Apple might delay its foldable iPhone to 2027 because it can’t decide on the hinge

If you’ve marked 2026 as the year Apple will finally release its highly anticipated foldable iPhone in your calendar, you may need to cross it out. A recent report suggests that the launch could be delayed.

According to The Elec, citing a report from Japan’s Mizuho Securities, the release of Apple’s first foldable iPhone might be pushed back to 2027, due to Apple taking longer to finalize certain design elements of the phone, such as the hinge and other “key specifications.” Since Apple is still mulling over the final design choices for the phone, the report indicates that this could hinder mass production of enough units in time for a potential fall 2026 launch alongside the iPhone 18 series.

However, it’s important to note that a delay until 2027 is not certain. The same report also states that a 2026 release remains possible, but that production would be limited to only five to seven million units worldwide.

The iPhone 18 may also not come out until 2027

The foldable iPhone could be smaller than the Galaxy Z Fold 7

It’s not just the foldable iPhone that might not come out until 2027, but also the iPhone 18. In its report, Japan’s Mizuho Securities corroborates reports we saw earlier this year about Apple possibly splitting the launch of the iPhone 18 series in half.

What does this mean exactly? It’s rumored Apple will be releasing the iPhone 18 in the spring of 2027, alongside the iPhone 18e, with the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, and the iPhone Air 2 being released in the fall of 2026.

I wouldn’t consider this a delay of the iPhone 18, necessarily, but rather a new strategy Apple could be taking with the launch of new iPhone models.

So it seems the foldable iPhone could possibly come out with the iPhone 18 Pro in the fall of 2026, or due to issues with mass production, land in 2027 with the base iPhone 18.

As for what the foldable iPhone has in store, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reported earlier this year that it will offer a “similar design” to the Galaxy Z Fold 7, the book-style foldable Samsung released earlier this year. Gurman also said that he doesn’t expect the foldable iPhone to “revolutionize the category,” which means the technology behind the foldable iPhone might not deviate too much from foldable phones we’ve already seen, such as the Fold 7 or the Pixel 10 Pro Fold.

Back in March, Apple supply-chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the foldable iPhone could have approximately a 7.8-inch inner display and a 5.8-inch outer display, with a price tag ranging anywhere from $2,000 to $2,500.

If those specifications turn out to be accurate, that actually makes the first-generation foldable iPhone smaller than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, which has an 8-inch inner display and a much larger 6.5-inch outer display. Another interesting thing to note is that by the time Apple finally releases the phone as well, Samsung will probably already have its next-generation Fold phone out, presumably the Fold 8, as it usually releases its new foldables in the summer.

Personally, it still boggles my mind that Apple hasn’t released a foldable iPhone yet, given how Samsung has been in the game now for half a decade, and Google is now on its third-generation foldable, with the recent release of the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Hopefully, Apple can figure out what hinge to use soon, so that the foldable iPhone can actually be released sooner rather than later in 2026, but with Apple’s indecision, it seems it could very easily slip into 2027.