The latest iPhone Fold leaks provoke interesting questions around whether the device will feel more like an iPhone or an iPad.
iPhone Fold mockups show unusual shape when folded, iPad-like device unfolded
Recent leaks about the iPhone Fold indicate it could look a lot different from competing Samsung and Google models. The Galaxy Z Fold7 and Pixel 10 Pro Fold both look like standard phones when folded, and are still taller than wide when unfolded.
With the iPhone Fold, rumors point to an unusually short but wide design when folded, and essentially an iPad mini when unfolded.
Stephen Hackett at 512 Pixels 3D-printed a mockup, which Jason Snell wrote about at Six Colors in an article titled: “Will the iPhone Fold be a phone you open, or an iPad you close?”
If these mock-ups are real, this folding iPhone is not going to be what you may have pictured in your head: a modern iPhone, roughly the shape of an iPhone Pro, that folds open to reveal a larger screen inside. […]
after looking at these 3D-printed mock-ups and seeing a squat, paper-notepad-shaped iPhone that unfolds into a small iPad, it seems pretty clear to me: If this is the shape of the iPhone Fold to come, Apple is focusing on it being an iPad you can fold up and stick in your pocket, not as an iPhone that unfolds into two iPhones placed side by side.
Be sure to check out the articles at Six Colors and 512 Pixels to see the mockups.
Top comment by holdthiscat
“Will the iPhone Fold be a phone you open, or an iPad you close?” - As far as form factor, YES to both. But it completely depends upon whether or not the device is capable of making cellular phone calls. Since the iPad isn't, this new device would fall more into the phone category.
It’s amazing how many people here forget that form factor is not what makes a device a phone. It’s the functionality and capability that make it a phone.
Apple’s final product could very well end up looking fairly different from what we’re seeing here. However, if the iPhone Fold does come in such an unusual shape, it would take the iPhone and iOS in a fascinating new direction.
I’m thrilled by the prospect of essentially carrying around an iPad mini in my pocket. Hopefully iOS 27 will bring over the powerful windowing system of iPadOS 26—or something like it—to fully unlock that power.
But for now, I’m even more interested in how Apple might adapt iOS for the folded display. With its nontraditional rectangle, everything about iOS will need to be stretched wider. That could require a huge effort from Apple’s designers, which alone makes me skeptical that these mockups will prove accurate.
Would you want an iPhone Fold that’s built mainly for being an iPad? Let us know in the comments.
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