Speculation that Apple will unveil its first foldable iPhone at the September event and release it officially on September 18 is gaining momentum again through the supply chain.
Key takeaways
Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable iPhone this September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro series
A scenario emerges in which keynotes on September 9 allow reservations for 12 days, followed by a store launch on 18
However, some major analysts warn that preorders could be pushed into the fourth quarter
Signals for the launch of the 'iPhone Fold' narrowing to September 18
Fixed Focus Digital, a well-known tipster on Chinese Weibo, said in an early-month post that Apple’s foldable iPhone project—called the “iPhone Ultra” in the market—is proceeding without schedule delays. It was said that the initial mass-production transition period struggled to ramp up output, but that issue has now been resolved. It is known that building the production lines was completed at the end of July, and it is just a few weeks before the September keynote.
In the industry, people are drawing up a schedule based on Apple’s usual release calendar. If things follow that scenario and Apple holds its keynote on Wednesday, September 9, preorders would begin on Saturday, September 12, with store sales and deliveries starting from Friday, September 18. If the keynote is pushed back by one week, the entire schedule would also be delayed across the board, and the official launch would move to September 25.
Tech journalist David Phelan also forecast the release date as September 18 in a separate report. He cited as grounds that there have not been widely observed signs of significant supply-chain delays by the current cycle timing. This is a relatively “moderate” outlook amid conflicting rumors surrounding hinge component yields, display production efficiency, and assembly process capacity that have persisted for months.
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Ming-Chi Kuo warns: “Recreating iPhone X… preorders in the fourth quarter”
There isn’t only optimism. Famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo analyzed in a recent report that Apple will likely adopt a strategy similar to that used for iPhone X. Under this scenario, Apple would unveil the product at the September event, but would open actual preorders in the fourth quarter, meaning consumers could have to wait for weeks, as they did in 2017.
He projected that by presenting the starting price of the foldable iPhone at around $2,300 to $2,500, the first batch would effectively sell out as soon as preorders open. The importance of the launch timing is especially highlighted this year. The prevailing outlook is that the standard iPhone 18 will skip this autumn and be pushed to spring 2027, meaning the September stage will likely be led essentially by the Pro lineup and the “book-style” foldable model as the only main stars.
Foxconn, crossing the final hurdle for hinges and displays
Assembly partner Foxconn is reported to be carrying out final adjustments at factories in China—work corresponding to the ‘final mass-production tuning’—according to supply-chain sources.
A report warned that engineering validation work targeting foldable displays and hinge structures is ongoing, and that the schedule could be extended by up to about two months in this process.
The schedule has gone through multiple roller-coaster swings since this past spring. In May, hinge durability came under scrutiny during endurance testing, and in July, news of mass production initiation emerged—but only a few weeks later, additional validation issues were raised again, reviving uncertainty.
Nevertheless, it is reported that Apple has set its production target for this year’s foldable iPhone at around 10 million units. This figure raises the originally internally reviewed target of 7 million to 8 million units.
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