Once again, a new rumor claims Apple’s first foldable iPhone will use a crease-free folding screen made by Samsung Display. In fact, Apple had no input into the panel’s design, it’s all Samsung on this one – and this is notable because of how rarely it happens, as Apple generally likes to customize every single part it uses in its devices.
Not this time, though, and the reason is allegedly to “ensure stable mass production” of the foldable iPhone, planned to arrive in the second half of next year. A custom display solution may not have achieved the same yields as what Samsung Display can offer with its own design.
Apple’s decision to go all-in with Samsung Display’s crease-free solution will benefit the latter’s suppliers, including Fine M-Tec, a key provider of internal hinges, which has emerged as the leading beneficiary according to Ming-Chi Kuo, a renowned source of Apple-related information from the supply chains. According to him, Fine M-Tec will have an 80% share (or more) of the supply of this part.
The internal hinge is a key part of a crease-free folding screen, as this metal plate helps distribute and control bending stress, preventing the display material from exceeding its elastic limit. And that’s how the likelihood of creasing is minimized, Kuo explains. For all of this to work, the metal plate must be highly integrated with the display design, and that’s exactly what Samsung Display and Fine M-Tec have achieved.
For Apple’s folding iPhone, laser drilling will be used to create microstructures that better guide stress distribution and enhance crease resistance. Fine M-Tec should start shipping display metal plates for the foldable iPhone in the first quarter of next year, with unit prices apparently being in the $30-35 range.
Shipments are reportedly expected to reach 13-15 million units in 2026, but those aren’t the projected sales numbers for the iPhone Fold – they will be lower, more such plates need to be produced than actual iPhone Folds shipped due to yield losses and repair stock requirements.