In the wake of the recent Vision Pro launch, mostly positive reviews, and (reportedly) selling out of its modest 200,000 unit initial production run, Apple seems to have reignited its appetite for innovation. The company is said to be considering the release of a foldable iPhone after quietly developing the technology since 2018. A sticking point for the design-oriented firm may be the “ubiquitous foldable crease,” which has pundits speculating that Apple’s debut entry won’t hit the market before 2026. Early reports suggest the company is pursuing a clamshell form factor that folds lengthwise.

TechCrunch writes that Apple is exploring various form factors, but seems to be favoring a clamshell model that is “more Galaxy Flip than Galaxy Fold.”

The Cupertino crew “is reportedly eyeing an 8-inch main display, which would be massive for a clamshell form factor,” TechCrunch notes, using the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s  6.7-inch main screen and the 6.9-inch viewing surface of the latest Motorola Razr as points of comparison. 

“A foldable iPhone would need to be significantly wider to pull this off without a bizarre aspect ratio, and at that point one begins to wonder at what point ‘clamshell’ isn’t the most accurate description,” says TechCrunch, citing The Information likening the prototype to a collapsible iPad mini. Gizmodo forecasts a foldable iPad will in fact be first to market, beating the two phone prototypes “currently going through tests.”

Both smartphone prototypes fold lengthwise, Gizmodo reports, “allowing it to stand up like a bipod or at a 90-degree angle.” Apple is putting a lot of energy into eliminating “the worst aspects of foldables, namely the fragility and the annoying crease,” Gizmodo writes.

“Foldables are hardly ubiquitous, but Samsung’s Fold and Flip devices proved that demand is there, culminating in the company’s decision to retire the Galaxy Note and promote the new devices to flagship status,” writes TechCrunch, noting that “Huawei, Oppo/OnePlus, Motorola (Lenovo) and Google” are “also in the game.”

The lack of a foldable form factor in the iPhone lineup came into sharp relief with the release of Apple’s latest quarterly earnings. At least one analyst pointed out that the iPhone’s recent “challenges” in China are due in no small part to that audience’s new fondness for foldable smartphones. 

The Information says that “if Apple ends up launching a foldable iPhone, it would be one of the biggest hardware design changes in the product’s history.”