Future iPhone Would possibly Straight-Up Copy Samsung’s Z Flip

Apple hasn’t even launched its first foldable—a book-style one that’s been leaking out for months—and it’s already reportedly engaged on one other form of telephone that bends in half.

At the least that’s in accordance with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who wrote in his latest Power On newsletter that “a sq., clamshell-style foldable telephone” is “into consideration” by the iPhone maker.

Gurman says that Apple is anticipating its first foldable, anticipated to launch in September with the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, will generate sufficient curiosity for “further sizes and styles.” In different phrases, an iPhone that resembles Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip collection, just like the current Z Flip 7, could also be in Apple’s future.

It ought to shock no person that Apple is contemplating a flip-style iPhone. As iPhones have gotten bigger, customers have complained that they’re not pocketable. On the similar time, iPhones with smaller screens, just like the iPhone 13 mini, are simply too tiny. A flip-style iPhone could be the one approach to give customers an enormous display that may also be compact.

Sounds nice, proper? The identical method the iPhone mini, iPhone Plus, and iPhone Air haven’t been gross sales hits, there’s no assure a flip-style iPhone could be a success. Samsung has been releasing new variations of its Z Flip collection annually since 2020. The shape issue is extra sturdy than ever, and the newest Z Flip 7 pushes the exterior display to its edges, but it surely’s nonetheless basically the identical as Samsung’s earlier fashions. The crease within the foldable display is much less seen than ever, but it surely’s nonetheless one thing you’ll be able to really feel when your finger swipes over it. The design additionally hasn’t gotten a lot thinner or lighter; examine that to Samsung’s Z Fold 7, which has shed appreciable heft era over era. Battery life within the Z Flip 7 hasn’t improved a lot over its predecessor, both.

Apple’s flip-style iPhone might, after all, clear up these “downsides.” Its first foldable reportedly won’t have a visible crease. And if Apple could make the machine as skinny as two iPhone Airs stacked collectively and even slimmer, then it might have one thing that exhibits it was value ready for. After which there’s iOS—Apple customers who’ve been unwilling to change to Android regardless of the attractive design may very well contemplate an Apple-made flip-style iPhone. Along with Apple silicon, a flip-style iPhone might not have the identical battery restraints as an Android-powered flip foldable.

And greater than ever—particularly now that the regular iPhone 17 is such a great value—pricing will in the end decide whether or not or not any iPhone foldables succeed or not. On this economic system, no person is leaping to pay extra for a gimmick, even when that gimmick is one thing that makes the iPhone match higher in a pair of thin denims or a handbag.

Shoppers have been ready for Apple to launch each book-style and flip-style variations of the iPhone. However can Apple provide one thing really new or will it come off wanting like a copycat for type elements that Android telephone makers have been promoting for years?

In Apple’s Q1 2026 earnings final month, CEO Tim Cook dinner mentioned, “… we’re excited for all of the alternatives we’ll have within the 12 months forward to ship improvements which have by no means been seen earlier than.” Was he teasing the iPhone foldable, the redesigned tandem OLED MacBook Pros with touchscreens, low-cost MacBook, or one thing else? The reality to “improvements which have by no means been seen earlier than” in all probability lies nearer to “on Apple gadgets.” As a result of let’s be actual, any iPhone foldable—whether or not book-style or flip-style—shouldn’t be going to be a brand new thought, even when it’s a higher product.