Apple does not forget about folding phones, and the latest news ensures that Not only is it working on one, but it is also planning to launch a foldable iPad., perhaps even before.
In Cupertino they say they have been working on folding phones since 2018, but design problems have meant that the device has not yet seen the light of day. The engineers are clear about how they want the foldable iPhone: thin and without a groove in the middle of the screen. Apple's quality standards do not allow the screen, once unfolded, to have that unsightly and annoying groove in the middle, right where it bends when folded. They also want the folded phone to be no thicker than the current iPhone., which means that when unfolded it should be half as thick as the current iPhone. These are two challenges that have not yet been overcome and, apparently, the reason why the project is still in a development situation without a specific date for when the first model will be able to go on the market.
Frustration at Apple has reached such a point with this foldable iPhone that they even paralyzed the project in 2020 to get to work on a similar but larger device: a foldable iPad. The problem with the screen would remain the same, but since it is a larger product and not intended to go in a pocket, the thickness when folded is not so important, and there would also be more space for the batteries due to their size. Like the foldable iPhone, this foldable iPad is still in a very early development phase and is not expected to be a product that will see the light of day in the short term, but it could even be ahead of the foldable iPhone. Luckily, for both of us, it seems that we have plenty of time to save.