Foxconn is allegedly testing foldable iPhone prototypes

According to a new Chinese report Monday, Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn is currently stress-testing a foldable iPhone prototype with over 100,000 opening and closing tests.

By comparison, laptop manufacturers typically test folding components of their products with between 20,000 and 30,000 opening and closing tests. According to today’s report by China-language Economic Daily News, foldable display panels for Apple’s secret phone will be built by Samsung Display, which currently provides the vast majority of the iPhone OLED panels. A report in May by ETNews alleged that Samsung’s display-making arm had provided samples of its foldable OLED panels to Apple, Google and other major technology makers.

Notable leaker Jon Prosser recently alleged that a foldable iPhone prototype features two separate display panels, connected by a hinge mechanism. This is in stark contrast to Samsung’s Galaxy Fold device, which uses a single panel. Having two screens connected by a hinge instead of one may be Apple’s answer to early teething issues plaguing the initial crop of foldable phones, namely weak screens with a visible crease in the middle.

Instead of basically sticking two phones together, Apple’s foldable iPhone prototype features rounded, stainless steel edges. “Even though they’re two separate panels, when the displays are extended, it looks fairly continuous and seamless,” he noted. The device apparel has a tiny forehead on the outer display for Face ID and no notch.

Rumors about a foldable iPhone are mostly fueled by Apple’s patent filings.