A foldable iPhone has been the stuff of tech rumors for quite some time, and so far, we have got nothing concrete except some concept based renders and a design patent filed by the company itself. It now appears that Apple is reaching out to Samsung – a pioneer in the domain of foldable smartphones – for a bulk sample order of its foldable display panels. The information comes courtesy of repeated leakster Ice Universe, who mentioned in a Weibo post (via Macrumors) that Apple has asked for a ‘large quantity’ of Samsung’s foldable panel samples.

As per an older report from ETNews, Samsung Display made sample foldable panels and delivered them to Apple back in 2019. But as per the fresh leak, Apple has now procured a bulk order of foldable panels, which indicates that Apple is into the deeper stage of development regarding its own foldable phone project. So far, details about Apple’s foldable iPhone have been scarce, and there is a lot of confusion if it will be a clamshell device like the Galaxy Z Flip or a phone-tablet hybrid akin to the Galaxy Z Fold2, both of which use a foldable panel with a layer of UTG (Ultra Thin Glass) for added durability. 

https://twitter.com/jon_prosser/status/1272504675615551489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

However, prolific Apple leakster Jon Prosser recently shared that Apple’s foldable iPhone might not use a flexible panel. Instead, the company’s version of a foldable iPhone uses two separate panels joined by a hinge in the middle- somewhat like Microsoft’s Surface Duo. The device will reportedly retain the iPhone 11’s rounded metallic edges, and that there will also be an outer cover display that has a notch housing the selfie camera and the Face ID sensors. But if the new report about Apple procuring foldable display samples from Samsung in bulk is true, we might be looking at an altogether different take than earlier anticipated.