Apple is widely expected to unveil its first iPhone with a foldable display this year. However, the rumored iPhone Fold could actually launch months after the iPhone 18 Pro.
iPhone Fold in December 2026
That’s according to Barclays analyst Tim Long (via MacRumors). He believes the iPhone Fold launch could happen in December.
With the exception of 2020, Apple has announced and released new iPhones in September since the iPhone 5 in 2012.
Still, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Apple release its most expensive iPhone model a few months after the standard flagship iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max models.
Apple has also historically released radically new models one to two months after announcing the full lineup.
For example, the iPhone X in 2017 arrived in November. A year later, iPhone XR arrived in October. iPhone 14 Plus also arrived in October. Each of these years, other iPhone models were released in September, as expected.
If this is the case, we can still expect Apple to announce iPhone Fold (or whatever Apple actually calls it) alongside iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max in September.
Last week, we learned that the iPhone Fold design was about to hit a major production milestone. That’s a good sign that the device is still on track for release this year — even if it’s a few months behind the standard flagship models.
The design also appears to be locked in as CAD files have surfaced this month. This aligns with previous design leaks that have turned out to be accurate.
iPhone Air 2 in March 2027
Separately, Long expects Apple to release either an iPhone 18 Plus or iPhone Air 2 alongside the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e in March 2027.
iPhone Air essentially replaced iPhone 16 Plus in the lineup last fall, and Apple is already expected to release the first successor to the iPhone Air no sooner than next spring.
Apple will reportedly support running two iPhone apps side-by-side on the iPhone Fold when the display is unfolded.
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