The iPhone Fold will only be great if it supports the iPad’s finest accessory

The iPhone Fold is coming! Strong rumors now suggest that we’ll see Apple’s first foldable device arriving alongside next year’s iPhone 18 Pro. Given the company’s love of refreshing iPhones in September, that means it’s just ten months away.

True, that still gives Samsung a generous seven-year headstart in the race to foldable domination, but this is Apple we’re talking about. The company’s shareholders don’t care if they’re first, which is just as well, as they rarely are. They just want it to wipe the floor with its rivals — and, sales wise, it’s hard to argue it almost always does.

Yes, the iPhone Fold is rumored to cost an alarming $2,399 at launch, but personally I can see the justification if you have the money to hand. View the upcoming hybrid as like an iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPad mini in one and it’s ‘only’ a $551 difference in buying the two separately. 

For some people, the convenience of only having to keep one device charged is worth that much. Plus, how many times have you put up with your phone’s screen, when a tablet would be better, because it’s just what you have to hand?

Still, I’d personally caution against buying the first generation of any device — it usually ends in disappointment. But for those tempted to be the first in line at the Apple Store on launch day, I’d avoid booking the day off work until we hear what the company has to say about compatibility with one very important accessory.

Can it be scribbled on?

That accessory is the Apple Pencil. I was first introduced to this lovely little stylus at a press event at the London Royal Academy of Art nearly a decade ago, where me and my fellow journalists were invited to partake in a life drawing class. The drawing part and not the modelling, I should add, before a disturbing mental image takes root.

Though my output was, to put it mildly, unlikely to change the world of art, I was instantly smitten. This was unlike any stylus I had used before, capable of behaving like a real pencil, with different input depending on how I held it and how much pressure I applied. The potential was clear.

Years later, as a freelance journalist, I made an iPad mini and Apple Pencil two of my first tax-deductible purchases. This wasn’t to supplement my new inconsistent income with paid artwork (look at those pictures and ask who would pay for that?), but because I recognized it as a great productivity tool. 

Whenever I went to press events, the iPad mini and Apple Pencil would be stashed away in my bag. Together with the excellent Notability app, I was able to record talks and interviews in real time, making written notes that would act as bookmarks when listening back later. Tap on the accompanying text, and the recording would jump to that moment in time. It was truly magical.

Could I do this on my phone? Well, not as effectively — the iPhone has never supported Apple Pencil, but even if it did, even the 6.9-inch iPhone 17 Pro Max’s screen would be too small a canvas, poorly suited to my child-like scrawl. Besides, it’s impossible not to look rudely distracted when holding a phone, which isn’t great when trying to get the most out of your interviewees.

A 2-in-1 iPad and iPhone certainly appeals to me on a practical level — not least because my ageing iPad mini only ever gets an outing as a glorified dictaphone and is thus perpetually in need of charging. But if the Fold doesn’t support the Apple Pencil, then it immediately loses its worth to me.

Arch rival Samsung is certainly aware of edge cases like me. While its first two generations of Galaxy Z Fold handsets didn’t support the S Pen, that all changed with the third attempt: the unimaginatively named Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3. 

This was maintained for the next three handsets, before being sacrificed upon the altar of thinness with this year’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, which lost the digitizer layer essential to its functionality. I suspect it will return at some point, as a Galaxy Z Fold without S Pen support seems just as pointless as an iPad without Apple Pencil functionality.

Is Apple listening?

For former CEO and founder Steve Jobs, the idea of an Apple-branded phone with a stylus was sacrilege. When introducing the iPhone for the first time, he famously tore into rivals relying on stylus input to make touchscreens usable.

“Who wants a stylus? You have to get them and put them away and you lose them,” he said while introducing the original iPhone. “Yuck. Nobody wants a stylus. So let’s not use a stylus.”

Of course, as the second half of the video above demonstrates, Apple switched tacks after his death, with Tim Cook’s leadership team seeing the appeal after all. 

At the moment, the jury is out as to whether this will extend to the iPhone Fold. On one hand, Apple will no doubt be weighing up the same weight and depth concerns as Samsung, and opting to skip the stylus could certainly help with that. 

On the other, Apple does love to sell accessories, and with prices of $89, $99 or $129 depending on the version, the Apple Pencil could be a nice little upsell to those already blowing over two thousand bucks on the new iPhone. It would also be nice bragging rights over Samsung if the Galaxy Z Fold 8 doesn’t reinstate S-Pen support: “oh, you couldn’t fit a stylus? Don’t worry, Apple’s engineers managed it.”

That might be enough to tempt me to trade in my iPhone 14 Pro and iPad mini to try Apple’s first foldable. If not, well, there’s always the second and third generations to look forward to. And if you’ve been inspired to pick up the Apple Pencil again, here are the best drawing apps for iPad Pro.