Despite reportedly developing its own design for an iPhone Fold screen that does not crease, Apple is again said to be using one developed by Samsung Display.
In February 2025, it was reported that Apple had significantly improved on previous folding screens and how they normally form a clear crease after continued use. Now analyst Ming-Chi Kuo backs up the claim that Apple has its own design, but says the firm won’t be using it.
Specifically, in a note on his blog, Kuo says that Apple is now expected to use Samsung Display’s design in order to ensure mass production can begin on schedule to launch the iPhone fold in the second half of 2026.
That timetable does fit with recent reports that the iPhone fold will go into manufacturing in summer 2026. While Kuo doesn’t specify a launch date for the iPhone fold, it’s presumably September 2026, alongside the rest of Apple’s iPhone 18 range — unless Apple splits its iPhone launch.
Kuo also does not say, but arguably implies, that the Samsung Display screen is an existing design. An existing Samsung screen would already be a known and tested commodity, making it a safer bet for mass production.
If it’s an entirely new Samsung design made for the iPhone fold, it’s hard to see any benefit over Apple’s own new design. Conceivably Apple’s new design is delayed or in some other way insufficient for manufacturing, but Kuo does not say this.
The crease-proof screen was surely, though, going to be a strong and perhaps unique selling point for Apple. It might justify how the firm has failed to release a folding device when Samsung launched its first back in 2019.
Kuo does, though, describe that the Samsung Display design as being a “crease-free display solution.” He also says that the design specifically prevents creasing by keeping the screen from being bent beyond its limits.
That sounds like it will prevent misuse, but doesn’t speak to how the screen will work under regular use.
Kuo’s report follows one from April 2025 where it was claimed that Apple had settled on using Samsung Display for manufacturing the screen. However, that report was chiefly concerned with how Apple had considering different production partners, rather than necessarily using any design other than its own.
Most recently, it was reported that Samsung was building a new factory exclusively for producing iPhone fold screens.
