Apple Has Sent Folding iPhones to Foxconn for Testing, According to Chinese Report

[polyphenol]

What I might appreciate, were it available, is something like a 12 mini phone and an iPad (whether mini or larger) which work together.

The 12 mini is what you use for a call, a message, alerts, etc. When you get to the office, the coffee shop, the deckchair on the beach, you grab the iPad-like device and it acts, more or less, like a big screen for the 12 mini. Likely the iPhone would attach magnetically to the iPad. Maybe the iPad would actually be almost dumb? The 12 mini would have been fine for many purposes but I went for the 12 Pro partly because of the bigger screen being nicer to use.

All sorts of discussions are possible about what cameras are then appropriate, whether the iPhone can charge from the iPad, etc.

 

[imran5720]

So if you unfold it, iOS becomes iPadOS?

No, it becomes Mac OS

 

[nexusrule]

It'd be interesting to see how many times people briefly use their phone per day. I'll just assume that it's got something on the outside that can be glanced at for the time or whatnot, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the average number of "phone opens" was in the range of 50 per day, possibly much more.

It's certainly going to be way more times than someone opens and closes their laptop in a day, even if they're a heavy user.

At 100 per day, 100,000 would be about 3 years of heavy use, so it's at least possible that a hinge with that kind of lifespan would last 3-5 years, but I'd want to see a significantly bigger number before I felt confident spending $1000+ on one if I intended to keep it past the end of the warranty.

Why do you think you will need to open the phone everytime you want to look at it? It's a foldable phone, a folded phone that when unfolded is a tablet. Don't need to open it to use it as a Phone.

 

[cogitodexter]

Maybe Apple should think about a 'roll up' screen a la Earth Final Conflict's communicator device, rather than a foldable one?

 

[1bcoolrob]

You are folding it rong🤣👌

 

[JosephAW]

Danger Will Robinson, Danger.

All displays will become obsolete with Apple Glass

 

[gmarm]

Please god, no

 

[nwcs]

This is what happens when a market is mature, maybe a bit past mature, and you have to find gimmicks to keep people buying. It doesn’t matter if it’s Apple, Samsung, or any other vendor. Folding phones will likely find its place along with 3D TVs. A small bubble but quickly burst.

 

[sofila]

I find doubling the screen size of your current portable display very appealing.
Of course it is crap until Apple will put this crap on sale, it will become valuable and worthy crap next.

 

[trash eighty]

Folding phones are just a FAD. Drop it!

Dropping it? At those prices?!

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Just what we all needed, double the screens to break. Not a big fan of the foldable phone craze.

Do you have experience using one?

 

[bjarnel88]

Foldable phones is a really bad idea... Of course if Apple actually releases one I will change my mind immediately and love it! :-D

 

[mnsportsgeek]

I'll wait to see if Apple has a more practical and seamless use case for foldable phones, but if it's just another Fold 2 then I'm not excited.

 

[jsmith189]

please, just don't.

 

[Zedcars]

Folding phones? Pah! The very idea of it has me in creases!

 

[EmmEff]

The solution to a problem nobody ever had.

 

[polyphenol]

Folding phones? Pah! The very idea of it has me in creases!

Will they need ironing with the rest of the laundry?

 

[recoil80]

The idea of a phone that turns in a small tablet I find very appealing.
I'm sure many people would agree.
It's just we don't really seem to have any technology out right now to make this a desirable item right now.

To be honest, I prefer the idea of a small tablet turning into a bigger one.
If a folding phone it too thick once folded, is less comfortable to put into a pocket.
The problem I have with an iPad bigger than the Mini, is that I can't bring it with me unless I have the backpack.
An iPad Mini turning into a full size iPad would be a really interesting product, but I guess they'll start with iPhones.

 

[Makosuke]

Why do you think you will need to open the phone everytime you want to look at it? It's a foldable phone, a folded phone that when unfolded is a tablet. Don't need to open it to use it as a Phone.

I'm assuming--which is a huge assumption--it'll have a smaller screen on the outside for checking the clock, notifications, etc. Which means that if I'm "doing something with it"--looking something up on the web, actually reading a full email, playing a game, etc., I'm going to open it to do that. Which for me would probably be at least 20 times per day on a work day.

It's possible, of course, that it will have a full-sized screen on the outside, and you'll only want to open it if you're sitting down to read something or play a game. That would reduce it to maybe 10-15 times a day for me.

Or it could be Razr/flip-phone style where it takes up way less space in your pocket but it's just assumed you'll flip it open for anything other than glancing at the outside notification screen--that it's, say, a "Plus" sized phone in less pocket space than a regular phone, rather than a small tablet that takes up as much space in the pocket as a regular phone.

That neo-flip-phone version actually sounds way more appealing to me, personally, at least based on my gut reaction, and if it would satisfyingly snap open with one hand like a classic flip phone. That would also, of course, require it to be opened many more times per day.

 

[manbat]

As a very long time iOS user (i still am). I have been using Samsung Fold 2 as my main for months now. I can easily say that Apple simply has no device that matches Fold 2's capabilities. Just because you get to do certain things better on a device doesn't mean everyone should buy them either (e.g. iPhone 12 mini vs 12 Pro Max) but I 100% support this development and cannot wait to see even better and more refined products both from Android and iOS platforms.

 

[polyphenol]

An iPad Mini turning into a full size iPad

How about two minis that have effectively no bezel along one side? Use one, or both, as desired. Snap together/apart with only the finest line between them.

(Can obviously discuss whether they should be identical - for simplicity. Or a smart/dumb pair for cheapness.)

 

[barkomatic]

If both sides are two separate screens then its a dual screen iPhone which isn't that exciting. Regardless, as others have stated I'd rather have a foldable iPad.

 

[EdT]

I think it’s a great idea once the tech matures. Once it becomes at least the same weight and thinness as the current iPad mini like devices, I see no reason to be against the idea. Even being rolled up like the LG TV would be an interesting future for all portable devices with a screen.

I think people easily bash the efforts like Samsung and the like when treading new territory with new tech. Yes, Apple is the king at perfecting existing technology or products, but if there were no “Samsungs” or even the pre iPhone era smart phones, we’d have no iPhones.

Samsung may be the company pushing Apple today but originally the big boys in cell phones at the dawn of the iPhone era were Nokia and Blackberry.

 

[5232152]

I remember when the iPad came out and people (including on this forum) went: "What do I need this for?"
The same people who cant put their tablet away at the dinner table today.

We will see the exact same with folding iPhones.

 

[Khaleesi Kendall]

I don’t see the purpose of folding phones. I t reminds me of phones with the 3D cameras and how that died off like three years later.