Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: latest news, rumors, and everything we know so far
The Google Pixel Fold was one of the mobile highlights of 2023, combining a stylish and surprisingly slim design with great cameras and impressive screens. In all, it was a brilliant first attempt at a foldable phone by Google, so we’re excited by the potential of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which we know now to be the official name of the Pixel Fold 2.
Leaks suggest we’re right to be excited too, with the phone possibly sporting larger screens, loads more power, a new design, and plenty of new AI tricks. Below, you’ll find full details of these and other leaks, along with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s release date and possible price.
Then, further down, you’ll find a wishlist of the four things we most want to see from the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, because as great as the original is, there’s always room for improvement.
Oh, and we’ll update this article whenever we hear anything more about the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, so keep this page bookmarked.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? The second foldable phone from Google
- When is it out? August 13
- How much will it cost? Likely at least $1,799 / £1,749 (around AU$2,630)
Google Pixel Fold 2: predicted release date and price
The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is landing at the next Made by Google event on Tuesday, August 13, alongside the Pixel 9 line. The company has confirmed as much in a Pixel 9 Pro Fold teaser video.
According to a leak though, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold won’t ship until September 4, so you might have to wait a while before you can get it in your hands.
As for the price, the Pixel Fold starts at $1,799 / £1,749 (around AU$2,630 but with no Australian availability), so it’s likely the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold will have a similar starting price – or perhaps even a slightly higher one.
Indeed, a Pixel 9 Pro Fold price leak points to exactly the same $1,799 starting price (for 256GB of storage), and the same price increase to $1,919 for 512GB.
An earlier Pixel Fold 2 price leak meanwhile suggests the French price will be 1,899 euros for 256GB of storage and 2,029 euros for 512GB of storage, which are similar prices to what the original phone cost.
There’s a chance the Pixel 9 Pro Fold will land in Australia even though the first model hasn’t, since Google does have a presence there, but that remains to be seen. A US and UK launch is all but guaranteed.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: rumored design and display
Google itself has now partially revealed the Pixel 9 Pro Fold’s design, in a teaser video that you can see below.
This shows a new square camera block and slimmer bezels, so the phone should be in for a design upgrade.
As for leaks, one of the biggest Pixel Fold 2 leaks so far is an actual photo supposedly showing the phone, as you can see below. This is likely an early prototype, so the design could change, but details you can see here include a narrower cover screen than the original model has, and a redesigned camera block, the latter of which has now been shown off by Google (above).
The source of this image also claims that the metal frame feels more premium than on the original Pixel Fold, that the device is slim, that the crease in the foldable screen is quite noticeable, and that the inner screen has a punch-hole camera, which likely means it also has a narrower top bezel than its predecessor, which housed the camera in the bezel.
Since then, leaked Google Pixel Fold 2 renders have emerged, sporting a similar design to the above in what’s apparently a Charcoal finish, but this time showing us the foldable screen too.
You can see some of these renders – which were shared by SmartPrix – below, complete with slightly smaller bezels and what’s apparently an under-display selfie camera on the foldable screen, despite it being visible in these renders.
Apparently the cover screen is 6.4 inches, while the foldable screen is said to be 7.9 inches. For reference, the original Pixel Fold has a 7.6-inch foldable screen and a 5.8-inch cover screen, so both would be bigger here if this is accurate.
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Apparently the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is around 155.2 x 150.2 x 5.27mm when unfolded, making it bigger and slimmer than the 139.7 x 158.7 x 5.8mm Pixel Fold.
When folded shut, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is said to be 155.2 x 77.1 x 10.54mm, while the original is again thicker at 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1mm.
All that said, another source disagrees about the screen sizes, saying that the Pixel Fold 2 actually has an 8.02-inch foldable screen and a 6.29-inch cover screen. And if the screen sizes above are wrong then the dimensions might be too.
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That latter screen size leak seems more likely to be accurate, as leaked Pixel 9 Pro Fold marketing images have also emerged, listing an 8-inch foldable screen and a 6.3-inch cover display
We’ve also now seen photos of the Pixel Fold 2 taken by a regulatory agency in Taiwan, so these likely are accurate.
