Apple has yet to confirm the existence of its foldable iPhone, but recent reports suggest it might be more affordable than initially expected.
For anyone complaining that Apple’s recent iPhone releases have only offered incremental upgrades, 2026 will likely be a huge inflection point for Apple’s iconic smartphone. More than likely, Apple next year will release a foldable smartphone, a highly-anticipated device expected to spearhead the company’s 2026 iPhone lineup and, as we’ll get to later, spur a huge upgrade cycle.
Apple’s entire business model is rather simple. The company sells premium products at premium prices. With that in mind, it stands to reason that Apple’s foldable iPhone won’t come cheap. Some estimates suggest Apple may price the device somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500. As a point of reference, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7 starts at $1,999.
A more recent report from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, however, relays that Apple’s foldable iPhone may be more affordable than initially thought. The reason, interestingly enough, has nothing to do with Apple lowering the price to drive volume. On the contrary, Kuo writes that the hinge Apple needs for the device will cost somewhere between $70 and $80. This is a tad lower than initial estimates, which pegged the cost of the hinge to fall somewhere in the $100 to $120 range. «The sharp reduction in hinge ASPs», Kuo writes, «enables Apple to lower costs and improve margins, or reflect the savings in its pricing to expand market share.»
Apple will likely want to keep the price in the same ballpark as rival devices. A price point significantly over $2,000 would, in my opinion, be a bad strategy. Apple’s flagship iPhone needs to be a success. It needs to be in the hands of consumers, not a status symbol only affordable to a small minority, which is a problem it encountered with the wildly expensive Vision Pro.
