An 18 plus would be so tempting. I really hate the idea of not having all 3 cameras is the only thing that might stop me. But a phone the exact same size as my Pro Max but lighter and with better colors is extremely appealing.
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Analyst: Foldable iPhone Likely to Ship in December, iPhone 18 Plus is Possible Next Year
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Contact_Feanor
macrumors 6502
can you make that concrete and give examples of products apple announces and then get delayed? Except for their AI features (features, not products) I can't think of any recent announcement being delayed?
jz0309
macrumors P6
something that hasn't been announced can hardly be called "delayed"
Aside from Siri - what products did Apple announce "lately" and then delayed?
transpo1
macrumors 68000
Makes me sad, as it is so beautiful and maintains a titanium chassis, which I love. Since it will have two cameras next year, maybe they will increase battery life and make the Air 2 the 20th anniversary iPhone (skipping the 18 entirely). (This is mostly fantasy because we've gotten too many rumors about the 18 already.)
It's an iPhone mini and a Pro-like larger displayed device. Maybe that's how they'll sell it? 😉
Cool idea! See my above riff off of this.
I'd only buy an Air as a second phone as it's light enough not to add to my EDC. Despite any failings, they had to make the Air to prepare the engineering teams and supply chain for the Fold; and the Air perked people's interest and brought them to Apple Store (online and in person) to check it out, which resulted in many more of the other iPhone models being sold. So it's a win for them.
A December release for your flagship new product is weird; they must really anticipate being behind on production yields.
Yeah I hope that the 18 Plus will have a 401dpi LCD screen too.
Wishful thinking, I know.
Bring back an LCD iPhone dang it!
Wishful thinking, I know.
Bring back an LCD iPhone dang it!
JPack
macrumors P6
No other smartphone manufacturer needed to produce a thin phone to prepare for their folding device. Did Apple make an iPhone 8 with OLED to prepare for iPhone X? Apple's supply chain prepares internally, not by manufacturing an unpopular device. And it's not as if iPhone Air prepared Apple for anything. The main challenge has always been the mechanical hinges and the folding display itself, none of which the Air has.
First couple of weeks of iPhone 17 launch - people went into the Apple Store to see the iPhone 17 Pro/Max. Nobody went there to see the iPhone Air. The Air demo table was completely empty and the few people that went there, only peered at it because the Pro/Max tables were too crowded. I still recall customer comments like, "this is like half an iPhone" and "I heard online it has the worst battery life."
257Loner
macrumors 6502a
The bigger story is that 'Samsung to Discontinue Galaxy Z TriFold After Just Three Months'.
If the iPhone mini was struggling at 6 million units sold per year.
If the iPhone Air is struggling at 5 million units sold per year.
If the Samsung Z Fold/Flip are struggling at 5 million units sold per year.
Then the iPhone Fold won't meet sales targets and become a success story either.
If the iPhone mini was struggling at 6 million units sold per year.
If the iPhone Air is struggling at 5 million units sold per year.
If the Samsung Z Fold/Flip are struggling at 5 million units sold per year.
Then the iPhone Fold won't meet sales targets and become a success story either.
Samsung sold every trifold they could produce. It was canceled due to rapidly rising material cost and difficulty in manufacturing,
JPack
macrumors P6
Huawei sold over a million already. Samsung's inward folding design was just, dumb.
Huawei already on track for its ‘third’ triple foldable phone
Triple foldable has become a new hype in the smartphone market where Samsung stepped in last year, and while the Galaxy Z TriFold is still expanding in the overseas markets, Huawei reportedly began prepping for its third tri-folding creation. Weibo tipster @GuoJing recently shared a huge list of...
www.huaweicentral.com
snipr125
macrumors 68030
If Apple can give the Air 2 what it needs, 4000 mh (at least) battery and dual cameras then it essentially fills the 18 Plus role. Big IF though.
