Apple has reportedly started prototyping its long-rumored foldable iPhone with suppliers in June, targeting a launch in the second half of 2026, per DigiTimes. Supply chain sources indicate that the device entered the initial Prototype 1 (P1) phase last month. It is expected to complete prototype testing by the end of 2025 before advancing to the Engineering Verification Test (EVT) stage.
Hartley Charlton for MacRumors:
The P1 phase is followed by P2 and P3 phases before EVT. Each prototyping stage takes around two months. During this time, Apple’s supply chain partners conduct limited trial runs before handing over assembly responsibilities to primary iPhone assemblers Foxconn and Pegatron, who will validate production yields and manufacturability.
The development status of the first foldable iPhone is now in line with the timeline of its other products, with P1 to P3 stages taking place around a year before Apple needs to start EVT, Design Verification Test (DVT), and eventually Mass Production (MP). The iPhone 17 lineup apparently concluded its EVT phase in the second quarter of this year.
MacDailyNews Take: Pretty much regardless of the price, Apple won’t be able to make enough foldable iPhones!
As with fingerprint and facial recognition, when Apple debuts a foldable iPhone, then foldable smartphones will have been done right. — MacDailyNews, January 17, 2019
We’ll happily wait for the day when foldable displays can be manufactured in the massive quantities required for a real iPhone, thanks. – MacDailyNews, February 20, 2019
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
The post Apple’s foldable iPhone hits prototyping ahead of 2026 launch appeared first on MacDailyNews.
