While the long-rumored iPhone Flip is generally still just that, a rumour, it looks like Apple's planned foldable phone may have taken a big metaphorical leap into reality.
This comes from the Asian news site The Elec, which published a report on Apple's production of a new type of OLED screen. This comes without a polarizer, which is a layer designed to improve the screen's ease of viewing, and according to The Elec, this removal, which also makes the screen thinner, is designed to make it ideal for foldable phones.
This technique of removing a polarizer to make foldable phone screens isn't new; in fact, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 used such a display, and it's Samsung Display (a separate Samsung branch from the group that makes Galaxy smartphones) that is Apple's. now.
But does that mean the iPhone Flip is about to be released? No, we would probably say no.
Analysis: Don't expect the foldable iPhone anytime soon
Just because a report says that Apple makes foldable screens doesn't mean we're going to be able to buy a foldable iPhone anytime soon.
Not only do other parts, including a hinge, body, and components, need to be designed to also accommodate the flexing nature of the phone, but we don't actually know if these screens are for the finished product.
In fact, a key step in creating a phone is the research and design phase, where many prototypes are created and tested to see which one is the best.
The new screens will likely only be created for test phones that will sit in Apple's labs and never go on sale. So you don't need to start saving for a foldable iPhone just yet.
Still, the fact that Apple is building screens for the iPhone suggests it has a few select prototypes to focus on and it's no longer in the planning stages. This could mean we won't have to wait until 2025 to see the iPhone Flip, as we previously thought, but we can't say for sure.