOS.

Apple is unlikely to be worried. It’s estimated that around 20 million foldables from all manufacturers were sold worldwide in 2023, while Apple reportedly sold 26.5 million iPhone 14 Pro Max handsets in the first half of that year alone. In 2024, foldable sales were flat — and 2025 didn’t fare much better, according to…

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