Analyst Expects iPhone Fold To Lead Apple's 2026 Lineup, iPhone Air 2 Also In The Works

With the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air now out, analyst Jeff Pu expects Apple to sell up to 94 million models of these new smartphones. Still, talking about the next year, he believes the most important product for sales is going to be the iPhone Fold. In a note seen by BGR, the analyst says the release of this breakthrough device will continue to make Foxconn a key partner of Apple, as it will be responsible for making this product into a reality.

Pu also hints at the materials Apple will use for the iPhone Fold and iPhone Air, as the foldable device is expected to have titanium and aluminum parts, while the iPhone Air 2 will continue to use titanium to prevent this iPhone from bending. Still, Pu hasn't yet shared his predictions for the main configurations of these devices, as he did in the past few months with the first-gen iPhone Air and the iPhone 17 lineup. That said, it doesn't mean we don't have an idea of what to expect from them.

So far, rumors expect the iPhone Fold to look like two iPhone Airs glued together. With an outer 5.5-inch display and inner 7.8-inch screen, reports say Apple was able to create the perfect crease-less design, and it will be developed by Samsung. The device, which will be released in the same year as the eighth generation of Samsung's foldables, is expected to feature a variation of Apple's A20 chip, a minimum of 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage.

While this device's price point can surpass $2,000, Apple is still expected to make the iPhone 18 Pro models the best ones, as they will continue to have more lenses than the iPhone Air and the iPhone Fold. The foldable device should also feature Apple's Wi-Fi and 5G modems, even though this is expected for the entire 2026 iPhone lineup.

For the iPhone Air 2, we still don't know for sure if Apple will only upgrade the chip, continue to sell the 2025 model, or if the company is still working on other improvements, such as the addition of a second ultra-wide camera, a second speaker, or a new battery technology.