Apple Exploring Viability of Foldable Devices With Touch-Sensitive Chassis

[257Loner]

I don't anticipate foldable/rollable phones to replace candybar smartphones, but they could become the new phablets. Like the Samsung Z Fold, Apple should consider making an iPhone edition Apple Pencil that could slip into the case of their folding iPhone since that's what phablet power users want.

 

[257Loner]

I just realized an advantage foldables have over rollables. Each half of the the foldable contains a battery, while the rollable contains only a single battery within its original dimensions. This is an important distinction since larger screens consume more battery power, and yet only the foldable has more battery capacity to power its larger screen longer.

 

[257Loner]

Apple needs to make phones cool again. Foldables are cool, so Apple should make them. Phones haven't been cool since:

1996's Nokia 8110​

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2004's Motorola RAZR​

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2007's Apple iPhone​

 

[257Loner]

Samsung has had a history of staying ahead of Apple in the screen size race:

Their 2011 Galaxy Note had a 5.3-inch screen while Apple’s iPhone 4S had a 3.5-inch screen.
Their 2012 Galaxy S III had a 4.8-inch screen while Apple’s iPhone 5 had a 4-inch one.
In 2019, when Samsung released the Galaxy Fold, its 7.3-inch screen had 65% more screen area than the iPhone 11 Pro Max’s 6.46-inch screen.

It’s about time Apple caught up to Samsung in the screen size race and release their own foldable. (Although only Apple was brave enough to release a mini, which I hope they do again.)

 

[257Loner]

Should Apple use iOS or iPadOS apps on the iPhone Pro Fold?​

Apple should use iOS apps for 3 reasons:

1. iPadOS apps come with the expectation of Apple Silicon chips made for the iPad. Without an iPad-appropriate Apple Silicon chip, iPadOS apps won't run on the iPhone Pro Fold the same way they do on, say, an M1-powered iPad Pro, and therefore won't meet customer expectations for speed and responsiveness.
2. Using iOS apps on the larger unfolded screen comes with the benefit of multitasking, something that Dave Lee discovered in his review of the Oppo Find N.
3. It would keep the iOS App Store separate from the iPadOS App Store.

 

[257Loner]

My post #78 argued the case for an iPhone Pro Fold based on the observation that cool phones aren't around anymore. But it's worse than that. There are many companies who sell smartphones these days, but the most popular models are the same slab form factor. And Apple only sells two sizes of the iPhone: the iPhone 14 / 14 Pro (~155mm screen), and the iPhone 14 Plus / Pro Max. (~170mm screen)

Variety is the spice of life! When Apple sold the iPhone 13 mini, customers had the choice of a 3rd screen size (137 mm).
So if Apple sold an iPhone mini and iPhone Pro Fold in addition to their current lineup, the choices in screen size would increase from 2 to 4, and the variety in form factor would improve from 1 to 2!