Expert believes iPhone 18 Fold could cost more than a MacBook Pro

We’ve been hearing rumours surrounding a folding iPhone for years but the latest suggests the device, if it ever arrives, could cost more than Apple’s M5 MacBook Pro.

Folding phones aren’t cheap no matter which brand you buy. Samsung has been making folding phones since 2019 and its latest Galaxy Z Fold 7 still costs upwards of £1,500.

Couple that with the fact that Apple’s standard iPhone 17 isn’t what you would call cheap, with a starting price of £799, and you can see how a folding phone from the company could creep into laptop pricing territory.

Could the iPhone Fold really cost this much?

The most recent price suggestion comes from analyst Arthur Liao at Fubon Research, picked up by MacRumors, where he said he expects the foldable iPhone to cost $2,399. To put that into some form of perspective, the most expensive iPhone 17 Pro Max costs $1,999, while the cheapest MacBook Pro with the M5 chip starts at $1,599.

The report from Liao also suggests that Apple could sell around 5.4 million units next year with foldables being the “only spotlight” in what could otherwise be a dwindling smartphone market. It also mentioned that Apple was working on camera upgrades for 2026, suggesting that the iPhone 18 Pro models could feature the company’s first variable aperture lens.

It’s thought that the iPhone Fold won’t get this lens though and instead will have a dual rear camera system, which will at least be one more sensor than the iPhone Air got this year.

For now, there is no official word on whether we will ever see a folding iPhone, so it’s certainly not known how much it will cost. However, it’s safe to say that if it does appear, it will sit at the premium end of the scale.

Previous rumours have suggested it could cost between $1,800 and $2,500 so Liao’s estimate sits at the higher end of that.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also previously suggested he expects it to cost around $2,000, while analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested between $2,000 and $2,500 in the past. Better get saving.