The result is not perfect, suggesting it may be wise to temper expectations.
This September, Apple will introduce its first foldable iPhone — a device that arrives not as a triumph of perfection, but as an honest reckoning with the limits of emerging technology. The crease will remain visible, the cameras will leave their mark on the display, and the price may reach nearly three thousand dollars, asking early adopters to pay a premium for a product that is, by Apple's own implicit admission, still becoming what it wants to be. It is a rare moment for a company whose identity has long rested on waiting until the answer is right before speaking the question aloud.
- Apple's foldable display, once rumored to be crease-free, will still show a visible fold line — a quiet but significant retreat from early expectations.
- Plans for an invisible under-display camera were abandoned after image quality fell short, forcing a hole-punch design on both the outer and inner screens.
- The inner 7.8-inch display runs iOS with iPad-like multitasking, but stops short of full iPadOS capabilities — a deliberate middle ground that may satisfy neither camp.
- Samsung's memory pricing has climbed sharply amid global AI-driven supply pressure, pushing the top-tier 1TB model toward a $3,000 price point.
- Apple is threading a careful needle: releasing a first-generation foldable that is functional and desirable, while asking consumers to accept trade-offs no previous iPhone has required.
Apple's first foldable iPhone arrives this September carrying a set of compromises that earlier optimism had suggested the company might avoid. What was once described as a nearly crease-free display has been walked back by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who confirmed the new Samsung panel reduces the fold line but does not eliminate it — a meaningful distinction for a device that may cost close to three thousand dollars.
The camera story follows a similar arc. The outer 5.5-inch display uses a hole-punch front camera within the familiar Dynamic Island interface, with Touch ID relocated to the side button in place of under-screen Face ID. Apple had originally planned to embed the inner display's camera entirely beneath the screen, which would have made it the first truly all-screen iPhone. That ambition was set aside when image quality proved insufficient, and a hole-punch design will appear on the inner 7.8-inch display as well.
That inner screen — nearly the size of an iPad mini — runs iOS rather than iPadOS, but with an expanded interface when unfolded: two apps side-by-side, left-side sidebars, and developer tools for adapting existing apps. Full iPad multitasking and iPadOS apps remain out of reach, leaving the experience in deliberate middle ground.
The device ships with 12GB of RAM across three storage tiers — 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB — with Samsung supplying memory at a notably higher price than previous contracts, reflecting tightening global supply as AI infrastructure absorbs capacity. The fully loaded model could approach twice the cost of a maxed-out iPhone 17 Pro.
What these details collectively reveal is a company releasing something it knows is imperfect, betting that functional and desirable is enough for a first generation. Whether consumers agree will become clear in September.
Apple's first foldable iPhone is coming this September, and the closer we get, the clearer it becomes that the device will be a study in compromise. What began as rumors of a nearly perfect screen has evolved into something more complicated—a phone that works, but not without visible trade-offs that early optimism had suggested Apple might avoid.
The most visible compromise is the display crease. When the iPhone Fold was first being discussed, reports suggested Apple had cracked the problem that has haunted every foldable phone on the market. Samsung was supplying a new panel described as "virtually crease free" or even "crease-free" altogether. But Mark Gurman of Bloomberg has since clarified that the reality is messier. The new display technology does reduce the crease. It just doesn't eliminate it. The result, Gurman reports, is "not perfect"—a phrase that carries weight when you're talking about a device that could cost nearly three thousand dollars.
The camera situation tells a similar story. On the outer 5.5-inch display, Apple is using a hole-punch cutout for the front-facing camera, surrounded by the Dynamic Island interface that iPhone users already know. There's no Face ID hardware under the screen; Touch ID has been moved to the side button instead. On the inner 7.8-inch display, Apple originally planned to embed the camera entirely under the screen, which would have made it the first truly all-screen iPhone. That idea is gone. Apple determined that the under-display approach produced worse image quality, so it's switching to a hole-punch design there as well.
The inner display's size—nearly as large as an iPad mini—raised questions about what operating system would run on it. Apple's answer is iOS, not iPadOS, but with a twist. When the device is folded open, the interface shifts to something iPad-like, with support for two apps running side-by-side and sidebars on the left side of the screen. Developers will get tools to adapt their existing apps for this new layout. But the device won't support the full range of iPad multitasking features, and it won't run existing iPadOS apps. It's a middle ground: iPad-like functionality without iPad's full capabilities.
The memory and storage specs reveal where Apple is positioning this device in its lineup. The iPhone Fold will ship with 12GB of RAM, matching the iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 Pro models. Samsung is handling the memory production and managed to negotiate a substantially higher price than previous contracts with Apple—a reflection of tightening global memory supplies as AI server buildouts consume capacity. Storage comes in three tiers: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. That top-end model could approach three thousand dollars, putting a fully loaded iPhone Fold at nearly twice the cost of a maxed-out standard iPhone 17 Pro.
What emerges from these details is a device that Apple is clearly working hard to make functional and desirable, but one that requires users to accept visible imperfections and higher costs than any iPhone before it. The crease will be there when you look at the screen. The cameras will be visible as holes. The software will be iOS, but not quite like any iOS experience before. These aren't failures—they're the shape of a first-generation foldable from a company that typically waits until it can do something right before it does it at all. Whether that calculation works for consumers will become clear in September.
Citações Notáveis
The new display technology reduces the crease without eliminating it entirely, and the result is not perfect.— Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
Apple determined that the under-display camera approach produced worse image quality and switched to a hole-punch design instead.— Mark Gurman, Bloomberg
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would Apple launch a foldable phone if the display still has a visible crease? Doesn't that undermine the whole point?
It does seem like a step backward from what the rumors promised. But the crease is reduced, even if it's not gone. Apple might be betting that "better than the competition" is enough, especially if the rest of the device works well. Sometimes you ship what you can make, not what you dreamed of.
The camera situation is interesting—they abandoned the under-display camera because of image quality. That's a very Apple decision.
It is. Most companies would probably ship it anyway and let users deal with blurry selfies. Apple chose the hole-punch instead, which is visible but functional. It suggests they're prioritizing actual usability over the idea of a perfect all-screen device.
Running iOS instead of iPadOS on a 7.8-inch screen seems odd. Why not just use iPadOS?
Because it's still an iPhone, fundamentally. iPadOS apps wouldn't work on it, and Apple probably doesn't want to fragment its ecosystem. But they're giving it iPad-like features when it's open—multitasking, sidebars. It's a compromise that lets them keep one OS while adapting the interface to the form factor.
The pricing is striking. Three thousand dollars for the top model.
That's the real question mark. You're paying a premium for being first, for the engineering, for the Samsung memory that's more expensive now. But you're also accepting a visible crease and cameras that aren't hidden. At that price, people will want everything to be perfect. And it won't be.