{"id":4838,"date":"2026-08-02T12:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T12:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4838"},"modified":"2026-08-02T12:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T12:14:20","slug":"foldable-phones-boring-apple","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4838","title":{"rendered":"Foldables are sort of boring now \u2014 and that\u2019s great news for Apple"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\n

This is <\/em>The Stepback<\/a>, a weekly newsletter breaking down one essential story from the tech world. For more on smartphones and Android, follow Dominic Preston.<\/a><\/em> The Stepback arrives in our subscribers\u2019 inboxes on Sunday at 8AM ET. Opt in for <\/em>The Stepback here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Believe it or not, it didn\u2019t all start with Samsung. Royole, a now-bankrupt<\/a> manufacturer of flexible displays, was the first to release a commercial folding phone, the \u201ccharmingly awful\u201d FlexPai<\/a>. Samsung\u2019s first Galaxy Fold<\/a> followed a year later, plagued by a variety of faults that saw review units break within days. That launch went so badly that it prompted<\/a> Chinese rival Huawei to delay the launch of its own Mate X foldable by five months<\/a>; its unusual design with the foldable screen wrapped around the outside<\/em> of the phone proved unpopular regardless. Motorola was next to join with its first Razr foldable<\/a>, closely followed by Samsung\u2019s similar Z Flip<\/a>; we scored each 4\/10 and 6\/10 respectively.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

To say it was a rough first two years for foldable phones would be an understatement, but things did get better. Samsung\u2019s subsequent generations of foldables didn\u2019t break half as easily as the first wave, and it learned the valuable lesson that integral parts of the display stack shouldn\u2019t be as easy to remove as a screen protector<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

More manufacturers joined the market, with foldables launched by Google, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Honor, and more. Prices slowly came down too \u2014 while flagship book-style foldables have hovered more or less around the $2,000 mark for seven years straight, cheaper models have appeared too. Motorola\u2019s entry-level Razr<\/a> is now $799, and last year Samsung introduced a cheaper FE variant of its Z Flip 7, for $899.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The hardware evolved over that period too. Foldables got thinner, lighter, and more durable; the creases got flatter and less visible, while some displays began to include stylus support too; the cameras started to catch up to standard slab phones. Perhaps most importantly, the form factors began to shift too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Until recently, foldable phones settled into two broad categories: compact flip phones, by now with square cover screens that extend across the outside of the phone\u2019s front; and larger book-style foldables that are thin when shut and almost square when open.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This has slowly begun to change. Huawei was the first to push new designs, starting with its Mate XT trifold<\/a>, then followed by a wider Pura X flip phone<\/a>, and this year the Pura X Max<\/a>, wider still. Samsung launched its own Galaxy Z TriFold<\/a> late last year, and last month shifted its Galaxy Z Fold 8<\/a> to the same squat shape as the Pura X Max.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Durability has improved to the point where Google\u2019s Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/a> was able to introduce an IP68 rating; Honor\u2019s Magic V6<\/a> has since one-upped that with IP69. That phone is also the thinnest foldable on the market, and the one with the largest battery, two feats that have been made possible by silicon-carbon battery designs<\/a>, a more energy-dense technology that enables smaller batteries with larger capacities. The latest foldables are barely thicker than flagship slab phones when closed, and almost as thin as the USB-C port when open, while packing batteries that last a day or two per charge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Oppo\u2019s Find N6<\/a> is almost as thin and long-lived as the Honor phone, but has another trick up its sleeve: an almost invisible crease. It\u2019s still possible to see and feel the point where the inner screen folds, but only if you really hunt for it, and even then it can often be difficult to find depending on the light.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

As for cameras, this remains the one area where foldables still have work to do, but not too much. Recent foldables from Oppo and Vivo have had triple rear cameras capable of impressive quality, comparable to some slab flagships. But they still lag behind the top tier of Ultra handsets, while costing substantially more. Still, this may be one area where foldables never fully catch up \u2014 cost and design constraints likely mean that the best of the best cameras will be limited to regular phones for the foreseeable future, with foldables always a step or two behind.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Despite all these improvements, foldable phones remain an undeniably niche proposition: according to Counterpoint<\/a>, they made up just 1.6 percent of the smartphone market in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The tech behind foldable phones is now mature enough for even Apple to trust it: The first foldable iPhone is widely expected to debut next month alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models. The looming launch will be \u201ca turning point for the foldable segment,\u201d according to IDC analyst Francisco Jeronimo, in a report<\/a> predicting Apple will claim 34 percent of the foldable market by value in its first year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

What remains to be seen is whether Apple will have the influence to grow the foldable market, drawing in customers who were skeptical until now, or simply waiting for a foldable that runs iOS. This could be the tipping point that pulls foldables from a niche to the mainstream, though assuming Apple prices the phone at a premium, there will still be pretty strict limits to its reach.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Even before its first sale, the foldable iPhone has already had an impact. Remember Huawei and Samsung\u2019s wider folds? It\u2019s probably no surprise that they appeared just months before Apple\u2019s foldable, which leaks suggest will be similarly wide. More companies are likely to jump on the bandwagon, with leaks pointing to wider folds from both Oppo and Honor on the way. The next 12 months will be the test of whether this form factor is truly more popular with users, or if Android manufacturers will regret hopping on the Apple bandwagon.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It\u2019s less clear if more manufacturers will be making trifolds, or even whether Huawei and Samsung will stick with that form factor. Huawei has made bullish claims<\/a> about the sales success of its two Mate XT phones, so there\u2019s hope it will stick with the design. Samsung, on the other hand, pulled its TriFold from the market<\/a> after less than three months, though it\u2019s unclear if that was down to low sales or simply a small manufacturing run. Rollables and other experimental form factors will likely have to wait a few more years before being commercialized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

This is a moment of major change for foldable phones. The standard models have gotten so good that they\u2019ve become a bit boring. Outside of new form factors, the annual releases have settled into a rhythm of minor iteration, and price is now the only real reason for consumers to resist them. Foldables are undeniably good enough now, and Apple\u2019s arrival will either open the market up more widely, or prove once and for all that most phone buyers simply don\u2019t care about phones that fold \u2014 or at least not at the prices being charged.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n