So you have been eyeing up Apple’s rumoured foldable iPhone, the one that is tipped to cost around $2,000. Before you start saving, here is a slightly sobering thought: a new study reckons it could haemorrhage almost $1,300 of its value inside the first year. Yeah.
The numbers come from a resale study by SellCell, which dug into the 12-month resale performance of flagship phones from Apple, Samsung, Google, Motorola, and OnePlus. And the headline finding is not kind to folding phones.
Foldables are a Depreciation Nightmare
Here is the brutal bit. SellCell found that foldable smartphones lose an average of 64.6% of their value within a year. That is the worst depreciation of any phone category, full stop. For comparison, traditional non-folding phones lose 55.3% over the same period, which is hardly great either, but a fair chunk better.
Put it in cash terms and it stings even more. The average foldable owner waves goodbye to $997.69 after 12 months, versus $605.32 for someone on a regular phone. That is a $392 gap, just for the privilege of having a screen that bends. After a year, foldables hold onto just 35.4% of their launch price, compared with 44.7% for normal phones.
What that Means for the Foldable iPhone
Apple is widely expected to launch its first folding phone, rumoured to be called the iPhone Ultra, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max in autumn 2026, with that roughly $2,000 price tag.
Run that price through the average foldable depreciation rate and SellCell reckons a foldable iPhone would be worth around $708 after a year. That works out to a loss of about $1,292. Ouch is the technical term.
But Here is Where Apple Changes the Maths
Now, before you write the whole thing off, there is a big asterisk, and it is a familiar one. Apple phones famously hold their value better than basically anyone else’s.
Case in point, the iPhone 16 lineup kept 51.5% of its value after 12 months, the strongest of any major manufacturer in the study. Here is how the rest stacked up:
- Apple (iPhone 16): 51.5%
- OnePlus: 46.8%
- Google: 40.8%
- Samsung: 39.5%
- Motorola: 24.5%
That Motorola number is genuinely rough.
So if the foldable iPhone depreciated at the same rate as the iPhone 16 rather than the average foldable, SellCell estimates it would be worth around $1,030 after a year. That is over $300 less depreciation than a typical folding phone, which is a meaningful difference when we are talking about a two grand phone.
The Realistic Takeaway
Honestly, real-world numbers would probably land closer to Apple’s existing figures than the gloomy foldable average. The base iPhone 16 held 51.4% of its value after a year, and the 256GB iPhone 16 Pro Max managed an impressive 56.4%.
But, and this is the catch, even at those healthier rates, the sheer size of a $2,000 starting price means you are still looking at roughly $1,000 evaporating over 12 months. When the phone costs that much, even good resale value cannot fully save you.
The lesson? If you are buying the first foldable iPhone, buy it because you actually want to use it for years, not because you are planning to flip it. As a first generation, premium, fold-in-half device, it is going to take the depreciation hit on the chin like every foldable before it. Apple’s resale magic will cushion the landing, but it will not stop the fall.
