Although the foldable smartphone market stagnated in Q3-2024,  display analyst Ross Young predicts that Apple will finally introduce a foldable iPhone that will excite the market and give the foldable market a significant boost.  

In his report on the current foldable smartphone market, Young noted that Apple is expected to "enter the foldable market" in the second half of 2026. Apple's "dominance" in the flagship smartphone field may bring significant growth to the foldable market in 2026 , ultimately driving record sales of foldable screen phones.

Young expects the foldable market to grow by more than 30% in 2026, followed by continued 20% growth in 2027 and 2028.

there have long been rumors that Apple is developing a foldable iPhone, and some analysts believe that Apple will launch a foldable iPhone around September 2026. Source: IT Home 

The report hints that Apple will introduce a flip phone, though that wouldn't provide users with any real advantage. On the flipside, a premium book-style foldable would provide users with a greater display size for watching content and playing games. Then again, a flip phone may be a simple starting point.

Patently Apple has been following Apple's evolutionary work on foldables since 2014, with one of the patent figures from that report presented below.

Since that time there have dozens of foldable device patents that we've covered. See Apple's work on foldables in our display archives.