TECH NEWS – We’re not discussing pricing, but rather how the Cupertino-based tech giant plans to release the device.

Renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently gave an extensive interview to MacroMicron. Kuo stated that Apple is under pressure due to continuous AI innovations, especially since many believe that Apple has fallen behind in the AI technology race. Accordingly, the Cupertino tech giant is pursuing aggressive innovation within its iPhone product line to effectively compete. However, Apple continues to struggle with inertia because its product development cycle is longer than its competitors’. Thus, the iPhone Air is the most effective weapon Apple can deploy in the meantime, but significant changes to the user experience are expected in 2026.

The biggest change relates to the iPhone Fold, whose production pace is already behind schedule. Kuo believes Apple will announce the product in the second half of 2026. Due to early-stage yield and ramp-up challenges, smooth shipments are unlikely until 2027. Consequently, the analyst expects the iPhone Fold to be in short supply until at least the end of 2026.

Kuo noted that Apple is under tremendous pressure to showcase significantly improved AI capabilities at WWDC 2026, and to do so, the tech giant may rely more heavily on Google Gemini. In the long term, however, Kuo believes AI will be central to product design, so Apple is expected to continue developing its own AI model.

Kuo added that the larger screen of the Apple iPhone Fold will benefit the display of multimodal AI content. However, in the long term, smart glasses equipped with displays could replace today’s screen-based consumer electronics, with significant shipment growth likely only when business models and technologies reach maturity around 2028–2030.

So the foldable iPhone might need some time until people can get their hands on it.

Source: WCCFTech