Samsung looks to chase Apple iPhone’s foldable design with ‘Wide Fold’

Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold
The foldable smartphone market is gearing up for a high-stakes rivalry in fall 2026, but emerging details paint Samsung as the follower rather than the innovator.
Apple’s long-rumored foldable iPhone has been in development for years, with leaks consistently describing a wider, book-like design featuring a near-4:3 aspect ratio — echoing the landscape proportions pioneered by iPads for enhanced productivity, e-book reading, web browsing, and document editing without heavy cropping.
Samsung’s existing Galaxy Z Fold series, up to the Z Fold7, employs a taller, narrower unfolded ratio (around 18:20), prioritizing slim portability over broader usability. Now, per ET News and The Verge reports, Samsung is introducing a “Wide Fold” in fall 2026 with a 7.6-inch internal OLED display, 5.4-inch external screen, and the exact 4:3 ratio matching Apple’s anticipated specs.
This move positions the Wide Fold as a rival to Apple’s device, which features nearly identical dimensions (around 7.58-7.7 inches unfolded). Industry insiders view Samsung’s wider variant as a defensive play to mitigate Apple’s market entry, expanding the Z lineup accordingly.
Adding irony: Samsung Display, Samsung’s panel division, is the exclusive supplier of foldable OLED screens for Apple’s iPhone Fold, with dedicated production lines ramping up for millions of units. While Samsung Electronics pioneered mass-market foldables, its latest design shift closely mirrors Apple’s expected blueprint — right down to using its own panels to power the competition.
Notably, likely following rumors about Apple’s foldable iPhone’s aspect ratio, Google’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold (pictured above) already embraces an even squarer unfolded aspect ratio (6:5, nearly 1:1), prioritizing app compatibility and multitasking over video-optimized widths. As Apple drives toward a balanced 4:3 for versatile use, Samsung’s alignment risks portraying the Wide Fold as a follower in the premium foldable race.
As Apple prepares to redefine foldables with an iPad-inspired experience, Samsung’s Wide Fold appears more like an adaptation than a bold new direction, underscoring how the iPhone maker is setting the pace.
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MacDailyNews Take: No matter, it’ll just be another iPhone knockoff running Android, itself an iOS knockoff. No iOS, no sale. If it’s not an iPhone, it’s not an iPhone.

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