(Image credit: Future / Mike Lowe)

Samsung is planning to launch a wider format of folding phone, as it looks to fend off Apple's entry into the folding phone market.

The Galaxy Z Wide Fold has leaked again, this time showing off the difference in aspect to Samsung's existing format of device, which is expected to be updated in the Galaxy Z Fold 8.

This time the reveal comes via unreleased Samsung software, giving us a glimpse at how the devices will compare in design and giving us a good expectation of what we'll see come launch day.

We've previously seen renders of the wider folding Samsung phone, with details suggesting it will have a 3:2 aspect to the internal display, matching the iPhone Fold. While Apple's device lives mostly in the land of rumour and assumption, we're getting a much better idea of what Samsung will offer.

This time, representations of the forthcoming device have been uncovered in One UI 9 – the software expected to accompany the launch of Samsung's next-gen folding phones.

This doesn't just give us an illustration of a wider folding phone, but also shows the regular format of folding phone, so this isn't just a drawing that's out of scale, it's showing two distinctly different devices.

That's also highlighted in the cameras: the Galaxy Z Fold 8 is seen with three cameras, the Wide Fold with two cameras – with a design that's similar to the Galaxy S25 Edge in layout.

These images were spotted by Android Authority and they seem to match previous renders that have been shared online.

The foldable phone wars are heating up

What does this have to do with Apple? Rumours that Apple was planning to launch a folding phone in this wider format seems to have driven to the emergence of a new format of device.

While Samsung is known for the taller format – which was a characteristic of its originally Galaxy Fold device in 2019 – it seems that the threat of Apple having a different format has prompted action.

That's already see the announcement of the Huawei Pura X Max, a folding phone in a similar style, although likely to be limited to release in China.

Talking of release, any new folding phone from Apple would be expected alongside the iPhone 18 Pro in September, while Samsung is said to be preparing a launch event in London in late July.