Apple Co-Founder: Where’s My Foldable iPhone?

Steve Wozniak is worried that Apple is falling behind.

iPhone Home

Last week, Samsung unveiled an exorbitantly priced foldable smartphone, adding its name to the growing list of tech companies that think the flip phone is poised for a comeback.

One company not on that list: Apple — and that has the company's co-founder Steve Wozniak concerned.

"Apple has been a leader for quite a long time in a few areas such as touch ID, facial ID, and easy payment with the phone," Wozniak told Bloomberg. "They’re not the leader in areas like the folding phone, and that worries me because I really want a folding phone."

Patent Clues

Wozniak noted during the interview that folding phones are "one of those new technologies that does catch [his] attention."

They've caught Apple's attention, too, even if the company has yet to actually bring a foldable iPhone to market: Back in 2014, Apple filed a patent application for a foldable iPhone. That patent was approved in 2016, and earlier this month, the United States Patent and Trademark office published Apple's 2019 update to that application.

iPhone 2020

As for when Apple might move from the patent to the development stage, Wall Street firm Merrill Lynch told clients in March 2018 that the company was working on a foldable iPhone, with plans to release it in 2020.

Rumors of that release date continue to circulate, so while Wozniak might not have his foldable iPhone just yet, there's a chance he won't have to wait much longer for it.

READ MORE: Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Really Wants a Folding iPhone [Bloomberg]

More on folding phones: Samsung Just Revealed a $1,980 Folding Smartphone