Forget the iPhone 16, Apple's first-ever folding phone could arrive in 2026

Apple is reportedly ready to jump on the folding bandwagon with its first-ever foldable smartphone. According to a report from The Information , Apple's articulated trailblazer, codenamed "V68", is set to arrive in 2026 and will sport a "clamshell" design, doubling over vertically in the same vein as the newly unveiled Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 .

Details are sketchy at the moment, but The Information claims that Apple is actually in the process of developing the phone now that it's settled on a design, and while rumours have swirled for many years that the Californian company would deviate from its standard iPhone configuration, it appears that it has a concrete plan that has "moved beyond the conceptual stage".

Apple's big concern has been with eliminating the crease that often results as part of having a folding design, something that Samsung has seemingly done a pretty good job in smoothing over with its latest Z Flip model. According to The Verge , Apple is also working on a foldable iPad, strengthening the idea that it would use similar techniques and technology for a scaled-down mobile version.

Before we get to anything folding, Apple will almost certainly be releasing its latest iteration of its classic iPhone model – the iPhone 16 – later in the year, with rumours suggesting that we'll see a launch in early September 2024. This week we also heard that Apple TV+ is set to be trimmed back because not enough people are watching. Lots going on for Apple, then.

Will a folding iPhone actually ever arrive? Nothing's confirmed yet, but we'll let you know as soon as we have concrete information either way.

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