iPad interface, multitasking: Bloomberg has learned new details about the "foldable iPhone"

Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will allow users to run two apps side by side - a first on the company's mobile devices, Bloomberg has learned. The smartphone will also receive updates to the iOS operating system that will make the interface more similar to iPad tablets. Apple is banking on a wider internal screen to make the device stand out from the competition and make it easier to multitask.

A foldable smartphone from the iPhone developer will have an internal bendable display roughly the size of an iPad mini, sources told Bloomberg. In addition, the device will have an external screen, roughly corresponding to the size of the display of the standard iPhone.

The internal screen will have a wide image format, making it noticeably different from the narrower screens on competitors' devices - primarily Samsung and Google. According to the agency's interlocutors, this could be one of the key advantages of the device. Apple expects that its design will make the device more convenient for watching videos. In addition, it will be easier for developers to adapt applications for iPhone so that they more closely resemble programs for iPad.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg. The presentation of a foldable iPhone, according to the agency, is expected this fall - seven years after Samsung showed the first such smartphone.

Despite the similarities to the iPad, the foldable iPhone will run on standard iOS rather than iPadOS, Apple's tablet operating system. This means the multitasking system will remain simpler and won't get the desktop-like interface that appeared in iPadOS 26, Bloomberg explains. In addition, the device will not be able to run existing iPad apps.

While the foldable iPhone won't be able to open multiple windows at the same time like the iPad mini, it will support displaying two apps side by side. This is one of the key features of foldable smartphones from Samsung, Google and other manufacturers.

Apple has adopted a new display technology in an attempt to reduce the prominence of the crease in the middle of the inner screen, although it hasn't gotten rid of it completely. The solution isn't perfect, but it could potentially give Apple a marketing advantage, according to Bloomberg. Another challenge Apple engineers worked on was the durability of the device, one of the main issues for foldable smartphones. The goal was to increase the number of times the screen can be opened and closed before it starts to fail.

In the new device Apple plans to make a round cutout for the camera instead of the oval one now and to abandon the Face ID facial recognition system - it simply does not fit into the thin body, according to Bloomberg. Instead, the company will build a Touch ID fingerprint scanner into the side button. This will be the first iPhone with a fingerprint sensor since the third-generation iPhone SE, released in 2022.

There will be two main cameras on the back of the smartphone. Apple believes that the large internal screen, improved user experience and an estimated price of about $2000 will still allow the device to take the top position in the iPhone lineup, Bloomberg writes. The company also expects to attract users of foldable Android-based smartphones.

According to MarketWatch, of the 52 analysts tracking the iPhone developer's stock, 35 of them advise buying it. That's 6 more than three months earlier. 15 analysts maintain a Neutral (Hold) stance, and only two suggest selling the stock. The Wall Street consensus price target is $298.9, which is 16% above the stock's current value.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor