The iPhone Air, Apple’s slimmest ever smartphone, created plenty of headlines when it launched last month. But most pundits agree that the device is a precursor for something even more radical next year. And we just got a big clue about what that something will look like.
Apple is expected to follow up the Air with its first-ever foldable smartphone in late 2026. In that context, the design breakthroughs (and camera and battery compromises) which the company made for the Air make a lot more sense: a conventional smartphone doesn’t need to be as thin as 5.6mm, but the two halves of a foldable each need to be in that ballpark so the device isn’t too bulky when closed up.
This far from launch, details of the iPhone Fold (or iPhone 18 Fold, if Apple wants to link the device into its long-term numbering system) are scarce, but the assumption thus far has been that it will share numerous design elements with the iPhone Air: multiple analysts have gone on record to say that it will be essentially two Airs joined together. But according to a new investor note from Jeff Pu (via 9to5Mac), there will be at least one major difference: the frame will be made of a different material… or combination of materials.
The iPhone Air has a titanium frame, which is a key part of the sales pitch: with prospective customers likely fearing a repeat of 2014’s Bendgate scandal, Apple had to demonstrate that the Air is made of stronger stuff than the iPhone 6 Plus, and titanium is the toughest frame material around. The rest of the late-2025 iPhones have aluminum frames, and some older Pro models had a stainless steel frame. Those are the only options we’ve seen so far.
The Fold will be different, Pu reckons. It will have a hybrid frame, made of a combination of aluminum and titanium. The analyst doesn’t go into depth explaining why Apple would do that, but we have an idea of what the company likes about each of those two metals: titanium is strong, while aluminum is good for thermal performance. A cleverly designed hybrid could combine the benefits of each, at the cost of a more complex manufacturing process. And based on the prices Apple is expected to charge for the iPhone Fold ($1,999 is a conservative estimate), that might be an acceptable downside.
For all the latest news and rumors about this much-anticipated product, check our regularly updated folding iPhone superguide.
Author: David Price, Editor, Macworld
David has been writing about technology for well over two decades, and got on board the Apple hype train when covering the original iPhone launch in 2007. He is an enthusiastic Apple Watch evangelist and feels that the HomePod is misunderstood.