Foldable Summer: Samsung's July 22 Unpacked, Apple's First Foldable, and What It Means for Your Current Phone
For years, foldables were a niche curiosity — expensive, fragile, and easy to ignore. That era ends this summer. Samsung is about to launch its biggest foldable lineup ever, and Apple is finally entering the ring. Foldables are becoming the main battleground of the phone industry, and that shift matters for anyone who owns a phone today.
Samsung Unpacked: July 22, Three Foldables
Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked lands July 22 in London, and the leaks point to the most aggressive foldable push the company has ever made:
- Galaxy Z Fold 8 — a new "Wide" design that opens into a 7.6-inch screen with a squarer 4:3 shape, closer to a small tablet than the tall, narrow folds of the past.
- Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra — the traditional book-style flagship, with a rumored 200MP camera, a bigger 5,000mAh battery, and 45W charging.
- Galaxy Z Flip 8 — a redesigned hinge that reportedly finally kills the screen crease, the #1 complaint since the first Flip in 2020.
Also expected: Galaxy Watch 9 and Samsung's new Galaxy Glasses. One caveat from the rumor mill: the memory shortage is inflating component costs, so don't expect these to come cheap.
The Real Story: Apple Is Coming
Samsung's July timing is no accident — it's a two-month head start on the biggest foldable news of the decade. Supply-chain reports now consistently point to Apple's first foldable iPhone launching this September, rumored to be called the iPhone Ultra, at a starting price around $1,999.
The details read like Apple waited on purpose: a book-style design with a crease Apple reportedly spent years engineering away ("nearly invisible," per the leaks), the largest battery ever in an iPhone at 5,000mAh+, and dual 48MP cameras.
Analysts at Counterpoint expect Apple's entry to ignite the whole category. When Apple legitimizes a form factor, the market follows — and that reshapes used-phone values across the board.
What This Means If You Own a Regular Phone
Every major product cycle creates a wave of upgrades, and every wave of upgrades floods the used market a few weeks after launch. That's the pattern to play:
- Selling a regular flagship (iPhone Pro, Galaxy S-series)? The weeks before a hyped launch are consistently better than the weeks after, when trade-ins flood supply and prices soften. If a foldable is your next phone, sell your current one near launch, not three months later.
- Already own a foldable? Values on the Z Fold 7 and Flip 7 generation will step down the day the 8-series is announced. That's how it works every year: the best day to sell last year's foldable is before the new one hits shelves — which gives you about three weeks.
- Curious but cautious about foldables? Fair. Hinges and folding screens are the two most expensive repairs in the industry, and long-term durability is still the open question. Our advice: never buy a first-generation folding anything at full price — let early adopters fund the beta test.
We Buy Foldables, Too — With Eyes Open
Foldables are high-value, high-risk devices on the used market: big payouts when the screen and hinge are healthy, steep deductions when they're not. If you're sitting on a Z Fold or Z Flip and eyeing an upgrade this summer, get a quote before Unpacked — we price against a live market, and right now that market still values your current fold like the flagship it is.
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