Samsung just launched the Galaxy Z Fold 8 at Galaxy Unpacked in London, and it looks nothing like the Z Folds that came before it. The tall book-like design has now moved to the Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. And the standard Z Fold 8 is redesigned as a short, wide and passport-shaped phone with a 4:3 main display and just two rear cameras.
Now, if that description sounds familiar, it should. It's almost exactly what the iPhone Fold Ultra is rumoured to be when Apple unveils it in September 2026. And I don't think that is a coincidence. Samsung has been following Apple's work on its foldable through its own display division, and it has shipped a competing foldable two months early.
Samsung Rebuilt the Fold in Apple's Style
For seven generations, Samsung defined what a book-style foldable looks like. You got a tall and narrow phone that opens into a squarish screen. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 was the peak of that formula. With the Z Fold 8, Samsung has moved past that formula and redesigned its foldable following Apple's design language.
The new Galaxy Z Fold 8 features a 7.6-inch display (1,848 x 2,448 pixels) with a 4:3 aspect ratio, so it opens directly into a small tablet in landscape. The cover screen is a 5.5-inch panel in a 10:16 shape, so the folded phone finally feels like a normal phone. It measures 9.7mm folded and just 4.5mm unfolded, and at 201 grams, Samsung says it's the lightest Galaxy Z Fold yet.
Now, place that next to the iPhone Fold Ultra leaks. Apple's first foldable is tipped to feature a 7.6 to 7.76-inch inner display with the same 4:3 aspect ratio and a 5.49-inch cover screen. It's expected to have a thickness of 4.5–4.8mm unfolded and 9–9.5mm folded and there are dual rear cameras with no telephoto lens, if we go by iPhone Fold's case leaks.
Read those two spec sheets side by side, and the similarity is noticeable. Same shape, same screen sizes, same 4:3 aspect ratio, same camera setup and nearly the same thickness. Basically, Samsung iterated quickly and built an Android version of the iPhone Fold Ultra without any delay.
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The Spec Sheets Are Nearly Matching
Here is how the official Galaxy Z Fold 8 stacks up against the rumoured iPhone Fold Ultra. Note that Apple's numbers come from leaks and analyst reports, so treat them as speculative.
| Specifications | Galaxy Z Fold 8 | iPhone Fold Ultra (rumoured) |
|---|---|---|
| Main display | 7.6-inch, 4:3, 120Hz | 7.6 to 7.76-inch, 4:3 |
| Cover display | 5.5-inch, 10:16 | 5.49-inch |
| Thickness | 9.7mm folded, 4.5mm unfolded | 9 to 9.5mm folded, 4.5 to 4.8mm unfolded |
| Rear cameras | Dual 50MP (wide + ultra-wide) | Dual 48MP (wide + ultra-wide) |
| Telephoto | No | No |
| Chipset | Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy | Apple A20 |
| Battery | 4,800mAh | 4,883mAh (likely) |
| Weight | 201g | Not known yet |
In this comparison, the camera choice is the most telling one. Both companies looked at a foldable's thin chassis and made the same trade-off and decided to remove the telephoto lens. On the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Samsung brings 2x optical quality zoom, but it's a crop from the 50MP main sensor, and Apple may also pitch the same thing from its 48MP sensor.
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iPhone Fold Ultra's Crease-Free Screen is Made by Samsung
The iPhone Fold Ultra's display is supplied by Samsung, and in fact, Samsung Display has reportedly locked Apple into a 3-year exclusivity arrangement. It means the first three generations of foldable iPhones will feature Samsung-made screens inside and out.
Reports also say that the first batch of around 3 million panels is already on the production line. Not to mention, Apple's iPhone Fold Ultra may feature a crease-free display. These panels reduce the crease with a laser-drilled metal backing plate. Each time the screen folds, it handles the bending strain so the OLED is never damaged.
And that same underlying tech has just debuted on the Galaxy Z Fold 8 as Flex Titanium. It comes with a titanium-alloy film and a titanium support plate that sit behind the display to keep the crease in check and reduce the folding strain. Samsung has also pushed the main screen brightness to 3,000 nits with a low-reflection finish.
Basically, whatever crease-free magic Apple demonstrates on stage in September, remember that it's made by Samsung and it's already available on the Galaxy Z Fold 8. As my colleague Anshuman argued, Samsung is at its best when it innovates, not when it follows Apple.
The Z Fold 8 is one of those cases where Samsung is doing both at once. It's copying Apple's rumoured form factor while supplying the display technology that makes Apple's foldable possible.
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Where the Two Foldables Finally Split
Besides the matching specs, the two foldables have some differences. The Z Fold 8 runs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy, and if you have seen our Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 benchmarks, you already know raw performance will not be a problem.
Apple is expected to power the iPhone Fold Ultra with the A20 chipset. It's built on TSMC's 2nm node, and early rumours put the gain at around 15% on speed and 30% on efficiency over the Apple A19 processor.
Connectivity is another area where both foldables split. Samsung packs a proven Qualcomm modem with 5G, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0 support. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to bet on its in-house C2 modem, successor to the C1X modem it shipped in the iPhone Air. It seems Apple is confident with its second-gen modem, as it's playing the gamble on its first-gen foldable.
Apart from that, the iPhone Fold Ultra is tipped to drop Face ID for a Touch ID side button because there is no room for the TrueDepth system. It could also be eSIM-only. On the flip side, Apple is rumoured to pack a larger battery on the iPhone Fold Ultra compared to the Galaxy Z Fold 8.
If Apple manages to ship a larger battery, it would be the one spec where Apple beats Samsung outright, though I would wait for the official number before making a conclusive judgement.
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Samsung is Leading the Foldable Game
Samsung is doing something clever with its foldable launch this year. It has kept the classic tall fold for loyalists with the Z Fold 8 Ultra and launched the standard Z Fold 8 in the exact shape Apple is about to popularise the form factor with the iPhone Fold Ultra.
Reports suggest Samsung is producing more units of this wide Z Fold 8 than any of its other foldables this year. It tells you the company expects this shape to be the mainstream one, going forward.
Don't forget that Samsung has spent seven generations learning how to build foldables, and with the Z Fold 8, it has made sure that Apple's foldable debut doesn't feel like a revolutionary new product. That is why Samsung is leading the foldable game, and the company set it up years in advance.
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