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Well I don't know if it has occurred to you or not, but if you take the largest iPhone, double it (aka "unfold" it), you still don't have anything that even approaches a tablet of usable size.
LOL. You are dead wrong. Two 13 Pro Max's combined would make for a roughly 8.5" tablet. That would be an amazing mini tablet in your pocket.
 
I mean, at some point they HAVE to come out with a foldable display. Otherwise, how else are all of the Samsung fanboys going to belabor the point that Apple doesn't innovate?
Kind of like…when Apple deleted the 3.5 mm Jack. Nobody said they would do it, remember? And guess what happened with the iPhone 7. They did.

So the fact that Apple isn’t afraid of change, doesn’t mean they’ll never release a foldable device, but it may not share the same interpretation of how competitors are releasing their foldable devices either. Apple typically does things different, they’re never the ‘norm’.
 
Any foldable iPhone is a hard no for me. It just sounds like a hit waiting to happen. No thanks. I'm concerned enough about dropping my iPhone. I don't need to have a heart attack every time it falls for fear it hits the hinge or some other sensitive place. Hardest of hard passes from me...
 
Laptop owners disagree with you.
The folding part of a laptop is large, mechanically robust, and is not part of the user interface. Users don't touch it, perceiving minute imperfect bends/bumps. Users don't look directly at it, observing distortions & wear & defects on retina-level level.

Contrast years/decades of normalizing absolutely flat screens, both in viewing and touch, now introducing creases and wear on a screen. I just wiped a minute bit of dust off the screen; bends, early wear, etc would drive me nuts via minute involvement of two senses hyper-aware of imperfections.

...we ARE both talking about the same thing, right? a single screen that folds? not to be confused with two screens attached by a hinge? both suck.
 
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They will wait until the tech is perfected by someone else, then put it on an iPhone, after which thousands of PR articles, that they pay for and write behind the scenes, laud them for being innovative.

And the general public, now barely literate, will believe it. This is our world now.

I miss the exciting times before all tech progress was slowed to essentially zero by the duopoly.

Of course.. that's Apple marketing in a nutshell!
 
An average of at least 10 times a day seems accurate.
Cool, I believe Apple would have to create a folding iPhone hinge that could be folded hundreds of times a day, because some people will do that, and if that hing & screen doesn’t hold up for 7 years like your laptop: hing/screen gate!!! Your laptop hinge is so much larger and heavy duty compared to what’s possible in a phone.
 
I can almost guarantee that a lot of folks trashing a foldable device, will be one of the first ones in line, having multiple mental orgasms once Apple releases it ? .. Before the 6+ was released, Samsung Note devices were a 'joke', 'gimmick', ' unnecessary', and 'fad' too!

Typical & Predictable!
 
Some of the new tech is intriguing, but not at those prices. Hell, I only got an Ipad Air, 1st gen (from 2013) about 4 to 5 years back b/c a used 128 GB model was available for half off (so around $400). Otherwise, as nice as they were, I couldn't justify paying $800 for one. I only recently got a 9th gen iPad because was only $320. In brand new condition (as opposed to used), and it's the most up to date model (came out in 2021).

I've had the same attitude towards all them foldables we have now, and will extend that same attitude to Apple's take in that arena.
 
I completely disagree. We are about to hit massive growth in the folding market in addition to the folding iPhone arriving in roughly 3 years time.

I'm not sure where you are coming up with these failure stats. Is the Fold 3 failing for countless consumers? I would imagine it's not. And that durability will only get stronger as the technology matures at an accelerated rate in short time. Look at the massive difference between the Fold 1.0 and 3.0

The outer screen on the Fold 3 is gorilla glass victus and isn't any more fragile than what we have on the iPhone and other smartphones. Not an issue with items in your pocket.

