The iPhone Fold is expected to arrive later this year alongside iPhone 18 Pro — though there's a chance that Apple doesn't release them at the same time. Supply chain sources have now revealed more about the Fold's production progress, and they could explain the potential phased launch.
Reports show that trial production is well under way with a mass production target of July. But in doing so, the company's hit some engineering snags that could delay the launch by months.
On and off again
First up is a tip from leaker Momentary Digital on Weibo, claiming that trial production of the iPhone Fold has already begun at Foxconn: Apple's manufacturing partner. This was in response to a separate post claiming mass production would begin in July, which around the same time as the iPhone 18 Pro.
That suggests the production of the first Apple foldable is on track, and, assuming everything goes smoothly during trial production, we should still see the phone arrive this year.
However, a separate report from Nikkei claims that engineering issues could "delay the first shipment by months." Apparently, it all comes down to unspecified issues uncovered during test production, with problems that are taking "more time to resolve than Apple had expected."
The issue isn't to do with components or materials, according to the report; instead, Apple is facing unspecified engineering issues.
For this reason, some component suppliers have reportedly been informed that the foldable's component production schedule will be pushed back. One source even claimed that the situation could be bad enough that it "could put the mass production timeline at risk" due to the tight timeline Apple is supposedly working with.
That doesn't paint a particularly positive picture for the release of the iPhone Fold. However, it's not like we have a crystal ball to verify Apple's production process. Here's hoping that the iPhone Fold doesn't get delayed beyond the end of the year!
