Next September 9 Apple would present its new smartphones, the generation corresponding to the iPhone 18. Among the rumors, it is said that this year we would only see the Pro and Pro Max versions. Furthermore, strong rumors speak of the arrival of a folding phoneseven years after the launch of the Galaxy Fold, Samsung’s bet that opened the market for these devices. The question is whether Apple is late to an already established trend or whether it can raise the standard for the category.
Next September 9 Apple would present its new smartphones, the generation corresponding to the iPhone 18. Among the rumors, it is said that this year we would only see the Pro and Pro Max versions. Furthermore, strong rumors speak of the arrival of a folding phoneseven years after the launch of the Galaxy Fold, Samsung’s bet that opened the market for these devices. The question is whether Apple is late to an already established trend or whether it can raise the standard for the category.
Everything seems to indicate that the long wait has not been a whim. The market expectation for the foldable iPhone – also mentioned in leaks as the iPhone Ultra – is not just because of the novelty: there are technical reasons. The main challenge would be to minimize the mark left by the fold in the center of the screen, one of the aspects that still raises doubts among users of these devices.
Apple’s formula: arrive late to perfect technology
It would not be the first time that the firm of the bitten apple entered a trend late. It happened in 2011, when Samsung launched the Galaxy Note with a 5.3 inch screengreat for a market then dominated by compact cell phones. Apple would not adopt larger screens until 2014, with the arrival of the iPhone 6 y 6 Plus.
At the end of the last decade, while brands such as LG, Huawei or Samsung implemented triple camera —with wide-angle sensors—, Apple maintained its dual system until 2019. The arrival of the iPhone 11 Pro reversed the situation. The company not only added the missing lens, but sought calibrate all three cameras consistently, so that the user could switch from one lens to another when recording video without noticing large jumps in color, exposure or focus.
Samsung and Nokia also incorporated Qi wireless charging into their devices before Apple, while the South Korean firm popularized AMOLED screens with its Galaxy line. Apple did not adopt both technologies until 2017, with the iPhone X, launched for the tenth anniversary of the iPhone and which represented a complete redesign. Its OLED screen reduced the edges and It integrated the Face ID system, which transformed three-dimensional biometric security, something that Android has not yet replicated with the same precision. The adoption of wireless charging, on the other hand, helped expand its presence in cafes, cars, and hotels.
Image of the foldable iPhone created by artificial intelligence.
Apple’s strategy is often less about being first and more about polish technologies that already exist until they become attractive to a mass audience. In folding ones, that challenge involves offering a resistant panel, with a reliable hinge and a central mark that is less noticeable than that of current models.
A report from the specialized media ‘The Elec’ reinforces that hypothesis. Giants like Oppo, Vivo and Google would plan to adopt ultra-thin double glass structures –ultra-thin glass or dual UTG– in their next generations of Fold-type folding devices, which open horizontally, like a book. Just as they would have been worked on in Apple’s first design.
The system would combine a sheet of flexible glass above the OLED panel and another below it. The top layer would protect the screen from scratches and impacts, while the bottom layer would help distribute the stress generated by the hinge, reinforcing the panel and reducing the crease mark with use.
Google, Oppo and Vivo would also evaluate adopting this structure in their next foldables, according to the same report. Samsung, for its part, would follow a different route in its Galaxy Z Fold8: it would use a single layer of UTG on the screen and titanium reinforcements below to give rigidity to the panel. If Apple achieves a screen with a less visible fold and greater durability, its entry into the segment could influence the next generation of foldable phones.
