The new foldable consensus: a pocket tablet for two apps
Foldable phone design is converging on a compact, passport-style device that unfolds into a small tablet optimised for running two full-size apps side by side, signalling that the market now values practicality over experimental shapes and extreme gimmicks in the next wave of folding phones.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 is the clearest sign yet that the big three are chasing the same idea of what a foldable should be. It abandons Samsung’s own tall, narrow book-style layout for a shorter, passport-style form factor that opens into a 4:3 tablet, echoing both the original Pixel Fold philosophy and the dimensions rumored for the first Apple foldable. This is not design by accident; it is a quiet admission that the most useful foldable is a pocketable tablet, not a stretched remote control.
That convergence is good news if you care about real-world multitasking and bad news if you were hoping for wildly different foldable personalities from each brand. The fight is moving away from shape and toward who can make this shared template tougher, lighter and cheaper to live with.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8: a radical redesign with a familiar goal
Samsung did not just tweak its foldable lineup; it threw out its own playbook at its latest Galaxy Unpacked event in London, introducing a radical new design for the Galaxy Z Fold 8. The headline device switches from the brand’s signature tall, narrow book-style look to that passport-style form factor, and when you open it, you get a 7.6-inch inner AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate in a 4:3 aspect ratio tablet that is strongly reminiscent of an iPad mini.
Samsung’s message is blunt: this is the most practical way to do a foldable. The Galaxy Z Fold 8 weighs 201g, making it the lightest book-like foldable on the market, and the company clearly wants you to notice. It also packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy processor, a 4,800mAh battery and starts with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage at USD 1,899.99 (approx. RM8,830).
Meanwhile, the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra keeps the old tall-book layout but trims down to 4.1mm unfolded, signaling Samsung is hedging its bets with two shapes in the same generation. The quote-worthy reality is simple: “The Galaxy Z Fold 8 is Samsung’s lightest book-like foldable yet at 201g, and it starts at USD 1,899.99 (approx. RM8,830).”
Google’s unexpected role as trendsetter
For years, Samsung set the tone for foldables while Google played the awkward experimenter. Yet the industry is now quietly aligning around Google’s original, often ridiculed passport-style approach. The first Pixel Fold was criticized for its short, wide body, limited ability to open flat and chunky bezels, but its basic idea was clear: build a foldable that makes two full apps side by side feel natural.
Google refined that idea by stretching the phone vertically and shrinking it horizontally in later folds, giving apps more predictable layouts and leaning into the fact that most people want two apps, not four overlapping windows. The article puts it plainly: Google chose its screen size because it lets you open two full-size apps side by side. That design logic is now echoed in Samsung’s Z Fold 8 and rumored Apple plans.
Ironically, the company that was accused of being late and awkward with foldables can now “sit back and say, ‘I told you so,’” as one observer notes. While Apple and Samsung fight for the spotlight later this year, Google’s next foldable suddenly looks less like a weirdo and more like the reference design.
Apple’s rumored foldable: following the script, not writing it
Apple’s foldable, rumored to carry an iPhone Ultra name, appears set to follow the same passport-style script rather than invent a new foldable phone design from scratch. Reports suggest its dimensions will mirror Samsung’s new Z Fold 8, opening into a 4:3 tablet reminiscent of the iPad mini. That is not Apple playing it safe; it is Apple accepting that Google’s math on optimal screen ratios was right for multitasking.
There is another, less flattering angle: Apple has struggled with multitasking on iPadOS and seems keen to avoid a repeat on its first foldable. A predictable 4:3 internal screen that favors two clean panes is easier to design software for than Samsung’s earlier experimental aspect ratios. As one commentator imagines, this is the idea that led Apple to adopt the passport-style design, with Samsung following for the sake of “traditional competition.”
In other words, Apple’s first foldable will not be the category’s wild card; it will be the polished version of a template Google drew and Samsung has now mass-market validated. That might disappoint fans of radical Apple hardware, but it benefits anyone who wants apps that simply work the same across foldables.
What this convergence means for shoppers and the next wave
When Samsung, Google and Apple all circle the same foldable shape, the conversation for buyers changes. With the Galaxy Z series already up for pre-order and retail availability set for August 7, 2026, the shared template arrives very soon. And with Apple and Samsung expected to “duke it out this Fall,” Google suddenly has a chance to be taken more seriously in the same cycle.
Design convergence shrinks cosmetic differences but sharpens the focus on how each brand executes. Battery capacity, weight, hinge reliability, outer display usability and price become the real tiebreakers. Samsung, as the early mover, has already established norms—like tall, thin folds and heavy multitasking features—that others had to answer. Now it is pivoting to the passport standard it once ignored, proving that even the category leader has to adapt.
For shoppers, this is the best possible outcome: you can pick a foldable based on ecosystem, camera, durability and budget instead of gambling on untested shapes. For the industry, the message is clear. The experimental phase is ending; the refinement era of foldable smartphone competition is here, and the brands that win will be the ones that make this converged design boring in the best way—reliable, affordable and easy to use every day.
