Is Apple's folding iPhone too little too late? At nearly 20 years old, the iPhone is feeling stale. Can a fresh form factor save it?

The smartphone was once the coolest gadget on earth, kickstarting a revolution in how technology integrates with our lives. But as Apple approaches its 20th birthday, the question looms: doesn't everything feel a bit boring? Just this week, smartphones were blamed for falling fertility rates in the US, and the UK has banned them for under-16s. In a world obsessed with innovation, the iPhone's staleness is perhaps its biggest existential threat.

Technically, the iPhone is better than ever. Best iPhones for photography have stunning cameras; screens are sharper, processors more powerful. But when was the last time a new phone genuinely blew your mind? The latest generations feel somewhat indistinguishable from each other, and that's why rumours of the folding iPhone or 'iPhone Ultra' have generated so much hype.

Will foldables finally offer something different? A fresh form factor could be the next generation of smartphones. But do they still look futuristic? Samsung launched the first Galaxy Fold in 2019; since then, we've seen folding phones from Google, Honor, Huawei and Motorola. What once looked like sci-fi is starting to feel a touch passé.

If Apple does it, they will do it well. Their philosophy of being 'best, not first' might thrust foldables into the mainstream. But with tech conversations shifting towards AI in recent years, could Apple's next hardware revolution be too little too late? Users aren't obsessing over shapes and specs anymore; software, not hardware, is what everyone's talking about.