Apple’s long-rumored foldable iPhone appears to be edging closer to reality, with fresh supply-chain chatter suggesting the project has cleared one of the biggest obstacles in the foldable world: the screen crease. Earlier reports claimed Apple achieved a crease-free display design, and the latest update says the device has moved into pre-production. Only minor tweaks are reportedly left, and they could take a couple of months to finalize before the iPhone Fold is ready for mass production.
What makes this especially notable is how long Apple has been working toward this moment. The foldable iPhone’s design is said to have been in development for around five years, pointing to a product that’s been iterated and refined well beyond the “first attempt” phase many foldables go through.
On the supplier side, a wide manufacturing network is reportedly already lined up. A number of major component and assembly partners are expected to benefit from the launch, including display, chip, camera, and manufacturing firms. One detail drawing attention is a vapor chamber cooling system reportedly supplied by Chi Hong. That matters because vapor chamber cooling is a proven way to manage heat in thin, high-performance devices, especially those pushing demanding chips and slim chassis designs. It’s also the first time this specific component has been mentioned in connection with Apple’s foldable, suggesting the iPhone Fold could be built with sustained performance in mind rather than short bursts of speed.
This ties into another expectation: vapor chamber cooling may become more common across future iPhone models. If Apple is indeed adopting this kind of thermal solution more broadly, the foldable iPhone would be launching at a time when the company is upgrading the internal engineering across its lineup to support higher performance and efficiency.
As for production goals, Apple is rumored to be aiming high for a first-generation foldable. Estimates point to roughly 7 million to 9 million units in year one, a number that could represent around 30% to 40% of annual global foldable smartphone shipments. That’s a huge statement for a category that has struggled to expand beyond early adopters, largely because foldables remain expensive and often come with compromises in durability, thickness, battery life, and visible creasing.
Ironically, the iPhone Fold may not solve the “expensive” problem at all. A rumored launch price of about $2,399 would place it firmly in ultra-premium territory. Still, the bet is that Apple’s ecosystem, long-term software support, and brand pull could persuade buyers who have ignored existing foldables to finally make the jump—especially if Apple delivers a cleaner-looking display with minimal or no crease.
Performance could be another major selling point. The iPhone Fold is expected to be among the first Apple devices—potentially alongside the iPhone 18 lineup—to feature the A20 Pro, rumored to be Apple’s first 2nm-class chipset. If that pans out, the A20 and A20 Pro are likely to bring meaningful gains in speed and power efficiency, which would be crucial for a foldable phone trying to balance a large display with battery life and thermals. Those advancements may also be a key part of Apple’s justification for such a steep price.
If these reports hold, the iPhone Fold is shaping up to be less of an experiment and more of a category reset: a foldable designed to remove the most common visual complaint, backed by high-end cooling, and powered by next-generation silicon—positioned to pull the foldable market out of its current slow-growth phase.
