reel time | On the radar
Folding phones aren’t new, but the iPhone launch may drive a whole new way of viewing What Apple’s folding phone means for you Smart money
pple’s first foldable iPhone could change more than the
same aspect ratio, allowing content to scale proportionally between them. For creators, the bigger story is adapting content to the device on which it is being watched. And, of course, vertical video isn’t going anywhere: billions of people have become accustomed to consuming social content with their phones held upright. Instead, rather than composing exclusively for 9:16, 16:9, 4:5 or square delivery, filmmakers could be forced to capture a high-resolution master with sufficient space around the subject to accommodate multiple crops. Software can reframe it for the screen being used. Instead of considering if the format is vertical or horizontal, the question for creators might be how the composition will survive every format it might be viewed on. That means protecting faces, products, text
and other important elements while leaving enough image around them for alternative framing. It’s hardly a creative decision: it’s all about compromise. Foldables also make conventional widescreen video more attractive on
shape in your pocket. For creators, it offers a glimpse of a future where the video you produce is designed to work everywhere. For years, content creators have faced the choice of shooting horizontally or vertically. YouTube and traditional filmmaking favoured 16:9, while TikTok, Reels and Shorts made 9:16 impossible to ignore. Open gate shooting in mirrorless cameras aims to give the best of both worlds, as you can crop afterwards. Apple’s new iPhone Duo suggests that creating two differently shaped films could become less important. The first folding iPhone has a 5.4-inch outer display and opens to reveal a much larger 7.6-inch screen. Crucially, both displays have the
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November/December 2026
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