Apple fans eagerly awaiting the company’s entry into the foldables market will have to keep waiting a while longer, according to a displays analyst with an impressive track record of accurate predictions.
Ross Young, who at time of writing still has an enviable accuracy rating of 100% on AppleTrack – admittedly based on just nine predictions – has posted a summary of what he expects to be the big display stories in 2022. A brief entry low down the list notes that an “Apple Foldable” is “Not expected until 2023 at the earliest, 2024 more likely.”
Coming from a source with Young’s credentials, this will come as a disappointment to many potential customers.
In classic Apple style, the company has kept the foldables market at arm’s length, presumably plotting its strategy and waiting for the right moment as it has done in the past with a range of product categories from smartwatches to 5G phones. But there was hope that the first folding iPhone was at least reasonably imminent: last year we covered reports that Apple had such a device at a prototype stage, and had even ordered a large number of foldable screens. Earlier this year reports suggested that LG had signed up to provide those screens for the final product.
On the plus side, it could be argued that nobody needs a foldable iPhone, and perhaps Apple is better advised to focus its energies on other areas of its mobile business.
You can keep up with the latest rumours in our foldable iPhone news hub. This is all long-term future gazing, however, and those interested in buying an iPhone sooner than 2023 should check the lowest prices in our roundup of the best iPhone deals.
Author: David Price, Editor
David has loved the iPhone since covering the original 2007 launch; later his obsession expanded to include iPad and Apple Watch. He offers advice to owners (and prospective owners) of these devices.