Almost every major smartphone manufacturer now offers devices with a folding display. Apple is left out – so far there are no concrete plans for a folding iPhone.
The iPhone is a popular smartphone in the modder scene. Among other things, hobbyists have brought back the headphone jack and installed a USB-C port. Chinese YouTubers are now taking the next step and building the first iPhone with a foldable display.
iPhones come from the factory with foldable displays
For the project, the YouTubers used technology from the iPhone X, which is now five years old. The advantage of the older device is that the original displays are cheaply available as spare parts.
What many do not know: The OLED display of the iPhone X is already foldable. Apple itself has folded the display 180 degrees at the bottom to make the surrounding frame as thin as possible. Most Android smartphones do not use this technology, which is why the lower frame is often a bit thicker than the upper one. Engineers can take advantage of the flexibility of the iPhone X display and repurpose it for their own foldable iPhone.
Also read: First iPhone with USB-C port is now on sale
Display conversion extremely complicated
The display in the Phone X has six layers. The engineers remove the frame, glass and the 3D touch layer behind the display. All that’s left is the OLED display itself and the digitizer layer responsible for detecting touch inputs.
However, the separation of the different layers is extremely complex and error-prone. Even if the first few layers separate successfully, folding the display can cause damage that causes pixel lines to drop out. The operation only succeeds after half a year and with the 37th original display – the screen is fully functional.
As already mentioned, the separated display alone is very fragile. To ensure that it only folds in one axis and also folds evenly, a stabilizing mechanism is necessary. The engineers rely on technology from the manufacturer Motorola. With the Razr, they have had a smartphone with a foldable screen on offer since 2020.
They’re using the Razr as a base, as Motorola gave the display another curve in the fold when folded. In comparison, the Galaxy Z Flip from Samsung has a very narrow fold, which puts more strain on the display. The display can only withstand the strong bending thanks to Samsung’s durable plastic-glass coating. Therefore, for the iPhone display, the more generous bend is a better choice. When folded, the display has 7mm of height available for flexing. Motorola achieves this, among other things, by the fact that the lower half of the display is not fixed and can move freely.
New housing from the 3D printer
In the next step, the engineers have to find a way to split the body of the iPhone X in two. The two halves are each just under 7 cm high and all components must find space in them. However, it quickly becomes clear that not everything fits – so modifications are necessary.
Some of the components have to be rotated, which requires new flexible cables to connect to the display. The battery has to be downsized from just under 2700 milliamp hours (mAh) capacity to 1000 mAh to fit in the case. Also missing is one of the stereo speakers and the coil for wireless charging in the folding iPhone. However, all other components such as Face ID, cameras and Taptic Engine remain.
The engineers design the housing themselves and produce it with a 3D printer. To make it look more modern, they choose an angular-framed exterior similar to the current iPhone. The camera on the back is also in the style of the newer iPhone Pro models. The YouTubers even add an Apple logo and an iPhone lettering on the hinge between the two housing parts.
You can find all the rumors about Apple’s own folding iPhone here: When is Apple’s foldable “iPhone Fold” coming?
The foldable iPhone works!
The modified iPhone X actually folds and is fully functional. When folded, there is a large gap between the housing parts, but the display has enough space not to break. When you open it, you can see that the display is not firmly integrated into the case. Because of these limitations, the engineers on YouTube also call it “Version 0.1” – more of a prototype than a finished product. After all, they want to continue working on the idea and find solutions to eliminate the many problems.
Watch the full-length video here:
In order to make use of the foldable display, iOS also had to be adapted. The engineers use jailbreak to change certain aspects of iOS. For example, the folding iPhone can display two apps on top of each other in the split screen. For example, a video call can be made via the camera at the top and chatting with iMessage at the bottom. In the Photos app, the top half shows the selected photo and the bottom half shows other items in the library.
Unfortunately, the display in the folding iPhone developed bubbles after just a few days of use. When this happens, liquid leaks from the OLED pixels, causing a defect. Is that really worth more than 200 days of work? It’s at least an exciting case study exploring the possibility of a folding iPhone. The project shows that if a few YouTubers can build a prototype foldable iPhone, it shouldn’t be a problem for a company with the financial resources like Apple.