- iPhone Fold renders may have been leaked
- Someone turned them into a 3D print
- Questions remain about what Apple will deliver and when
Apple is building a foldable iPhone. Even without confirmation from the Cupertino tech giant, we believe it, and all the rumors and leaks point to it, but it’s hard to find tangible proof, until now. After apparent CAD designs for an iPhone Fold were leaked last week, someone fed those designs to a 3D printer and created an incredible mockup that you can see, touch, and, yes, fold.
The story begins when the German site iPhone-ticker.de stumbles upon CAD drawings and a virtual CAD representation of the device. Less than a week later, someone at 3D printing community site MakerWorld used CAD to design and print what looks like a near-perfect replica of what Apple’s first foldable iPhone could look like.
However, as the manufacturer, Subsy, admits, there are limits. This is just a rendering of the exterior of the alleged iPhone Fold. The hinge is basic and only designed to allow 3D printing to bend, and has no relation to the hinge mechanism Apple might be building. More importantly, there is no working phone inside, not even a flexible screen. And yet, we can’t stop looking at the “iPhone Fold 1:1 Replica (with Folding Hinge)”.
As the CAD design and this 3D print show, the iPhone Fold could be a much wider device, at least when folded, than we originally anticipated: 3.3 inches wide x 4.65 inches high by 9.6 mm thick. In fact, the form factor reminds us a bit of Microsoft’s Surface Duo, although with that device, instead of a foldable screen, it folded out to reveal two separate display panels.
The near-full-width camera island looks about right, but it certainly looks more like what you find on the ultra-thin iPhone Air than an iPhone 17 Pro Max. That makes sense, as both halves of the anticipated iPhone Fold should be at least as thin as the 5.6mm iPhone Air if Apple wants to maintain a relatively thin and light folded profile.
Perhaps most interesting is the fact that if you have a 3D printer, you can download this design and print a fake iPhone Fold yourself. Why would you want a non-functional 3D printed iPhone Fold replica? Possibly because the actual product might take longer to arrive than anyone had previously anticipated.
Recent reports indicate that Apple is still struggling to produce a “wrinkle-free” iPhone Fold. Whatever foldable iPhone Apple eventually offers, likely in 2026, it follows in the footsteps of brilliant devices from Google, and especially Samsung, which has come pretty close, though not quite there, to a crease-free design in the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7. And in our review of the Honor Magic V5, we said, “the crease on the internal screen is so minimal,” that we had to remind ourselves to look for it when we first set up the phone.
In other words, Apple faces a very high bar when it comes to flexible display quality. The truth is that 3D representations of the body represent, apart from the hinge, the simplest part of the folding equation. Everyone will be focused on that screen and whether it meets or exceeds the current state of the art. God forbid, Apple falls short.
In the meantime, join us for what could be a first look at the iPhone Fold design, because it could be a while before we get the actual model.
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