According to various patent filings, it would all seem to suggest that Apple could be exploring the idea of a foldable phone. This shouldn’t really come as a surprise as Apple probably wants to see if such a device is viable, but it might not necessarily indicate that the company will actually make such a device themselves.
However according to a report from Korean publication ET News, it seems that Apple could actually be moving forward with such a device. The publication claims that Samsung (who has recently launched a foldable device of their own) will apparently be sending Apple some samples of foldable displays.
It is unclear if these samples were requested by Apple or if Samsung was simply sending some over for Apple to test and to see if they might be interested. However this still doesn’t mean that Apple will produce a foldable smartphone. This is because at the moment the concept of foldable phones has yet to be truly proven which means that Apple might not necessarily want to get in on the action on a concept that could prove to be a flop.
Either way we should get a better idea later this year as Samsung and Huawei are expected to release their foldable devices, and hopefully the reviews will be illuminating on the potential of such devices.