For the first foldable iPhone, it’s all about the software

We’re almost there, then. On September 9th Apple is widely expected to unveil the smartphone industry’s worst-kept secret: the first foldable iPhone. This has been a long time coming – rumors about the company working on one have been making the rounds since at least 2021, if not earlier – so it’s no wonder that Apple’s fans seem more excited about this particular fall event. Sure, we’ve been getting new iPhone models every September, like clockwork, for the past 14 years or so (the 2020 COVID year being the only exception to that rule), but… this time? This time we get a foldable iPhone model. Innovation, finally!

Pot shots aside, the iPhone Fold or iPhone Ultra or iPhone Whatever Apple chooses to call it, actually is a big deal – if anything, because it will draw the attention of more people than ever to this particular device category. Those we’ve had since 2019 – from a variety of Android phone manufacturers and others – but, considering they still represent less than 2% of total smartphone shipments globally, it’s fair to say they haven’t caught on yet. The reasons why that is are many and varied, but it’s a given that this low percentage will go up by at least a few points in the next few years due to the mere presence of an Apple device in this category. Every analyst under the sun has already written about this, so it’s not worth exploring any further.

What may be worth exploring is the strange fact that almost everyone seems to be focused on the form factor of this new foldable iPhone, its design and the hardware it’s built around. Yes, novelty does depend on how this device looks compared to every other iPhone out there – no point arguing about that. Few people seem to realize, though, that what will prove to be far more important long-term is not what this foldable iPhone looks like or how powerful it is or even how it feels to use. What will make or break this new smartphone is what it can actually do and how well it can do it.

In other words: it will be, once again, about the software.

The honeymoon phase is all about the hardware…

See, with devices such as the first foldable iPhone, there’s this honeymoon phase that many long-time iPhone owners are currently looking forward to: how they’ll explore what the “passport” form factor offers, how they’ll enjoy that it’s different to every other iPhone they used in the past, how it will finally feel new. Which is something that the iPhone range was in dire need of for at least a few years now, if not more.

What most of current iPhone owners thinking of getting a foldable iPhone seem to forget is that, by definition, this honeymoon phase will be over at some point. It may last a bit more for some consumers than for others, sure, but it will come to an end eventually. When that time comes – when the excitement about the new form factor wears off – what’s left is what the device actually does and how well it does it compared to past iPhones and other foldables. Which is more of a software matter than anything else… and precisely where things with the first foldable iPhone will get interesting, revealing a lot about Apple itself in the process.

How do we know? Past experience. Samsung had a lot of trouble making Android, One UI and Android apps – even some of its own – work flawlessly with the first Galaxy Z Fold models. Τhe company itself and Google had to do a lot of foundational work before developers could settle on how their apps or games should look and work on expanding screens, side-by-side, in top-and-bottom orientation, while being resizable… you name it.

Ironically enough, those issues seemed to have been largely resolved last year… but the relatively fresh “passport” form factor – which results in a 4:3, tablet-like aspect ratio when opened – created new challenges of the same type. Τech reviewers and YouTube creators pointed that out and showed that on-screen respectively when evaluating the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 just a few short weeks ago.

…but once that honeymoon phase is over, it’s all about the software

Which brings us to Apple. The company had the luxury of watching others stumble while getting ready for its own foldable iPhone moment… but how it’s planning on tackling all the software issues others have faced with foldable smartphones is still anyone’s guess. Very few people – if any not working inside Cupertino – seem to know how this new iPhone’s operating system and apps will behave in the context of this form factor. We know they both should (retaining absolute iOS compatibility while offering maximum functionality) but we don’t know how or even if they’ll be able to offer a trouble-free user experience to consumers.

Opinions on the matter are all over the place. Some seem to believe that the foldable iPhone will run a “shrunk down” version of iPadOS, which would natively offer resizable windows, side-by-side apps, better multitasking and other features. Some think that this device will run a special, hybrid iOS/iPadOS operating system that will itself set the rules on how standard iOS apps should behave on different screens. Others still seem to believe that all the development framework changes Apple has gradually introduced over the last few years – plus the specific ones introduced in iOS 2027 since June – should be enough to ensure that iPhone apps and games work well on the new foldable model.

Whatever the case may be, Apple has no excuses here. The company had more than enough time – the better part of a decade, in fact – to make sure that its first foldable smartphone would not suffer from the same software issues everyone else’s has. What’s more, it had enough time to think on how this foldable iPhone could offer a superior user experience, both in terms of functionality and usability, compared to that of typical “candybar” iPhones, in order to justify its higher price tag.

So, in other words, if the much-discussed, much-anticipated iPhone Fold or iPhone Ultra or iPhone Whathaveyou does not deliver software-wise, we’ll be talking about an incomplete, expensive, v1.0 product the vast majority of people thinking of buying it should probably skip. Will Apple rise to the challenge? Not long now!