The iPhone Fold is bringing some changes to the foldable phone market, not just the concerningly high price , but also the hardware itself.

New information reveals that Apple’s foldable iPhone is using a new design method to wipe out the crease that has defined foldable phones since they landed seven years ago. Samsung (almost) did the same thing with its flex titanium display technology , but Apple is going in a different direction.

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Apple Is Using A Double Layer Of Glass To Remove The iPhone Fold Crease

According to Korean publication The Elec , Apple is using two layers of Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) to improve durability and remove the foldable phone crease that runs down the middle of the phone.

For the uninitiated, virtually all modern foldable phones use ultra-thin glass as a cover layer above the display, it’s what makes the screen feel glass-like while still being flexible enough to fold.

Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 uses a single layer of this glass above the OLED panel, combined with a titanium alloy film and titanium plate beneath it to support the panel and distribute folding stress. The company calls this Flex Titanium technology and it does genuinely reduce the crease, but it doesn’t eliminate it. You can see it in action in my Galaxy Z Fold 8 video here .

Apple’s iPhone Fold, according to The Elec , uses what the industry calls dual-UTG. That’s one layer of ultra-thin glass above the OLED panel and a second layer below it.

Both layers work together to distribute the mechanical stress of folding more evenly across the entire display structure, which gives Apple more precise control over how the panel behaves at the hinge point. The result, in theory, is a less visible crease.

The system is impressive enough for Google, Oppo and Vivo to use dual-UTG in their next foldable phones. Samsung Display is already developing dual-UTG prototypes for all three companies, according to The Elec .

It will be interesting to see if there’s much difference in crease visibility between the Galaxy Z Fold 8 series and the iPhone Fold considering they use two different display stacks. What’s even more interesting is how this affects the repair pricing.

Watch me test out an early version of UTG below.

How Much Will It Cost To Fix That New iPhone Fold Screen?

It’s not clear how much the dual-UTG will cost to repair should it get damaged. But Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8 inner screen repair price went up to £594 in the U.K. from £569 on the Z Fold 7. That may well be the price of reducing the foldable crease.

Ricky Panesar, founder of iPhone repair specialists iCorrect.co.uk , warned in a recent interview with m e that the iPhone Fold’s inner screen repair could cost even more.

“I think we’re going to see the most expensive repair prices from Apple of any handheld device we’ve seen in the past,” he told me. “Because they’re borrowing this technology from Samsung Display, we’re going to see higher prices than Samsung. I think we’re going to be at the £850 level.”

His reasoning was straightforward: Apple is using a proprietary 3D-printed hinge in the iPhone Fold and Samsung Display panels it has never repaired at scale. Independent repairers won’t have the skills or parts to undercut Apple’s prices in year one, and AppleCare+ is unlikely to offer the same low per-incident pricing it has on previous iPhones. The dual-UTG may complicate those repairs further while forcing prices up.