Everything the IPhone Air Can Tell Us About the Foldable IPhone Rumors
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Apple hasn’t officially announced plans to introduce a foldable iPhone, but there’s no doubt that it’s coming soon. Rumors have been swirling for years , with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo — two of the industry’s most reliable sources of Apple information — both claiming the device will ship in 2026.
Now that the foldable iPhone is possibly less than a year away, Apple has released the iPhone Air . It wouldn’t be a big surprise if the iPhone Fold looked like two iPhone Airs with a hinge in the middle. That means the thinnest iPhone ever could give us a glimpse of the future of Apple’s foldable devices.
Fineness and durability
Slimness is an absolute must for a foldable phone: no one wants two regular phones sitting together in a pocket or bag. This is not so important when the foldable phone is open, but when closed, any excess bulk becomes much more noticeable, so foldable phone manufacturers try to literally minimize this problem.
The Honor Magic V5 foldable measures just 4.2mm (0.17 inches) from front to back when unfolded, while the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is exactly the same. The iPhone Air is officially 5.64mm (0.22 inches) thick, excluding the camera bump, which is significantly thicker than the regular iPhone 17 at 7.95mm (0.31 inches).
While the foldable iPhone will likely need to be made even thinner, Apple is clearly moving in the right direction. Plus, the company is also working on another important feature of foldable phones: durability. Having extra moving parts and screens in a foldable phone means it needs to be able to withstand bumps and scratches, and obviously have a strong hinge mechanism.
The iPhone Air stands out among the 2025 models because it uses the all-new Ceramic Shield 2 (a glass-ceramic hybrid) material on the front, and an older material on the back. It’s a fully rugged smartphone. While the Pro and Pro Max models don’t use titanium, the iPhone Air uses it for extra strength, making it effectively the toughest iPhone ever, so expect the same from the iPhone Fold.
Redesigned internal components
At the iPhone Air unveiling in September 2025, Apple detailed how the iPhone Air’s internal components were completely redesigned to make as much room as possible for the battery. Most other components were moved to the top of the case, which is one of the reasons why the iPhone Air only has one rear camera.
The physical SIM card slot was removed entirely to give the phone as much battery capacity as possible despite its thin size, and foldable phones present a similar challenge: the batteries in these devices have to power a tablet-sized display when they’re fully open.
Apple is likely to use some similar engineering innovations when designing the iPhone Fold. It will have twice the internal space of a standard smartphone of the same thickness, but it will require installing a lot of components, including the hinge mechanism.
When it comes to the big reveal of the foldable iPhone, I wouldn’t be surprised to see another X-ray video showing off its internals and how Apple has made the most of the space. The iPhone Air required a new approach to fit the limitations of the form factor, and the iPhone Fold will need the same.
What the Latest Rumors Say About the Foldable iPhone
Lifehacker rounded up the biggest rumors about the foldable iPhone Fold back in December , and since then, even more discussions about the device have appeared online. These speculations have been around for a long time, dating back to 2019, when Samsung first started making foldable smartphones, but it looks like the wait is almost over.
Gurman has gone on record again that we will get a foldable iPhone in 2026, and an all-glass curved iPhone for the 20th anniversary in 2027. He predicts that it will be a book-shaped foldable phone rather than a flip phone, and it will apparently have two rear cameras: one on the main screen and one on the outer display. The smartphone will apparently be available in black and white.
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Gurman also claimed that Apple is working hard to minimize the folds on the iPhone Fold and make the hinge stronger than competing models. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, meanwhile, confirmed that the foldable smartphone will use a Touch ID scanner built into the power button, like the iPad (the iPhone Fold is essentially a mini-iPad, after all).
As for pricing, now might be a good time to start saving: supply chain sources point to a starting price of $2,100-$2,500, which is slightly higher than the Galaxy Z Fold 7’s $1,999.99 launch price.
All of the above is still in the realm of rumors, and nothing will be for sure until Tim Cook shows up on air and tells us the iPhone Fold is real, but I think the iPhone Air has given us the most significant glimpse into the future to date.