Apple Foldable iPhone Release Date, Display Size Leaked By Top Analyst

Apple has always offered new features for its new iPhone models, and most are wondering what the Cupertino company has planned for the future. A foldable iPhone has been mentioned in the past, but Apple has not officially announced such a device. All that could change in 2023, according to a famed analyst.

Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the company may be working on a foldable iPhone launch for 2023. This iPhone will have an 8-inch QHD+ flexible OLED display, with SDC handling the supply for the display and Samsung Foundry as the exclusive DDI foundry provider, he wrote in a research note to investors obtained by Apple Insider.

Kuo claimed the display will have a 3,200-by-1,800 pixel resolution, which would be higher than that of the Samsung Fold’s 7.3-inch QXGA+ screen. Aside from this, the foldable iPhone would make use of TPK’s silver nanowire touch solutions since it would have certain advantages over SDC's Y-Octa technology, the analyst said.

Although the features are pretty impressive, the next question that most would likely want answers to involves demand and supply. Kuo predicted that shipments will be between 15 to 20 million units in 2023.

The reason for this is that the analyst believes foldable smartphones will be in high demand at the time. He maintained that Apple is still likely to be the biggest winner since they would be well-positioned for the technology by that time.

“We predict that foldable devices will blur the product segmentations between smartphones, tablets, and laptops in the future. With its cross-product ecosystems and hardware design advantages, Apple will be the biggest winner in the new foldable device trend,” part of Kuo’s note to investors read.

Kuo added that Apple is already using the silver nanowire for the touch interface of the HomePod. This gives the Cupertino company some advantage as it would be able to master the technology and possibly produce it at a lower cost.

Although Kuo has been known to make correct predictions about the developments on Apple’s end, it would still be wise to take it with a grain of salt.

The analyst made a similar statement in March. At the time, he predicted a foldable iPhone with a 7.5 to 8-inch display, although he was unsure of the actual timeline. A reason for this is the governing conditions the world is at right now, but it appears that has changed a bit on the production side.

Kuo noted that the development of the foldable iPhone has not kicked off, meaning it would be best to take these forecasts lightly for now.