"Saving Private Ryan": Samsung's internal project to literally fold metal in latest Galaxy Z Fold 8 "seemed impossible" – and how it was solved

There's a scene in Steven Spielberg's 1998 classic, Saving Private Ryan, in which Captain John Miller, played by Tom Hanks, is desperately shooting his pistol at a tank in a last-ditch attempt to take it out. It explodes in a seemingly impossible moment.

While a movie analogy isn't typical of mobile phone production, I spoke with BD Yang, Samsung's Deputy Head of Core Component Technology Team about the brand's latest Z Fold 8 folding phone – revealed at Galaxy Unpacked in London.

He confirmed the Z Fold 8 – which introduces Flex Titanium technology, in which the company has been able to create a folding layer of the metal – posed "so many challenges" that it "seemed impossible – so we started internally to call [the project] 'Saving Private Ryan'".

That's a rare piece of human insight from a corporate executive, but one that humanises the struggle in order to improve their products. "We’ve handled countless materials in the past seven generations," Yang said, in reference to Samsung's production of folding devices since back in 2019.

Why titanium?

"This time around we decided that titanium had the best fit for foldable form. Why? It's strong, stable, resistant to permanent deformation under external force – which is why it's used in golf clubs and aerospace applications – and offers improved elastic recovery."

But it wasn't an easy solution to deliver. After all, titanium is a chemical element and metal in its own right. To make it fold repeatedly, in order to provide a more rigid, flatter display and help to negate the crease that so often plagues foldable devices, it needed to be super thin.

"We knew that titanium would be the next level," says Yang. But there were "so many challenges to overcome without compromising; so many roadblocks when we started the project. But in the end we broke through – and are very proud of this achievement".

So just how is it achieved? The titanium layer is topped with a film that's "roughly a third the thickness of a human hair" and created using "ultra processing and heating to make it so thin".

The plate beneath has the "bottom part cut out using wet-etching, with liquid agents used to dissolve little holes – beneficial to provide the flexibility [needed]."

But the "innovation this time around is in the top part – where we create laser-cut holes, which are smaller micro-holes." This allows for a " flatter and more rigid" result where the display flexes down the centre of the device. And that's what lessens the visibility of the crease.

Samsung has literally created folding metal for this generation of foldable, in both the Galaxy Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra. So you can see why it felt like overcoming the impossible – and earned its secret 'Saving Private Ryan' namesake.

Bolstered battery

There's a lot more going on with these new folding phones, though, as I previously reported that they're the first Samsung devices to deploy a silicon-carbon battery (Si-C) technology – long used by competitors and increasingly demanded by would-be customers for its enhanced life.

Samsung has deeply invested research and development into this new technology: "We have continued to observe the demand for silicon-carbon. But Samsung holds ourselves to the highest standard for many qualities, including [battery] stability," said Yang.

The Z Fold 8's increase to a 5000mAh capacity in a slimmer overall design "required more than a new material alone. On the anode side, a thin carbon coating helps stability. On the cathode side, a high-porosity separator [is used] to improve ion mobility.

"This was not just about changing the anode material itself," but a full project to "cover end-to-end components to meet spec and standard. It may look as though it’s only about changing the anode material – but it’s more [than that]", confirmed Yang, unable to share some of the secretive aspects of Samsung's solution.

New display format

The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is Samsung's big bet on a new format, though, offering a 16:10 exterior aspect and 4:3 interior – that's unlike anything Android has seen before. It's widely expected to be the format that Apple will use in its iPhone Ultra later this year.

So why now for such a change? "We're able to observe changing use case patterns over seven years – and made the decision by closely monitoring user data and insights. Over time [there's been an] increase in video content consumption, so have introduced an aspect ratio to best fit."

When pressed if Samsung will be selling this AMOLED panel to other companies, without explicitly citing Apple, Yang was reluctant to answer directly: "We're not sure if it's an IP (intellectual property) that can be commoditised – so don’t know whether that will become the future."

Notably, none of Samsung's trio of 2026 foldables feature the Privacy Display feature that rolled out in the Galaxy S26 Ultra at the beginning of this year. That display hardware can switch off certain pixels in real-time to hide notifications or specific apps' visibility to would-be snoopers, creating a black of privacy screen effect.

"We're happy to see the excitement around Privacy Display. Whenever we design and engineer for our devices, we base it on the target market. There are priorities and different considerations. The biggest priority here [in the Z Fold 8 and Z Fold 8 Ultra] was to take durability to the next level."

I've been using a Galaxy Z Fold 8 since the Unpacked summer showcase and it's an impressive piece of kit, with a hinge that feels different to any before it. "You felt that correctly," said Yang.

"The 8 and 8 Ultra have different hinge architectures. The Ultra is to maximise productivity, so the hinge is slimmer. The 8 is about content consumption, so makes the [unfolding] experience more natural and seamless – so we incorporated a hinge that’s smoother and lighter to open."

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 8 pre-orders are live now, with the on-sale date expected from 4 August. Making the impossible possible, these new foldables are a great achievement – and Yang's detailed explanations show just how much work has gone on behind the scenes in producing something truly unique in this market.