Samsung’s wide new Galaxy foldable will take on the iPhone Ultra

Apple has been rumoured to be working on its first foldable iPhone for years. But it seems as though Samsung is determined to pip it to the post.

The Korean company has been quietly developing a new foldable form, currently referred to as the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Wide, that’s set to launch in summer 2026. This is a month or two before the arrival of Apple’s expected iPhone Ultra foldable at its September launch event. The interesting thing is that both phones will have a similar size and aspect ratio.

Note that both of these phones are only rumoured via supply chain leaks at this stage.

Why the new aspect ratio matters

The aspect ratio of a phone screen may not seem like a big deal, but it really changes the mobile experience. The tall, narrow displays on existing Galaxy Z Fold phones are great for scrolling and messaging, but when it goes beyond that, it’s another story.

A 4:3 screen improves the experience of reading documents, browsing websites, and watching videos. This format is widely used in tablets because it works well for productivity, and soon you’ll be able to get that on a device that folds down to fit in your pocket.

Having that tablet-size screen in a foldable phone could make split-screen multitasking feel more natural. Apps placed side by side won’t look squeezed and there’ll be no awkward letterboxing when streaming videos. When closed, you’ll have a wider, shorter cover display, closer to what most of us are already used to holding in one hand.

Apple’s upcoming iPhone Fold is set to feature a 7.8-inch inner display with a 4:3 aspect ratio, an almost square shape that’s different from the tall, narrow foldables we’re used to. It’s designed to feel less like a stretched phone and more like an iPad mini when opened.

Samsung is on the inside of these developments: industry leaks suggest that it’s building the screens for Apple’s foldable. Samsung Display will supply over 11 million OLED panels for the foldable iPhone.

So, it’s perhaps no surprise that the South Korean company’s upcoming Z Fold 8 Wide is expected to feature the same 4:3 display aspect ratio. The difference is that it’ll have a 7.6-inch inner display and a wider outer screen. With the specs so close to Apple’s rumoured device, it feels like a deliberately competitive move.

And Samsung already has form in this area. Its Galaxy Z TriFold launched in December 2025 and it opens up to a large 10-inch screen with a 16:11 aspect ratio. That’s very close to the 4:3 ratio you’d find on an iPad, equivalent to three 6.5-inch smartphones laid side by side, perfect for multitasking across three apps without feeling cramped.

The TriFold supports Samsung DeX, which lets you go into desktop mode when you connect a Bluetooth keyboard. Interestingly, although Apple’s foldable is expected to have some iPad-lite productivity features, it won’t run iPadOS.

The creaseless display

There’s another design factor that’ll come into play. To date, foldables have been bedevilled by a crease that’s hard to ignore when viewing the inner display. It’s a sign that, as yet, foldables haven’t yet reached their perfect form. One of the reasons Apple has allegedly delayed its entry into the foldable market is its characteristic determination to solve the problem ahead of launch.

At CES 2026, Samsung unveiled a creaseless OLED display panel that’s similar to what the iPhone Fold is expected to bring to the table. Although it didn’t feature the 4:3 ratio, it still featured a smooth surface without any visible creases, which is especially notable when compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 7.

Working directly with Apple’s high display standards may have given Samsung an edge by pushing its research and development forward fast.

The foldable race is heating up

With two such big names changing the direction of foldables in 2026, what’ll happen next seems almost inevitable. When Samsung and Apple start a trend, the rest of the industry is likely to follow. It may not be long until the more app-friendly square form becomes the new standard and foldables move from niche to mainstream phone format.