AR glasses are a separate category. Smartphones will continue to thrive and grow in innovation for years to come.
A mechanical hinge is going to fail (I’m not talking specifics on phone hinges, but rather any kind of hinge, which also includes the screen itself, since a folded screen has a hinge too). Talk to any mechanical engineer about it. Between Samsung and the few Chinese brands selling hinged phones now are sold in such small numbers at high prices, so you’re not going to hear about failures for a couple of reasons. One, because people will purposely try to be more careful with them and the other is it’s just a smaller pool of users who may not even be using their folding devices as their only device.

And in regards to the screen being damaged, I wasn’t talking about the outer screen, I’m talking about the inner folded screen getting damaged from detritus in your pocket or bag getting between the two sections of the inside panel. The fact that the screen isn’t folding flat on itself (it can’t because you can’t fold glass or even the OLED panel itself with a crease), you have a variable distance between the folded pieces which allows stuff to get between the panel sides.

I believe we’ve hit peak smartphone. What we’re seeing already are iterative advancements year over year, which is why companies brought back folding devices, in an effort to expand the market beyond the current form factor. But doubling the screen size is still going to be limiting to someone who wants an ever bigger screen. With AR done through glasses, your perception of size has almost limitless potential, with no drawback for weight or being able to handle a device comfortably.
 
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Cool, I believe Apple would have to create a folding iPhone hinge that could be folded hundreds of times a day, because some people will do that, and if that hing & screen doesn’t hold up for 7 years like your laptop: hing/screen gate!!! Your laptop hinge is so much larger and heavy duty compared to what’s possible in a phone.
Spot on. People who like to compare hinges of laptops surviving without issue for years to what a smart phone with a hinge would be are delusional. The average smartphone user looks at / interacts with their device something like 8-10 times an hour, so assuming a person is awake for 16 hours, and you cut a couple of hours out for showering, eating, etc., that could be 112 times a day, 40,880 folds / unfolds a year. Add in the device being pocketed and the dust, dirt, sand and lint that will work its way into the device, hinge, screen and I already know what the result is - because the market has already gone through this 20 years ago, and that was at a time when we weren’t using our devices nearly as much as we do today.
 
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I can almost guarantee that a lot of folks trashing a foldable device, will be one of the first ones in line, having multiple mental orgasms once Apple releases it 🙄 .. Before the 6+ was released, Samsung Note devices were a 'joke', 'gimmick', ' unnecessary', and 'fad' too!

Typical & Predictable!
Only time will tell whether you are correct or not, personally I have my doubts…
 
I don't necessarily open the Fold 3 every time I get a txt, email, calls, checking notifications, etc.. Am able to do quite a lot using the front screen. Though I wish the outer screen were a bit wide, the narrow aspect makes the device very one hand friendly.

I do use the inner screen for typing larger emails, watching YT/videos, SSH sessions, Video calls ( meetings ), research ( multiple apps..usually 3 ), chatting ( Teams and/or WhatsApp et al ) , while reading an article or watching a video, word/excel ( with or w/o a BT KB and mouse, but with the S-Pen ), drawing, navigation ( usually paired with another app open.. like Teams, Apple Music, or Outlook.. ), etc..
 
I hope they quickly declare this experiment a failure and move on. I really don't see this working out well for anyone, at any price point.

I'd rather see Apple bring back the original HomePod, with an A12 or better chip! Make that happen, and you can take my money!

Definitely! I'm still waiting for them to nix the whole laptop experiment thing, seriously who would want a computer in a smaller, more portable version?!?
 
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Well I don't know if it has occurred to you or not, but if you take the largest iPhone, double it (aka "unfold" it), you still don't have anything that even approaches a tablet of usable size.

Uhh, the Fold has the same screen size as the iPad mini 5 and before, it's just a tad smaller than the 6 but really that's just a different aspect ratio. That's actually smaller than what 2 iPhone Pro Max's would be together. Although the aspect ratio might be a bit wonky, that would be a very good tablet size IMO.
 
