Apple will unveil its first foldable iPhone on Wednesday, and people familiar with the plans have told reporters the company recently discussed a starting price as high as $2,199.
Key Points:
- The device is the biggest design change in the roughly 20-year history of the iPhone, and it arrives at the first launch event run by new chief executive John Ternus.
- An early internal target of $1,999 slipped past the $2,000 mark as memory costs climbed, and top storage tiers could approach $3,000.
- Analysts expect at least 10 million units in year one, a small share of Apple's annual iPhone volume but a meaningful lift to average prices.
iPhone Ultra Pricing And Hardware
The company has set its "Surprise and shine" event at Apple Park for Wednesday, the first product launch under Chief Executive John Ternus. Engineers had studied folding phones, displays and related parts for years before Samsung shipped the first Galaxy Fold in 2019, people familiar with the work said. A spokesperson declined to comment.
Early plans targeted $1,999, a price meant to stay under the $2,000 line, echoing the iPhone X, which arrived at $999 in 2017 and reset the ceiling. A global memory shortage pushed costs past those goals, and some larger storage tiers could approach $3,000.
The phone pairs a 7.8-inch inner display with a 5.5-inch outer screen, and its titanium and aluminum hinge works with custom cover glass developed alongside Corning. Designers compared the folded device to a passport and the open one to a Magic Trackpad. It carries a weaker camera system and less battery life than a conventional iPhone.
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Analysts Weigh Apple's Foldable Bet
David Vogt, an analyst at UBS, expects Apple to sell at least 10 million foldables in the first year, roughly matching what Samsung sold over the past 12 months. That number would sit against the roughly 250 million iPhones the company ships each year, a sliver of volume with outsized weight on average prices.
Edison Lee of Jefferies said Apple has little choice, because iPhone demand has saturated and owners need a reason to replace older handsets. Nabila Popal, a senior smartphone researcher at IDC, expects strong sales anyway, and she compared the phone's likely standing in China, where Apple has been regaining share, to a luxury handbag. Research firm TrendForce has projected a starting range of $2,099 to $2,299.
Tim Cook's Decade-Long Push
Tim Cook returned from a trip to Asia around 2020 struck by how many shoppers there carried folding phones from Samsung, Huawei and other regional makers. He pushed hardware teams to move faster, then steered them away from an early concept for an iPad mini that opened into a tablet.
The project began under Dan Riccio, who ran hardware engineering before Ternus, and it survived years of work on crease visibility, hinge reliability, flexible glass and under-display cameras. Apple has used that patience before, waiting out the bubbling, rippling screens that drove up Samsung return rates in 2019. Cook, now executive chairman, will watch from the audience.
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