You can see one of these images below, and note that the selfie camera for the foldable screen has been moved to a cut-out in the display, the bezels appear smaller than on the original Pixel Fold, and the crease is possibly smaller too.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: rumored cameras and battery
A teaser of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold (above) shows a large camera block, and this new, much squarer block also appears to house an extra lens, for four in total. Though it’s very possible this mystery fourth sensor is instead a temperature sensor or a depth sensor or something.
Indeed, a leak states that the Pixel Fold 2 only has a triple-lens camera, with the extra sensors possibly being there to assist with focusing.
This leak also points to the Pixel 9 Pro Fold having an under-display selfie camera on the foldable screen, with a different sensor to the 8MP one used by the original Pixel Fold.
For battery, a regulatory agency has revealed that the Pixel Fold 2 (or Pixel 9 Pro Fold as it’s now known to be called) will apparently have a 4,560mAh battery. That’s likely the minimum capacity (rather than the typical capacity), but for reference the original Pixel Fold has a 4,727mAh minimum capacity and a 4,821mAh typical one, so the new phone’s battery might be smaller.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: rumored specs and features
One upgrade we were expecting is a move to the Tensor G3, which appeared in the Pixel 8 last year. But a new rumor claims the Google Pixel Fold 2 may skip the Tensor G3 in favor of a new Tensor G4 chip.
This could deliver improved AI performance making for a smarter and faster foldable phone. A hefty 16GB of RAM has also been tipped, which would be a first for the Pixel family.
We’ve heard mention of a Tensor G4 and 16GB of RAM from another source too, which adds that the Pixel 9 Pro Fold apparently comes with 256GB of storage, runs Android 14, and will get seven years of software updates, just like the Google Pixel 8.
We’ve heard claims of a Tensor G4 chipset, Android 14, 16GB of RAM, and a choice of 256GB or 512GB of storage from other sources too. However, these sources add that the Tensor G4 chipset won’t be particularly powerful.
Plus, the Pixel Fold 2 might get a new modem, complete with support for emergency satellite communications.
On the AI front, the Google Pixel 9 has been tipped to get one of Apple Intelligence’s coolest features before any iPhone, namely the ability to record, transcribe and summarize phone calls. This tool will presumably come to all models in the Pixel 9 lineup, including the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: what we want to see
The following things could make the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold substantially better than the original Pixel Fold.
1. Smaller bezels
The Google Pixel Fold mostly looks great. It’s slim, stylish, and looks more like a conventional smartphone than the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4. But the foldable screen has surprisingly large bezels around it.
These don’t look like they belong on a phone of this price, so we’d like to see these slimmed down significantly for the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
2. A lower price
Foldable phones are inevitably pricey prospects and the Google Pixel Fold is no exception, with a price tag that’s in line with the top Samsung foldables.
That’s not entirely unreasonable, given that it’s virtually two devices in one, along with a likely expensive folding screen. But it does mean the Pixel Fold will be out of reach for a lot of people.
We’d love to see these devices become mainstream, and for that they need to be cheaper, so we hope Google finds a way to cut costs with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold – without cutting down on the quality.
3. A bigger battery
Battery life is almost always an issue with foldable phones. After all, their big and numerous screens can be very power hungry, yet there’s not really room for a tablet-sized battery inside these phones.
Still, most foldable phones don’t even match typical flagships for battery capacity, and we’d think the form factor could manage that. So we’d like to see Google move from the 4,821mAh battery in the Pixel Fold, to at least a 5,000mAh one in the Pixel Fold 2.
4. Longer-term support
Google is promising at least three years of Android updates and five years of security updates for the Pixel Fold, and while the latter figure is respectable, three years of operating system updates for a phone this expensive really isn’t very impressive. Not least of all as the Pixel 8 series offers seven years of software support.
Many iPhones are supported for as long as five or six years, and Samsung promises seven years of Android updates for its latest flagships, so Google – which makes Android – really has no good excuse for not doing more. Hopefully, that will be remedied with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
The Google Pixel Fold was one of the mobile highlights of 2023, combining a stylish and surprisingly slim design with great cameras and impressive screens. In all, it was a brilliant first attempt at a foldable phone by Google, so we’re excited by the potential of the Google Pixel 9…
