The anticipated arrival of Apple’s first foldable phone has triggered a broad design shift across th
Apple has not even released the iPhone Fold yet, and it is already reshaping the entire foldable smartphone market. The mere anticipation of Apple’s entry into the category has prompted a wave of design changes from competing manufacturers, with five major Android rivals now pivoting toward the same wider, shorter form factor that Apple is expected to introduce. The shift signals a meaningful turning point for foldable phones — though it also exposes a potential weakness Apple may struggle to address at launch.
How Apple is setting the design direction
For years, foldable smartphones were dominated by tall and narrow book-style designs, most notably Samsung‘s Galaxy Z Fold series. Apple’s iPhone Fold is widely expected to break from that mold, favoring a wider, shorter 4:3 aspect ratio that more closely resembles a small tablet when unfolded. The practical appeal is clear — a wider screen reduces the black bars that appear above and below video content, making for a more immersive viewing experience.
The iPhone Fold has not launched yet, but its influence is already visible across the competitive landscape. When a product from Apple generates attention, the rest of the industry tends to respond, and that is exactly what is happening now.
The 5 rivals following Apple’s lead
Five manufacturers are each releasing or preparing wider foldable devices, all arriving within the same window as Apple’s expected launch.
1. Samsung is preparing the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide for a summer release, featuring an 8.1-inch internal display and a 6.5-inch cover screen. Despite seven generations of its Fold lineup, Samsung is changing the device’s shape for the first time — in the same year Apple enters the market.
2. Huawei has announced its Pura X Max, marking the company’s first-ever widescreen foldable phone. The timing of its reveal, coming shortly after Apple’s iPhone Fold details emerged, was difficult to overlook.
3. Google is expected to follow suit with the Pixel 11 Pro, which is anticipated to adopt a wider design consistent with the direction the broader market is heading.
4. Motorola is releasing the Razr Fold this year, adding to the growing momentum of manufacturers embracing the book-style wide format that Apple has helped put back into the spotlight.
5. Honor rounds out the group with the Magic V6, another wide foldable set to arrive before year’s end, further cementing the new design standard across the Android ecosystem.
The convergence of these five releases in a single year is not a coincidence. Global foldable phone shipments grew 14% year over year in the third quarter of 2025, reaching an all-time quarterly record, and manufacturers are clearly racing to capture buyers who are newly curious about the category.
The battery gap Apple may not close at launch
There is one area where Apple and Samsung are expected to trail their smaller rivals: battery technology. Three of the five competing devices — the Huawei Pura X Max, Motorola Razr Fold and Honor Magic V6 — are set to use silicon-carbon batteries, a newer technology that replaces traditional graphite components with silicon-carbon composites. The result is up to 20% higher energy density within the same physical space, translating to meaningfully longer battery life. Some devices using this technology have recorded more than 10 hours of screen-on time under heavy use, roughly three to four hours longer than a standard lithium-ion powered phone.
For foldable devices in particular, where large internal screens demand more power and slim designs leave limited room for oversized batteries, that difference matters considerably. Samsung has acknowledged it is testing silicon-carbon technology but has not committed to deploying it. Apple is widely expected to take a similarly cautious approach with its first foldable, given the added complexity of pairing an entirely new device category with newer battery chemistry.
That caution may be justified from a safety standpoint, but it hands a genuine competitive advantage to Android rivals who are already comfortable with the technology and will not hesitate to make that comparison loudly in their marketing.
Source: Forbes