klasma
macrumors G4
Because that would mean three difference instances of an app with three different app states that don't know what the other two are doing. Users expect 1 device = 1 app instance. For the apps, it would be like running on three devices in parallel. Also think about what that would mean for notifications and for things like audio. Apple will never make a device that runs multiple Apple OSs.
transpo1
macrumors 68000
Agree to disagree. I believe the thinness factor allowed them to prepare the supply chain for the Fold, which is going to be similarly thin. And I know people personally and saw people in the stores who were curious about the Air and marveled over it, but most of whom did not buy it. Obviously, Apple hoped they would sell well but the byproduct was it generated buzz and additional clicks and interest which led to purchases for the other devices. Would the 18 and 18 Pros have sold as well without that additional launch buzz? We’ll never know. The idea of the Air was exciting to people at first— and to me personally— even we didn’t end up purchasing one.
Apple’s engineering always seems to prepare their future products incrementally. The iPhone X introduced OLED, a different and FaceID as I recall and laid the groundwork for the Pro (and regular) iPhones that came after it. It was not the sole upgrade that year; the iPhone 8/8 Plus maintained the lineup. The X allowed Apple to (smartly) introduce new features for those who wanted to transition to them. The Air’s features are small by comparison (no pun intended) but one might argue the thinness allowed their teams to shrink components and prepare for the Fold. Did they need to do it? Maybe not. But I bet you it made everything easier because they had experience shrinking (thinning?) components down.
sw1tcher
macrumors 604
Where have you been the past 13 months?
Apple Discontinues iPhone SE
After introducing the iPhone 16e today, Apple has discontinued the third-generation iPhone SE. As a result of the iPhone SE being discontinued, several individual iPhone features have also met the end of the road. Apple no longer sells any iPhone models with a a Home button, Touch ID, LCD...
www.macrumors.com
JPack
macrumors P6
Apple Watch already prepared them for making thin and small components. This is why nobody else in the smartphone industry, whether Samsung or Huawei or Xiaomi needed to make a thin phone before making their fold. They all have experience making components as thin and small as possible already, whether it's the haptic module, sensors, or antennas.
Curiosity about the iPhone Air doesn't help the sales of iPhone 17 Pro/Max. If that logic made any sense, Apple would make a bunch of other weird junk products each year to "help" iPhone Pro/Max sales.
Gee..an analysis i never heard of making a wild prediction...yeah ill bet the farm on that one.....
So I guess Apple has decided to cover all the needs and market share on the phone market which to be honest is not going to fade and being replaced by glasses or any wearable soon … the new Neo is a perfect example of an iPhone with keyboard and screen … I would have loved to be able to plug my phone to a screen and keyboard and voila …
transpo1
macrumors 68000
Again, agree to disagree. Those companies aren’t Apple. There’s probably some engineering knowledge and supply chain benefit overlap between the Air and Fold, seeing as how they are both super thin phones. No company needs to but maybe they wanted to.
You’re dead wrong about the iPhone Air not getting buzz, hits and clicks that lead to conversions to other devices. I saw it happen. Sometimes all it takes is a new product. That gets people curious and talking. They end up buying another device because it has better value or more cameras. But the Air got them to the store or website.
The Air may be a failure but calling it “junk” is a stretch. It’s a beautiful device.
And “If that logic made any sense Apple would make a bunch of other junk devices to help iPhone Pro sales…”
You mean devices like the iPhone Fold?? 🤣
What do you think they’re doing? Obviously they want the Fold to sell but even if it doesn’t, they’ll sell a ton of other devices simply because people came to the store to check it out. It’s called “marketing.”
Having a Plus model of the base iPhone has potential to be a huge success. As for the foldable iPhone, it is possible for it to launch maybe a month or two after the release of other iPhones and maybe only a few countries will get it on day one and after every two or three weeks another set of countries will get it.
Unfortunately, I doubt the same Apple leadership which keeps the iPhone 16 sandwiched between the 17 and 17e will suddenly discover the concept of "too many devices"
macduke
macrumors G5
December? Tempting tax write-off, especially now that you can depreciate 40% year 1, and then I just get a new one each year. Maybe this, a new display, and the M6 iPad Pro 11".
