Foldable iPhone just leaked — and it could be an 8-inch beast

(Image credit: EverythingApplePro)

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo can't stop talking about iPhones these days. After detailing new iPhone 13 features like a smaller notch and bigger batteries and predicting a 2022 launch for a 5G iPhone SE, the well-connected Apple observer is now turning his attention to the iPhone Flip.

The iPhone Flip is the rumored foldable phone that everyone assumes Apple is working on but no one knows when information technology might appear. Kuo, in a research notation spotted past 9to5Mac, is throwing his two cents in on a foldable iPhone, and if he'south right, nosotros're in for quite a wait.

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Kuo doesn't expect to see a foldable iPhone before 2023. And even then, it'due south no certainty that the foldable volition exist shipping. In his note, Kuo says that Apple will take to "solve the foldable mobile device's key technology" and make progress on bringing a seven.5- to viii-inch foldable device to mass product if information technology has whatever promise of delivering such a phone two years from now.

Kuo's forecast isn't out of line with what other people have said well-nigh the iPhone Flip. Bloomberg reported dorsum in January that Apple tree was testing a epitome of a foldable phone, simply had no concrete plans on shipping the device. Digitimes has been more than aggressive, reporting that Apple tree may accept a foldable ready by 2022.

Apple is reportedly eyeing two possible designs for the iPhone Flip — either a phone that opens upwards to reveal a tablet-sized screen, not unlike Samsung'south Galaxy Z Fold devices, and a clamshell-fashion handset with a screen that flips open. If Kuo's timeline is accurate, information technology could be some time before we come across which option Apple tree picks — if the iPhone Flip even surfaces at all.

Information technology could be a large yr for iPhones all around in 2023 based on Kuo's report. In add-on to a foldable iPhone, he'south besides suggested the possibility that we could see a truly full-screen iPhone in 2023, with no notch and no cut-outs for front end-facing cameras. Kuo expects the notch on the iPhone 13 to shrink this year, with the 2022 model turning to a punch-pigsty cutout in its display to business firm the front end camera.

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Philip Michaels is a senior editor at Tom'due south Guide. He has strong opinions about Apple, the Oakland Athletics and old movies. Follow him at @PhilipMichaels.