It’s one thing to make the device and hinge dust resistant, but that still won’t solve the issue of a folding mechanism being more prone to failure than a non-hinged device. And another issue with dust, sand, change, keys, etc. that may be in your pocket when you put a folding phone in your pocket, is the screen will also be subjected to these items and face both surface damage and fracture. Folding screen phones, including the iPhone, are not inevitable. We’re more likely going to see movement away from large screened devices with AR glasses coming into play.

It's interesting that someone, somewhere probably had this discussion when going from a folding clamshell phone to today's slab phones. Of course ingenuity and technology mostly (but not all the way) resolved that with gorilla glass screens and such. I think often we are content to think the future will be like the present, forgetting just how fast technology solutions move.

But from a more present experience, I think I abused my Fold 2 pretty badly for the year I had it and didn't have any issues with damaging the screen. I don't disagree that it's more delicate, but again, that's something technology will catch up with, maybe even Apple will be the ones to resolve it. IF anything I think my 13 pro max is more delicate in many ways, After a couple of months I already have 2 small screen scratches which I have no idea from where, conversely with it's inner screen closed when carrying my Fold 2 was pristine after a year of use.
 
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A mechanical hinge is going to fail (I’m not talking specifics on phone hinges, but rather any kind of hinge, which also includes the screen itself, since a folded screen has a hinge too). Talk to any mechanical engineer about it. Between Samsung and the few Chinese brands selling hinged phones now are sold in such small numbers at high prices, so you’re not going to hear about failures for a couple of reasons. One, because people will purposely try to be more careful with them and the other is it’s just a smaller pool of users who may not even be using their folding devices as their only device.

And in regards to the screen being damaged, I wasn’t talking about the outer screen, I’m talking about the inner folded screen getting damaged from detritus in your pocket or bag getting between the two sections of the inside panel. The fact that the screen isn’t folding flat on itself (it can’t because you can’t fold glass or even the OLED panel itself with a crease), you have a variable distance between the folded pieces which allows stuff to get between the panel sides.

I believe we’ve hit peak smartphone. What we’re seeing already are iterative advancements year over year, which is why companies brought back folding devices, in an effort to expand the market beyond the current form factor. But doubling the screen size is still going to be limiting to someone who wants an ever bigger screen. With AR done through glasses, your perception of size has almost limitless potential, with no drawback for weight or being able to handle a device comfortably.
I mean I think that's a ridiculous notion. Regardless of folding smartphone sales numbers, if these devices were failing at high numbers, we absolutely would be hearing about it, and it would be reported breathlessly by tech sites. Also I feel consumers are going to use them as needed when it comes to folding them day and night. It's not like people with folding phones are going to try to open and close them less to avoid damage. You clearly don't believe these devices can last down the road and I completely disagree with that notion.

I mean you didn't specify which screen. You just said things in the pocket will cause damage. I would agree that it could be a concern for the Fold 3 given that it is not dust proof just yet. But like I said previously, I expect the Fold 4 to be dust proof. I also don't know why you think future Fold editions won't close completely. Look at the Huawei X2 when closed. Would you be concerned with detritus in your pocket with this device? I wouldn't be. And I'm certain future Fold models will follow suit and not contain the current gap while the device is closed, rendering your point moot.

Great, you think we've hit peak smartphone. I could not disagree more. The current form factor alone has great room for improvement. Our smartphones are still quite thick and heavy and battery life always has room for improvement. The screens are still getting better year after year. There is still a ton that can be done moving forward with the candy bar design. And then you factor in folding phones which are going to completely revolutionize the category by providing us with mini tablets in our pockets for the first time along with compact form factors that flip out to a larger device a la Galaxy Flip.

Again, AR glasses are something entirely different. We aren't all going to be wearing glasses all day and night. This notion that they are going to replace the smartphone is ridiculous. I'm sure they will be amazing but let's cool the breaks with this talk that they are what truly matters in the future and the smartphone has little to no innovation at this point. That is just dead wrong.
 
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