{"id":277932,"date":"2026-02-03T04:15:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/277932\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:15:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:15:07","slug":"future-iphone-might-straight-up-copy-samsungs-z-flip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/277932\/","title":{"rendered":"Future iPhone Might Straight-Up Copy Samsung’s Z Flip"},"content":{"rendered":"

Apple hasn\u2019t even released its first foldable\u2014a book-style one that\u2019s been leaking out for months<\/a>\u2014and it\u2019s already reportedly working on another kind of phone that bends in half.<\/p>\n

At least that\u2019s according to Bloomberg\u2019s Mark Gurman, who wrote in his latest Power On newsletter<\/a> that \u201ca square, clamshell-style foldable phone\u201d is \u201cunder consideration\u201d by the iPhone maker.<\/p>\n

Gurman says that Apple is anticipating its first foldable, expected to launch in September with the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max,<\/a> will generate enough interest for \u201cadditional shapes and sizes.\u201d In other words, an iPhone that resembles Samsung\u2019s Galaxy Z Flip series, like the current Z Flip 7<\/a>, may be in Apple\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

It should surprise nobody that Apple is considering a flip-style iPhone. As iPhones have gotten larger, consumers have complained that they are no longer pocketable. At the same time, iPhones with smaller screens, like the iPhone 13 mini<\/a>, are just too tiny. A flip-style iPhone would be the only way to give consumers a big screen that can also be compact.<\/p>\n

Sounds great, right? The same way the iPhone mini, iPhone Plus, and iPhone Air have not been sales hits, there\u2019s no guarantee a flip-style iPhone would be a hit. Samsung has been releasing new versions of its Z Flip series annually since 2020<\/a>. The form factor is more durable than ever, and the latest Z Flip 7 pushes the external screen to its edges, but it\u2019s still fundamentally the same as Samsung\u2019s previous models. The crease in the foldable screen is less visible than ever, but it\u2019s still something you can feel when your finger swipes over it. The design also hasn\u2019t gotten much thinner or lighter; compare that to Samsung\u2019s Z Fold 7<\/a>, which has shed considerable heft generation over generation. Battery life in the Z Flip 7 hasn\u2019t improved much over its predecessor, either.<\/p>\n

Apple\u2019s flip-style iPhone could, of course, solve these \u201cdownsides.\u201d Its first foldable reportedly won\u2019t have a visible crease<\/a>. And if Apple can make the device as thin as two iPhone Airs<\/a> stacked together or even slimmer, then it could have something that shows it was worth waiting for. And then there\u2019s iOS\u2014Apple users who have been unwilling to switch to Android despite the enticing design may actually consider an Apple-made flip-style iPhone. Together with Apple silicon, a flip-style iPhone may not have the same battery restraints as an Android-powered flip foldable.<\/p>\n

And more than ever\u2014especially now that the regular iPhone 17 is such a great value<\/a>\u2014pricing will ultimately determine whether or not any iPhone foldables succeed or not. In this economy, nobody is leaping to pay more for a gimmick, even if that gimmick is something that makes the iPhone fit better in a pair of skinny jeans or a purse.<\/p>\n

Consumers have been waiting for Apple to release both book-style and flip-style versions of the iPhone. But can Apple offer something truly new or will it come off looking like a copycat for form factors that Android phone makers have been selling for years?<\/p>\n

In Apple\u2019s Q1 2026 earnings last month, CEO Tim Cook said, \u201c\u2026 we\u2019re excited for all the opportunities we\u2019ll have in the year ahead to deliver innovations that have never been seen before.\u201d Was he teasing the iPhone foldable, the redesigned tandem OLED MacBook Pros<\/a> with touchscreens, low-cost MacBook<\/a>, or something else? The truth to \u201cinnovations that have never been seen before\u201d probably lies closer to \u201con Apple devices.\u201d Because let\u2019s be real, any iPhone foldable\u2014whether book-style or flip-style\u2014is not going to be a new idea, even if it is a better product.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Apple hasn\u2019t even released its first foldable\u2014a book-style one that\u2019s been leaking out for months\u2014and it\u2019s already reportedly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[936,107825,61,4178,60,27342,202,4179,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-277932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-foldables","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-iphone","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-leaks","14":"tag-mobile","15":"tag-rumors","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}