iPhone Fold to Feature iPad-Style Multitasking and Layouts - MacRumors
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iPhone Fold to Feature iPad-Style Multitasking and Layouts

The upcoming foldable iPhone that Apple plans to debut this September will operate like a cross between an iPhone and an iPad, reports Bloomberg.

iphone fold text
When the device is opened up, the UI will have an iPad-like layout that supports multitasking with two apps side-by-side. No iPhone to date has supported running multiple apps on the display at the same time, beyond simple picture-in-picture mode features.

Many apps will feature sidebars on the left of the display, and developers will be given tools to adapt their existing apps for the new interface.

The ‌iPad‌ interface makes sense because the iPhone Fold is something of an iPhone and ‌iPad‌ hybrid. When closed, it will resemble a traditional slab-style iPhone, but when open, it will be closer to the size of the iPad mini. Rather than a tall design, Apple is using a wider design than its competitors, and it is expected to have a 4:3 aspect ratio.

A wider display will make the iPhone Fold more useful for side-by-side apps, video watching, and similar tasks that people are used to doing with an ‌iPad‌. When the iPhone Fold is closed, the outer display will look like a standard iPhone. It will display apps and it will have a hole-punch front-facing camera for selfies, but there isn't Face ID support. Instead, Apple is using a fingerprint sensor that's included in the power button. The camera area will still support Dynamic Island features for Live Activities and relevant notifications even though there's no TrueDepth system.

Apple did test a camera that was underneath the inner display, but it produced poor images compared to the hole punch version, so Apple opted for a visible camera. The rear area will have dual cameras, but no triple-lens camera system because of space constraints.

Though the iPhone Fold will have a display with some features that are also available on the ‌iPad‌, it will run iOS, not iPadOS. It will not support the full range of multitasking features that are available on the ‌iPad‌, and it won't run existing iPadOS apps.

Apple plans to price the iPhone Fold somewhere around $2,000, and it will be the most expensive iPhone in the 2026 lineup.

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Top Rated Comments

9 months ago
I actually don't mind the wider form factor if it's still pocketable. This might become the ultimate media consumption travel companion on the market.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleFan91 Avatar
9 months ago
I hate that this will *most likely* be a feature exclusive to the iPhone Fold, yet there’s absolutely zero reason the Pro and Pro Max can’t do this too.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
9 months ago

I hate that this will *most likely* be a feature exclusive to the iPhone Fold, yet there’s absolutely zero reason the Pro and Pro Max can’t do this too.
How exactly would you run two apps side by side on Pro Max?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
9 months ago

Still on the Pro Max size I don’t see why some form of split screen isn’t already a thing during landscape mode. Apparently we need a folding phone before Apple considers letting two apps exist at the same time.
Because of obvious physical limitations.

Split screen in landscape would be 3"x3" for each app. The moment you bring up the keyboard, 1/3 of that real estate is gone. Would anyone seriously work in a 2"x3" window? Of course not.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
9 months ago

How exactly would you run two apps side by side on Pro Max?
On Android you can have floating Apps, which is very conventient when you just want to check your emails or answer a text without leaving the app you are fully merged in, in that moment. When you are done, you can minimize it to a tiny bubble and return to it again by just tapping on it

In my use case example I am browsing the web, quickly write something on Whatsapp and can also glance at my email inbox without actually leaving the browser. I can also quickly check the latest Instagram stories without leaving my main app that id be going back to right after anyway.

Constantly flipping between apps to do a temporary task seems inconvenient to me now after trying out Android. It disrupts my work flow. Open, close, open close, open close



Attachment Image
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
9 months ago
If it can be connected to an external display and be about as functional as the MacBook Neo, then it's a day one purchase for me. Bonus if it can be done over AirPlay. Now that we know what the iPhone Pro chip two generations older than this A20 Pro is capable of, there is no reason they shouldn't put this into a $2000 device. It's not going to cannibalize Mac sales for people buying a $2000 phone (we'll still have our MBPs), but it will make our life easier and make the price easier to swallow as well.

I just want one device to rule them all!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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