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

[coords]

Apple has begun sending foldable iPhones to assembly partner Foxconn for testing purposes, with a projected release set for September 2022, claims a new Chinese report out today.

Citing supply chain sources, Economic Daily News says the testing involves evaluating the use of OLED or Micro-LED display technology, because the choice of either screen will affect the subsequent assembly methods.

Apple is also said to have asked Foxconn to evaluate the bearings (the folding component) of the devices with over 100,000 opening and closing tests. The report notes similar tests for regular laptops requires them to be opened and closed between 20,000 and 30,000 times.

The report offers no additional information on the design of the foldable device, but does note that Samsung will provide the panel for the screen, potentially corroborating rumors that Apple has ordered foldable display samples from the Korean company.

According to leaker Jon Prosser, Apple is working on a foldable iPhone prototype that features two separate display panels that are connected by a hinge rather than a single display like the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

Prosser says that the foldable ‌iPhone‌ has rounded, stainless steel edges similar to the iPhone 11 and no notch, but a "tiny forehead" on the outer display for Face ID.

Rumors about Apple working on a foldable iPhone date back to 2016, and there have been a number of foldable phone Apple patents, including one describing a device with two separate displays that could be brought together to create a single bendable device with a hinge. That said, foldable iPhone rumors offer no consensus on if or when such a device will come to market.


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

No thank you!! It's the last thing I want to see coming from Apple!! What a waste of resources!!

 

[The Game 161]

As a fold 2 user I will look forward to this...something different that’s for sure

 

[The Game 161]

I don't see the point of these folding phones, except to reduce the odds of someone not buying a new one after a year.

Until you use one you won’t

 

[Tozovac]

I think folding phones are one of those 'just because you can doesn't mean you should' types of technology.

Yes.

Like iOS 7. Like making a desktop OS look more like a mobile OS. Like making the lickable buttons look very unappealingly bland and unnecessarily oversized.

 

[polyphenol]

the lickable buttons

Now that really is over the top!

 

[rebel22lax]

Take my money now, all $5,000 of it.

if its $2500 would you buy it?

 

[spinedoc77]

Just like with AR there are always true believers to contrast with those who have been in technology long enough to be a bit cynical. Time will tell who made a better prediction on this. But people said many revolutionary things about 3dtv and the like.

I think AR will also do very well, but I don't think it's the panacea many think it is. Having overlays of information will be awesome, but at the same time you won't really have a full screen in front of you, at least that's the impression I get from all the information I've read about AR. I'm sure AR will evolve to handle this, possibly projecting a screen right onto the retina or something like that, but for the near future there still needs to be a stop gap for consumers to continue to have a screen in front of them, and having a tablet sized screen that fits into your pocket is still a huge advantage to current smartphones AND tablets (thus obviating the necessity of having to purchase 2 devices, case in point I sold both my iPhone and my iPad mini). But there is no reason not to have an optimal outlook for both technologies as they unfold (pun intended).

 

[Denzo]

Apple are usually good at execution. If you like tech this should make you happy.
The leaks are making current launches less special, though.

 

[switz]

Got my iPhone Pro Max Friday. Already had an Apple silicone case waiting and Zagg screen guard. Good to go. My iPhone 11 Pro Max was setup for my wife in it's Apple auxiliary battery case.

My new 2020 Toyota Highlander Platimum has a neat wireless charger in the console that worked well with the iPhone 11 Pro Max in it's Apple auxiliary battery case. The new iPhone 12 Pro Max with Apple silicon case is just enough wider that it will not fit down onto the charger pad.

Bummer. But there is a place to plug in a charge cable or a CarPlay interface cable. Defeats the whole wireless thing in the car....

Perhaps bigger is not always better.

 

[nburwell]

I'm probably in the minority here, but a folding iPhone (or any phone in general) does not interest me in the least bit. Seems like a gimmick, much like 3D TV's. But who am I to judge?

 

[rebel22lax]

as an iphone X user this is what I've been waiting for....almost when to the fold2....man is it gonna be expensive.

 

[Tozovac]

I'm probably in the minority here, but a folding iPhone (or any phone in general) does not interest me in the least bit. Seems like a gimmick, much like 3D TV's. But who am I to judge?

I already have issues getting a non-folding iPhone to go unscathed longer than 3 years w/o any cracks or other inertial incidents. I'd imagine an iPhone with moving parts that's opened n times a day would need to be supremely robust to stay "solid" for more than 2 years...

 

[dumastudetto]

if its $2500 would you buy it?

I'd buy two.

 

[Remington Steel]

An Apple folding phone will be a reality in the next few years...they will "perfect" it first. I remember when the first ipad came out 10 years ago and how people said it was "stupid".

 

[Deepshade]

Sad to see Apple bettered in the design department.

This expanding phone has already shown how poor the design concept of a folding phone really is, and how rolling expanding phones are simply so much slicker.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 SCHOOLED by Oppo's wild new 2021 flagship

Oppo x 2021 set to steal Galaxy Fold 3's thunder

www.t3.com

Steve Jobs would have had this and better. Apple design is really showing lack of innovation - look at the recyclyed iPhone 5 design with new guts we have with the new iPhone 12. I would be tragic to see the same old stuff churned out - imagine your iPhone 12 - but thicker - clunky to open and all with a nice crease down the middle after a year!

 

[The Game 161]

wonder if 2022 will be correct when it comes to a release.

 

[LizKat]

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.

I'd sometimes just like to have a "mobile" device that rolls up like a cardboard tube... turns into a 36" TV screen for movie night, and then gets rolled back up and stuck into the umbrella stand that holds all my gift wrap. Well I can dream anyway...

 

[futurist101]

I'm hoping these rumors are off and they release a foldable iPad as opposed to iPhone.