Apple in 2023 could release a rumored iPhone featuring a folding display measuring between 7.5 and eight inches diagonally in 2023, provided it can solve key issues this year.

But Would You Buy One?

That's according to Ming-Chi Kuo, the most reliable Apple analyst at TF International Securities, a financial services group in the Asia-Pacific region. In his new research note to clients, seen by MacRumors, the revered analyst expands on his earlier assessment regarding Apple's foldable iPhone plans.

For context, most current folding phones are between six and eight inches when unfolded.

Don't get your hopes up too high---Kuo's note suggests the device is currently in the research and development phase. In his own words, a foldable iPhone has "not yet officially kicked off" at Apple. Moreover, a commercial launch in 2023 is dependent on Apple's ability to solve "key technology and mass production issues" this year, reads the note.

It is anyone's guess as to how a folding iPhone might actually advance the user experience.

It's unclear whether Apple is building this product just because its chief rival Samsung and other smartphone makers have been experimenting with similar technology. Instead of being first, Apple typically enters established markets with differentiating products.

It remains to be seen whether foldable phones are just a fad or if they have staying power.

A Folding iPhone Could Rock Invisible Hinges

At any rate, Apple's interest in this technology has been well documented in dozens of patent filings related to various aspects of a folding iPhone.

One of the recent patent filings from Apple goes to excruciating lengths to detail a geared hinge mechanism that would enable a foldable iPhone to easily fold both ways. You'd be able to open such a device inwards, like a book, or outwards, so that one screen wraps around the back of the other, with geared hinges strengthening the whole thing.

According to a recent report, two different folding iPhone prototypes have recently passed quality control checks. Apple's foldable screens developed for internal testing apparently feature largely invisible hinges, with the electronics situated behind the display. By contrast, Microsoft's Surface Duo uses two distinct screen panels separated by a hinge.

It's a pretty safe bet to assume that Apple has been developing a foldable iPhone for quite some time now. That being said, however, that's no guarantee that the product will see the light of day---Apple is well-known for axing projects that don't meet its exacting standards.

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