The long-awaited (but still rumored) iPhone Fold will have an all-new design for Apple's "most significant overhaul" in the history of iPhones, according to a report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

Potentially coming in 2026, it debuts at a time when rival phone makers have found a way to minimize the crease, add versatile cameras and make their foldables as durable as slab phones. The all-new iPhone form factor will need more than a novelty factor to be actually useful.

Apple's foldable iPhone is rumored to be a wide-screen device, like the Oppo Find N2 and the original Google Pixel Fold. The wider aspect ratio will help it minimize letterboxing (thick black borders on top and bottom) when watching videos. However, the current iOS system is limited for big-screen phones, including the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

The Apple iPhone Fold will need true multitasking capabilities (something that doesn't exist on current iPhones) to utilize its foldable design. Samsung, Oppo, Vivo and others have already done it, and if there ever were a time for Apple to add split-screen and multiwindow features on iOS -- it would be now.

The closest you can get to this is with the picture-in-picture mode on iOS 26. However, it isn't the same as, say, running two apps side-by-side on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 or three apps on the Oppo Find N6.

I have long argued that Apple isn't utilizing the 6.9-inch screen space on its biggest iPhones -- the iPhone Fold could finally change that. But it has its work cut out for it.