Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple May Launch 7-Inch Foldable iPhone With Apple Pencil Support in 2023

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,243
39,048


Apple may launch a foldable iPhone with a 7-inch OLED display and Apple Pencil support as soon as 2023, according to global technology research firm Omdia.

foldable-iPhone-concept-feature.jpg


In analysis cited by investment research firm EqualOcean, spotted by iPhone in Canada, Omdia predicts that Apple will launch its long-rumored foldable iPhone in 2023. The device is said to have a display size in the range of 7.3 to 7.6-inches and feature an OLED panel.

Omdia, a global communications and digital media research organization, predicts that Apple may launch a 7.3-7.6-inch foldable OLED smartphone in 2023 and add an activity pen to its foldable iPhone.
Click to expand...

While the machine learning translation of the original report predicts support for an "activity pen," it seems likely that this is actually referring to the Apple Pencil, or at least a variant of the existing iPad accessory of the same name.

Apple Pencil support has been rumored for the iPhone intermittently for some years, but the feature has never materialized. In spite of this, there is a clearer motive behind bringing Apple Pencil support to a larger foldable iPhone. With a display as large as 7.6-inches, the foldable iPhone would be almost as large as the iPad mini, which has a 7.9-inch display. The iPad mini has supported the Apple Pencil since 2019, so it would make sense for a foldable iPhone with roughly the same display size to support it too.

The Apple Pencil excels in illustration, handwriting, and productivity tasks that demand fine control, so Apple may have determined that its main utilities could not be significantly taken advantage of on smaller iPhones in recent years. With a display said to be almost as large as the iPad mini, there is a much clearer use-case for the Apple Pencil on a 7-inch foldable iPhone.

The report mirrors previous speculation when it comes to the OLED display panel. Apple's rumored foldable iPhone has been said to feature an OLED display, namely from Samsung, according to reports of internal durability testing and display sample orders.

In January, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple was testing foldable iPhones with a range of display sizes. A recent report from Taiwanese website Economic Daily News claimed that two prototype foldable iPhones had passed internal tests, and said that the device could launch in late 2022 or 2023.

Rumors about Apple working on a foldable ‌iPhone‌ date back to 2016, and the company has filed a significant number of patents related to a foldable iPhone. There has been an increasing number of reports surrounding the device in recent months, with more details emerging and even a timeframe for launch gradually taking shape.

Article Link: Apple May Launch 7-Inch Foldable iPhone With Apple Pencil Support in 2023
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/16/7-inch-foldable-iphone-with-apple-pencil-2023/
Not crazy about the foldable phone idea or for tablets though I am intrigued at the idea of having a device that opens to 15”, that would make it a great addition to sidecar as long as it doesn’t cost more than a MacBook itself which it probably would.
 
Last edited:
I own Galaxy zFold 2 and it is a fantastic device. It is not a gimmick. The only glaring problem saw far has been underutilization of the large screen due to Android‘s almost non-existent tablet features.

However, the biggest problem with a good foldable phone: if the front screen by itself works fine as a phone, then you may not utilize large size of screen inside, and then you start wondering whether the premium you paid for foldable was well spent.
 
Last edited:
steve09090 said:
Nothing as far as I can see. I see no value in a foldable phone.
Click to expand...
That’s because you only saw it under Android, where the OS is controlled by a company that does not make foldable so the large screen is not efficiently utilized.

Under iOS, Apple will make sure all app developers adjust their apps to fully utilize the large screen. Or the foldable iPhone will just implement iPadOS. It would be a completely different ball game.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
  • Angry
Reactions: mymacrumorsname, freedomlinux and Td1970
syklee26 said:
I own Galaxy zFold 2 and it is a fantastic device. It is not a gimmick.

However, the biggest problem with a good foldable phone: if the front screen by itself works fine as a phone, then you may not utilize large size of screen inside, and then you start wondering whether the premium you paid for foldable was well spent.
Click to expand...
So, if you’re able, are you able to say what the benefits are to you, or would you have been just as well off with a standard candy bar S21/iPhone style?

syklee26 said:
That’s because you only saw it under Android, where the OS is controlled by a company that does not make foldable so the large screen is not efficiently utilized.

Under iOS, Apple will make sure all app developers adjust their apps to fully utilize the large screen. Or the foldable iPhone will just implement iPadOS. It would be a completely different ball game.
Click to expand...
I can see that, but was wondering what the actual benefits would be. If it means I don’t use an iPad, then fair enough, but a 10” screen is a perfect size for so many things. I cannot see a genuine use case for it as a hybrid device. I see it could knock out the iPad mini but that’s all.

Plus Apple don’t have history is destroying a device in favour of another (excluding the iPod of course).
 
It would be a foldable iPad Mini not a foldable iPhone, no? or may be it would switch between iOS and iPadOS paradigms when unfolded. Just like the Galaxy Fold or the Microsoft Duo are basically foldable Android tablets (a failed category of devices), with a lot of drawbacks (fragile, unoptimized, poor developer support and prohibitively expensive), all while being admittedly cool proofs of concept from their labs.

At least Apple has the tablet experience cornered (what the device unfolded really is). Android tablets, specially for productivity, are DOA, having a foldable Android tablet is like having a BMW convertible with a top speed of 40 km/h that turns itself off every two blocks with fragile electronics.
 
Last edited:
  • Disagree
Reactions: miq
Azeroth1 said:
I’m sure they would implement it well, but I have never understood the appeal of a foldable phone. Just seems to introduce structural weaknesses for benefits I don’t just see. What am I missing?
Click to expand...
Combine the tablet and phone into one device. One less thing to carry around and needs charging.
 
steve09090 said:
So, if you’re able, are you able to say what the benefits are to you, or would you have been just as well off with a standard candy bar S21/iPhone style?
Click to expand...
I need the large screen because I read legal documents, but many people under Android would be just fine with candy bar style phone. Again, the large screen in Android foldable is underutilized because of lack of tablet features in Android.
 
  • Like
Reactions: steve09090
An eventual folding device from Apple is inevitable. As always, the question will be: what can they do better or differently so that this will be desirable as more than a curiosity?

More reliable hardware and better software would be table stakes. What I would hope to see is something that works well as a phone in the folded state, both in operation and in your pocket (i.e. thinner).

Lots of really uncertain products in the pipeline right now. This, the car, the VR/AR goggles. Exciting times ahead.

In the meantime, please give me my M1x iMac.
 
They have not yet solved all the problems in the current model. The screen is still not full, the body is scratched, the camera sticks out and the phone is on it, etc.
It makes no sense to release something new, it will only add new problems.
Experience shows that even Apple needs years of development and testing to do a really good thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GuruZac
Azeroth1 said:
I’m sure they would implement it well, but I have never understood the appeal of a foldable phone. Just seems to introduce structural weaknesses for benefits I don’t just see. What am I missing?
Click to expand...
Imagine an iPad that can fold in half to become an iPhone. That replaces two devices and converts them into one. That would be a benefit, but not sure how bad the compromises would be. No more possibility for a glass screen (glass will never bend like that), and there's no way it's going to be thin and light like a phone when folded.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mymacrumorsname, Vermelho and GuruZac
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back