Apple plans thinner, foldable iPhones to revive growth
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Apple is preparing a series of major design and format changes to its lineup of iPhones and potentially other products, a bid to revive growth after years of offering largely incremental upgrades. Starting next year, Apple plans to introduce an iPhone that will be thinner than the approximately 8-millimeter profile of current models, said people familiar with the company’s plans.
The model is intended to be cheaper than Pro models, with a simplified camera system to reduce costs. The company is also planning two foldable devices, the people said. A larger device, intended to serve as a laptop, would have a screen that unfolds to be nearly as large as some desktop monitors, at about 19 inches.
A smaller model would unfold to a display size that would be larger than an iPhone 16 Pro Max, intended to serve as a foldable iPhone, the people said. Both foldable designs have been in development for years, but some key parts weren’t ready. Major challenges included improving the hinge, a mechanism that allows the device to fold and unfold, and the display cover, a flexible material protecting the foldable screen.
Current foldable phones on the market aren’t thin, light or energy-efficient enough to meet Apple’s standards, which is why Apple has been slower to enter this segment, said Jeff Pu, an analyst with Hong Kong-based brokerage Haitong International Securities. Apple experimented with other different designs, such as having a display on the outside of the device when it is folded, but it now favors an inward-folding design, people familiar with the devices said. Although Apple initially aimed to introduce the larger device first to gauge market response, it now appears that the foldable
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