I won't be buying one, but I'm very much interested in seeing what Apple contributes to the foldables space.
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Apple Eyes Foldable iPhone Pilot Production Line in Taiwan
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Yup. This is very much how Apple does things. Their future products can often be seen in their existing products, typically experimental features with less on the line. 3D Touch shipped in the Apple Watch before it got a wide release on iPhone. The C1 chip shipped in the iPhone 16e first. Thread and ultraband radios were in the Apple TV and HomePod and unused for years. LiDAR appeared on the iPad where it was less useful before getting wide release on iPhone.
Building most of the phone into the plateau, including the chips and antennae, leaving the body of the phone for just the screen and battery makes it very obvious that the iPhone Air is Apple testing its fold tech in a shipping phone in the real world.
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I always get a 512GB foldable, since that is what I always buy. But, your comparison is good for those who get 256GB of storage.
After the dollar crashes and the US becomes a low wage country, sure. Your kids won't be able to own one, but they can get "good "jobs assembling them. Of course, the other path would be to build them in the USA entirely with robots.
Also it will have a screen on the inside. 😜They'd be stupid to make the folding phone weaker than the 18 Pro Max.
I think it will essentially be a refreshed Air "glued" to another Air. The differences being:
One Air has a "camera plateau" with 3 cameras to match the Pro Max
It'll get the A20 Pro or a new "A20 Max" processor. The Pro Max will get a "A20 Plus" or keep the "A20 Pro".
The RAM will be 16GB or even 18GB vs 12GB on the Pro Max.
It'll have the best battery life of any iPhone.
and it'll have stereo speakers!!
We’d like the phone to be around $2,000, not $6,300 + expenses due to recalls for myriad defects (see: any month with Ford).
It needs MacOS when open up, pretty pointless to buy a $2500k phone for just iPadOS, when you can buy a iPhone and a iPad Mini for cheaper.
For me that's too much money for a phone unless it eliminates the need for me to have an iPad or they add Samsung Dex-like docking capabilities which has been rumoured this year, but didn't happen at WWDC. I'd love to simplify my workflow by reducing the amount of devices I need for daily driving.
That's cute you think the larger screen would even get iPadOS and not just iOS on a bigger screen.
You and many others no doubt. I have no idea why Apple are waiting for another year.
I’m sure the iPhone foldable will rival the Z Fold 7 both in design and $$$. Z is nice design but too $$$. iPhone Air is probably 1st step in designing the foldable model for 2026.
Human (and by extension, worker) rights and fair pay / conditions and other freedoms are standing in the way. They always will in the first world.
Have you ever thought about it though… what use would that actually be? Even on an iPad mini size screen, with no keyboard (or a digital keyboard occupying half of the screen) - what work or fun could you actually do on it?
Correction x4 speakers.They'd be stupid to make the folding phone weaker than the 18 Pro Max.
I think it will essentially be a refreshed Air "glued" to another Air. The differences being:
One Air has a "camera plateau" with 3 cameras to match the Pro Max
It'll get the A20 Pro or a new "A20 Max" processor. The Pro Max will get a "A20 Plus" or keep the "A20 Pro".
The RAM will be 16GB or even 18GB vs 12GB on the Pro Max.
It'll have the best battery life of any iPhone.
and it'll have stereo speakers!!
I think Apple is strategically pricing its Pro Max products closer to the possible Foldable ones to test its pricing strategy. If the above picture is anywhere closer to the final product, Apple will have a long term winner with its foldable by milking consumers with a different form factor for another decade plus unless something seriously happens in the market challenging this.