It looks like Apple wants to test out the growing market of foldable smartphones as reports suggest that American technological giant is testing out different display variants for the device.

Samsung already has variety of options available in the category from Z Fold, Z Fold 2 to Z Flip and the company hasn’t faced any competition yet despite other brands like Huawei and Motorola launched their gadgets in the same category.

With Apple being one of the toughest competitor in the market for Samsung, the launch of new foldable iPhone will be very interesting.

We’ve already seen many Apple snag a few folding device patents (1,2,3) but patents alone don’t signify that a product will come as a result.

A new report from Economic Daily claims that Apple is being sent samples of folding phones from its Chinese suppliers including Foxconn and New Nikko.

The company is reportedly evaluating between OLED and microLED displays for a folding device. The decision will drastically change the folding device’s manufacturing processes as microLED is a newly emerging display technology offering higher brightness, saturation, and power efficiency.

Until then, Apple is said to be entering the testing phase of devices with folding screens, specifically the screens and hinges.

The hinges will reportedly be tested for more than 100,000 actuations and New Nikkon, the same company that Apple has worked closely with to produce hinges for MacBooks, will be manufacturing these hinges for a folding iPhone.

Apple is reportedly aiming at a September 2022 launch for a new folding iPhone. Don’t take this time frame to heart, since early reports projected that Apple would have a folding phone ready by this year.