- iPhone Fold renders may have leaked
- Someone turned them into a 3D print
- Questions remain about what Apple will deliver and when
Apple is building a folding iPhone. Even without confirmation from the Cupertino tech giant, we believe it, and every rumor and leak points to it, but tangible proof is hard to find – until now. After apparent CAD designs for an iPhone Fold leaked last week, someone fed those designs into a 3D printer and created an incredible mockup that you can see, touch, and, yes, fold.
The story begins with German site iPhone-ticker.de stumbling upon the CAD drawings and a virtual CAD render of the device. Less than a week later, someone on the 3D printing community site MakerWorld, used the CAD to design and print out what looks like a near-perfect replica of what Apple’s first folding iPhone might look like.
As the maker, Subsy, admits, though, there are limits. This is only a render of the outside of the supposed iPhone Fold. The hinge is basic and only designed to let the 3D print fold, and has no relation to the hinge mechanism Apple might be building. More importantly, there’s no functioning phone inside, not even a flexible display. And yet, we can’t stop looking at the “iPhone Fold 1:1 Replica (with folding hinge).”
As the CAD design and this 3D print show, the iPhone Fold might be a much wider device – at least when folded – than we originally anticipated: 3.3 inches wide x 4.65 inches tall by 9.6mm thick. In fact, the form factor reminds us a bit of Microsoft’s Surface Duo, though, with that device, instead of a folding screen, it unfolded to reveal two separate display panels.
The nearly-full-width camera island looks about right but is certainly more akin to what you find on the ultra-thin iPhone Air than an iPhone 17 Pro Max. That makes sense, since the two halves of the anticipated iPhone Fold should be at least as thin as the 5.6mm iPhone Air if Apple wants to maintain a relatively thin and light folded profile.
Perhaps more exciting is the fact that if you have a 3D printer, you can download this design and print a fake iPhone Fold for yourself. Why would you want a non-functional 3D printed iPhone Fold replica? Possibly because the real thing might take longer to arrive than anyone previously anticipated.
Recent reports indicate Apple is still struggling to produce a “crease-free” iPhone Fold. Whatever folding iPhone Apple finally delivers,, likely in 2026, it follows in the footsteps of brilliant devices from Google, and especially Samsung, which has come quite close, though not reached, a crease-free design in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. And in our review of the Honor Magic V5, we said, “the crease on the inner display is so minimal,” we had to remind ourselves to look for it when we first set up the phone.
In other words, Apple faces a high bar when it comes to flexible screen quality. The truth is, the 3D renders of the body represent, aside from the hinge, the easiest part of the foldable equation. Everyone will be focusing on that screen and whether it meets or beats the current state of the art. Heaven forbid Apple falls short.
In the meantime, join us in enjoying what may be an early look at the iPhone Fold design, because it could be a while before we hold the real thing.
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lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
