The new foldable iPhone will not ship to customers in the same September timeframe as the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said today in a Q&A session. This confirmation reshapes everything we expected about Apple’s fall 2026 launch. Here is what is actually happening and what it means for anyone planning to buy.
Mark Gurman Confirms the Delay
There is no doubt that this is going to come a little bit later than the Pro phones. Gurman made this statement during a live Bloomberg Q&A on March 27. Like with the iPhone X, and select other models over the years, it sounds like the shipping date for the foldable could slip into October, November, or possibly even December.
Earlier this month, Barclays analyst Tim Long suggested that the foldable iPhone will not ship until December, suggesting a roughly three-month delay between the iPhone Fold and the iPhone 18 Pro models.
What the iPhone Fold Will Look Like
The first foldable iPhone will open up book-style, which means it will have a smaller outer display and then a larger, wider inner display. Design-wise, it will be similar to Google’s Pixel Fold or Samsung’s Galaxy Fold. When closed, the iPhone Fold will have a display that is around 5.3 inches, and when open, it will have a much larger 7.6-inch display.
The Crease Problem Apple Claims to Have Solved
The 2026 foldable iPhone reportedly has no visible crease, a problem that affects most foldable devices on the market. Apple is said to have pursued eliminating the crease regardless of cost, and the company has developed a new material property that makes the crease disappear.
To minimize the crease in the display, Apple plans to use liquid metal for the iPhone’s hinge, which will improve durability. Liquid metal, or amorphous metal, has a structure that is more resistant to bending, deformation, and denting than traditional metal.
The Price Leak That Has Everyone Talking
Apple’s foldable iPhone could cost close to $3,000 when maxed out on storage, according to alleged leaked pricing shared over Chinese social media. The iPhone Fold will come in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB configurations, with approximate prices starting around $2,320 and topping out at roughly $2,900 for the 1TB model.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes that Apple’s foldable iPhone will be priced somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has also suggested a similar price range. UBS analysts believe Apple will price it between $1,800 and $2,000.
What Ships in September vs What Ships Later
Instead of introducing four new iPhones in September 2026, the iPhone 18 lineup will come out across fall 2026 and spring 2027. The more expensive iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will launch in September as usual. After the fall launch, Apple will introduce the standard iPhone 18, the iPhone 18e, and possibly a second-generation iPhone Air in spring 2027.
iPhone 18 Pro Will Get the A20 Chip on 2nm
The iPhone 18 Pro models and the foldable iPhone will use Apple’s A20 chip. The A20 will use TSMC’s 2nm process for power and efficiency improvements. The transition to 2nm will allow for more transistors in each chip, which will boost performance. The A20 chips could be up to 15 percent faster and 30 percent more efficient than A19 chips.
Gurman Calls It the Most Significant iPhone Overhaul in History
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple’s first foldable iPhone. In his Power On newsletter, he said the foldable iPhone will be the most significant overhaul in the iPhone’s history. iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design.
That is a bold statement. And if the price leaks are real, Apple is betting that customers will pay nearly $3,000 for a device that fundamentally changes how an iPhone works. Whether that bet pays off depends entirely on what people see when they hold it for the first time. We will know more after Apple’s September event, but the shipping timeline is now the biggest question mark.
Written by Ameer Hamza
Tech Analyst and Founder of Global Tech Press. Currently expanding the GTP hardware testing labs and building the next generation of digital tech media.
