An Apple-brand foldable iPhone is in the works, reported tech news website The Information on Jul. 23.

According to two people with "direct knowledge on the matter", the new iPhone could be released as early as in 2026.

It would also fold widthwise like a clamshell, similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.

The tech giant has in recent months reached out to suppliers in Asia to make components for the phone, the sources said.

However, the report caveated that there is no guarantee that Apple will release the foldable iPhone.

Foldable phones

In 2019, South Korea-based Samsung Group pioneered its first foldable phone: the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

At the time, it was the world's first commercially-available folding smartphone.

Despite its hefty price tag of S$3,088, it sold out immediately in Singapore.

In subsequent years, it released later models of the Z Fold, and launched the vertically-folding Z Flip in 2020.

Most recently, it launched the Z Fold 6 in July this year, priced from S$2,548 for the most basic 256GB-storage model.

New camera

Apart from the new feature, Apple plans to introduce an upgraded camera with a new mechanical aperture-adjusting feature.

This would allow users to create and control a depth-of-field (aka "portrait mode") effect.

In other words, this blurred-background thing:

Mothership has reached out to Apple for comment.

Top image from Haniyah Nur Azzalea Hazizi/Google Maps