Apple’s first foldable iPhone is shaping up to stand out in one major way: a cleaner, smoother inner screen that aims to hide the dreaded display crease most foldables still struggle with. Early reports have suggested Apple has made real progress toward a crease-free design, but new information indicates the company still has engineering obstacles to overcome before it can deliver that polished look at scale.
According to a well-known tipster, Apple is currently testing Ultra-Thin Flexible Glass (UFG) for the iPhone Fold, and it may take months of refinement to get it right. The goal is straightforward but difficult: find the ideal glass thickness that can handle day-to-day wear while still bending reliably thousands of times without creating stress points that lead to visible creasing, cracking, or other long-term durability issues.
Why does this matter so much? Foldable inner displays rely on extremely thin layers that remain soft compared to traditional smartphone glass. That softness makes them more vulnerable to scuffs and scratches, and it also complicates the folding mechanism. If the flexible glass is too thin, durability can suffer. If it’s too thick, closing the device smoothly becomes harder and could introduce new problems that undermine the crease-free ambition. Apple’s reported approach is to test multiple UFG thickness levels to strike the best balance between toughness and flexibility.
This same tipster previously claimed Apple’s foldable prototype may skip Face ID in favor of a side-mounted Touch ID sensor, suggesting the company is still making practical design decisions to accommodate the unique constraints of a foldable form factor. Taken together, these reports paint a picture of a product that’s progressing—but still very much being tuned behind the scenes.
Timing may work in Apple’s favor. The iPhone Fold isn’t expected to arrive until around next September, giving Apple a sizable runway to iterate on display materials, hinge behavior, and overall reliability. That matters because foldable phones don’t just need to impress during a demo—they need to keep working after months and years of open-and-close cycles, pocket debris, and everyday handling.
Interestingly, Apple isn’t alone in exploring this next step in foldable tech. The report claims two unnamed Chinese smartphone makers are also experimenting with UFG for upcoming foldables, including devices with wider displays. That’s a notable detail because larger foldable panels can be even harder to keep flat and crease-free due to the increased surface area and mechanical stress across the fold.
There’s no specific mention of Samsung adopting the same UFG approach in this report, so it’s unclear how aggressively it’s pursuing a truly crease-free panel in future models. Meanwhile, competition from Chinese manufacturers is heating up quickly, especially as companies push more ambitious form factors. With Huawei already having shipped a triple-folding phone, it wouldn’t be surprising to see major brands chase a cleaner inner screen as the next big foldable battleground.
For Apple, these technical hurdles don’t necessarily signal trouble—more likely, they highlight how far its engineers want to push fit, finish, and long-term durability before a public launch. Another report has suggested only minor adjustments remain, but it’s still too early to rule out schedule changes. One prominent analyst has also predicted that iPhone Fold shipments may not truly stabilize until 2027, hinting that early supply could be limited as Apple ramps up production and refines key components like the foldable display stack.
If Apple can solve the UFG durability-versus-flexibility puzzle, the iPhone Fold could arrive with one of the most important visual upgrades foldable users have been waiting for: a large inner display that looks and feels closer to a normal phone screen, without the crease drawing your eye every time the light hits it.
