Industry Analyst Claims that a Foldable iPhone Is Indeed Coming in 2023

• Ming-Chi Kuo says a foldable iPhone is coming in 2023, featuring an 8-inch QHD+ screen made by Samsung.
• According to the analyst, foldables are going to explode soon, breaking outside the smartphone space.

The respected and trusted industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is generally accepted as an Apple “connoisseur”, claims that a foldable iPhone is indeed coming, but not before 2023. The device will reportedly feature an 8-inch QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) flexible display made by Samsung, who are very experienced in manufacturing flexible screens themselves. The touch system will be TPK’s silver nanowire solution, which is generally considered the more advantageous in the field right now.

Kuo goes as far as to predict that foldable iPhone shipments will reach up to 20 million units in 2023, and certainly no less than 15 million devices. As the analyst stated, folding screens will soon break out of the limits of smartphones and will be adopted by other devices like laptops, TVs, tablets, etc. There is just too much potential in the technology, and Apple is set to ride the trend at the exact right moment, ripping the full benefits.

Ming-Chi Kuo collects this information from part suppliers, and since he is based in Taiwan, he has direct access to a trove of “off the record” information that is proved to be truthful more often than not. In numbers, his predictions were 74.6% accurate as of 2020, so while we offer you this news with reservation, we are confident enough to present it as a confirmation that the foldable iPhone is indeed coming. The hardware specs and the rest are essential details of secondary importance at this point.

A month ago, we saw an Apple patent describing the use of silicon and aluminum ceramics embedded in a hard-coat protective layer that would help prevent damage to folding screens. The appearance of such patent applications isn’t indicative of anything other than experimentation and exploration for Apple’s engineers, but it was enough to get the rumor mill turning. However, and as we commented back then, Apple will only release a foldable iPhone in the market if they manage to make it durable enough to last for five years, and this still remains a question.

Kuo’s predictions may be based on real activity, but it doesn’t mean that all the challenges along the way will be surpassed. The folding iPhone prototype may not be up to Apple’s standards, so the 2023 date could be pushed further down the road. No doubt, it will be very interesting to see Apple’s approach in folding smartphones.