This year’s biggest Apple launch is likely to be the iPhone Fold, the company’s first ever foldable smartphone. And we’re starting to get a good idea of what to expect: last week we got our first glimpse of the device’s screen, and now you can look at its entire design. Allegedly.
A Turkish manufacturer has posted to Instagram imagery of what it claims is the mold for the iPhone Fold. This means the metal cast of a device that case makers use to make sure their cases fit the final design. Apple notoriously doesn’t share dimensions of new iPhones with third-party case makers, but manufacturers have their ways of getting their hands on the exact specs to make sure they’re available on day one.
Based on the post, the iPhone Fold will be roughly the size of an iPhone mini when closed, and roughly the size of an iPad mini when unfolded. It appears to have two rear-facing camera lenses (a major improvement on the iPhone Air, which the Fold is expected to follow, design-wise) in a straight rather than diagonal configuration.
Interestingly, when viewed from the side, the mold doesn’t give any indication of a Plateau, just a normal protruding camera module as on the 16-series generation of iPhones. There’s also a circular element on the back that appears to indicate the inclusion of MagSafe.
Needless to say, companies who are trusted with Apple’s secrets and then plaster those secrets all over social media won’t remain trusted very long, and having access to pre-launch details is a huge competitive advantage. So this sort of thing is relatively rare, and usually the result of a mistake or the actions of a disgruntled employee.
Partly because of the language barrier, and partly because all we get is a brief video, it’s unclear how this particular unit is alleged to have escaped into the wild (the caption of the video, via Google Translate, reads only “iPhone Fold is the first and only in the world together with its case”), but it would be deeply odd for an accessories maker to receive an official mold from Apple and then publicize that online. Which suggests either the company obtained it from elsewhere or it’s a convincing fake. Either way, we’d advise skepticism.
For all the latest news and rumors as we head to the big launch, bookmark our regularly updated iPhone Fold superguide.
