Apple’s first foldable iPhone leaks: Released in September next year, starting at 13,000 yuan

It is basically certain from multiple authoritative revelations that Apple will release its first foldable iPhone in September next year, which will debut on the same stage as the iPhone 18 Pro series.

The new phone entered Foxconn’s “New Product Introduction (NPI)” stage in March 2025, started trial production in late Q3 to early Q4 2025 (September-October), and entered large-scale stocking in Q2 2026.

The screens are mainly supplied by Samsung Display, and the cover glass uses Corning ultra-thin UTG glass, which is cut and quality-inspected by General Interface Solution (GIS).

The overall specifications are as follows:

It adopts a “book-style” inward folding design similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. It is 9-9.5mm thick when folded and 4.5-4.8mm thick when unfolded. It is thinner than the iPhone Air and uses titanium metal to reduce weight.

The hinge is a combination of titanium alloy and stainless steel, and liquid metal is added (made through a die-casting process) to improve the hinge strength and fatigue resistance, while reducing screen creases.

It adopts a dual-screen design like the current mainstream large folding phones.

External screen: 5.5 inches, resolution 2088×1422, pixel density 460PPI, uses a punch-hole camera design, the size is close to that of a regular iPhone, and meets the needs of daily quick operations.

Inner screen: 7.8 inches, resolution 2713×1920, 4:3 ratio, pixel density 428PPI, achieves “almost crease-free” effect through built-in metal stress dispersion plate, and supports self-healing coating technology to improve scratch resistance.

It is equipped with a unified flexible OLED panel, supports HDR display, continues Apple’s consistent wide color gamut performance, and supports ProMotion adaptive refresh rate (1-120Hz).

The processor is expected to be from the A20 series, paired with LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.0 storage, with performance comparable to the iPhone Pro models of the same period; it will be equipped with Apple’s second-generation self-developed C2 baseband and no physical SIM card slot (only supports eSIM).

It uses the same high-density battery as the iPhone 17 Air, supporting 40W wired fast charging and 15W MagSafe wireless charging.

Face ID was cancelled and replaced with a side button integrated Touch ID design similar to the iPad to save internal space. This is the first time in many years that the iPhone product line has returned to the fingerprint recognition function.

The whole device has a total of 4 cameras – a single camera with a punch-hole on the outer screen, a single camera under the inner screen (USC), and a dual camera at the rear. The rear main camera is 48 million pixels and supports sensor-shift optical image stabilization.

In terms of pricing, the starting price in the U.S. market is expected to be US$1,800-2,500, which is equivalent to about RMB 13,000-18,000, making it the most expensive iPhone in history.

It is worth noting that in addition to the foldable iPhone, Apple is also simultaneously advancing the development of a foldable iPad, which is planned to be launched in 2028. When unfolded, the screen will be 18-20 inches.