Although, will I actually need an iPad Pro? It's still kind of a toy compared to the Mac, and the iPhone Fold...folds out into what is basically an OLED iPad mini. So the price is a lot more justifiable if it can just replace my iPad. I stopped trying to make the iPad Pro work for me professionally. I was always fighting it and by the time you get enough storage for the RAM to be high enough and add a keyboard you may as well get a Mac. I switched from 16" MBP to 14" MBP for portability and honestly the M3 Max is overkill and it's crazy they put chips like these in the smaller MBPs now.
Although, will I actually need an iPad Pro? It's still kind of a toy compared to the Mac, and the iPhone Fold...folds out into what is basically an OLED iPad mini. So the price is a lot more justifiable if it can just replace my iPad. I stopped trying to make the iPad Pro work for me professionally. I was always fighting it and by the time you get enough storage for the RAM to be high enough and add a keyboard you may as well get a Mac. I switched from 16" MBP to 14" MBP for portability and honestly the M3 Max is overkill and it's crazy they put chips like these in the smaller MBPs now.
bjork90210
macrumors newbie
Nah. All this is going to be canceled out by rumors in August.
They will launch the iPhone 18, 18 Pro, and 18 Pro Max in mid-September just like they do every year.
They will launch the iPhone 18, 18 Pro, and 18 Pro Max in mid-September just like they do every year.
iPhone foldable Not for everyone
Price is 2000+ and more importantly the shape of the fold is rumored to be like a passport. Not exactly what I would want to hold up to my ear for a phone call
Price is 2000+ and more importantly the shape of the fold is rumored to be like a passport. Not exactly what I would want to hold up to my ear for a phone call
Air user here, the statement could not be more wrong.
The Air is barely noticeable in my pocket, especially in gym shorts. Meanwhile my 15 Pro Max was absolutely noticeable, and even my previous 12 mini was more noticeable due to it being technically lighter, but a lot more densely packed.
Yes, obviously in terms of height it’s not that much of a difference, but in terms of weight and thickness, it absolutely is. The thing basically feels like nothing in the pocket, and a big part of that is the fact that you are distributing significantly less amount of weight across a relatively large surface.
It’s similar to how a 16 inch MacBook Pro feels significantly lighter than a full size HomePod, despite the fact that there is only 0.6 LB that separates them.
That is not how that works at all.
The iPhone Mini was the bottom of the flagship line, $700 ($600 after a year) iPhone that was identical in spec to the regular 12 or 13. It was given the exact same carrier discounts as the regular, the exact same storage and color options, same cameras, same everything. It’s only difference was the screen size, and, personally agree with it or not, people made their opinions pretty clear. Even though there was pretty much absolutely no compromises over the regular 12 (besides battery sorta) people simply didn’t care. People didn’t just prefer a bigger phone, but even more preferred a much bigger phone, seeing as the Pro Max was the most popular during that era.
And by the way, I had the mini, and loved it. I tried to convince other people to get the mini. I tried offering my Mini to other people after I was done with it. The response I got was pretty universal, nope, not interested in a tiny phone. Even if it’s the best tiny phone that’s ever been released, still not interested in a tiny phone. Literally would rather have a 750P LCD cracked screen XR with a heavily degraded battery than a Mini. Most people just didn’t want it and that’s it.
The fold will literally be in the exact opposite position. The most expensive device of the lineup, and also the most niche. And Apple is not dumb, they know this. But it being the top of the line, the most niche, and the most expensive also gives it a lot more wiggle room that the $600 Mini never had.
Its closest analog is like, the AirPods Max. Extremely expensive, absolutely not the best seller, rarely updated, but it has its niche and its price is high enough to continue to sustain it.
aw1998
macrumors member
Your logic here makes no sense, the iPhone 12 mini was £699 at launch, the regular iPhone 12 was £799. Today you can buy an iPhone 17e for £100 less than what the iPhone 12 mini was at launch.