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Funny how many scoffed at the idea of an iPhold, as Apple didn't need to jump on no Android phone hype train, but now are eagerly anticipating it as something fantastic.

Anyway, I'm interested in seeing exactly how they deal with the OS. Will it get iPadOS designed apps or be just an iOS with a larger area. Time will tell.
 
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i don't get it. Samsung has creased foldable phones already and it's providing the displays. So how is apple going to make the iphone better than a Samsung when they can also use it in their future products... 🤔

Samsung Electronics who design and sell phones are not the same as Samsung Display who are a fabrication arm that make display technology to the design of the buyer.
 
According to the rumors, when unfolded it will be only slightly smaller than an iPad mini. Conversely, a Samsung Galaxy Z fold is more of a square which sometimes means you don't get a viewable area much bigger than on a standard bar smartphone in landscape. I think that means when folded the Apple foldable will be unique in that it will be noticeably wider which I'm interested to see.
Doesn't that indicate it'll then be a much more narrow aspect ratio on the front screen compared to current iPhones? Nevermind
 
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According to earlier leaks it will supposedly have a 5.5” outer display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, and a 7.8” inner display with a 4:3 aspect ratio. As an iPhone and iPad mini enthusiast myself I’m pretty stoked, although that 3:2 outer display is still not ergonomically ideal, it may be the best we small Phone folk get. Here’s some nice renderings based on the leaked dimensions.

Interesting renders. I'm testing out a 17 Pro Max right now for the bigger screen and I agree, it's too wide for one handed use. I'd much rather have something as wide as a 17 Pro but shorter, so it opens up to a better aspect ratio inside.
 
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When folded it's the size of my iPhone 12 mini. Unfolded it's almost the size of my iPad mini. That means it'll replace two devices. I just need to discover oil in my backyard so I can afford it…
I’m with you on that! But note that the mini-sized front screen will be shorter and wider than the mini iPhone. Still fine by me!
I 3D printed the renders iZac made earlier this year and it’s weird but I like it. Square iPod nano vibes.
 
Apple has no need "to figure out what else people might want as much as they want that." Only ignorant internet wags demand that. Apple just needs to make great products that predominantly exceed break-even costs. Contrary to what the silly internet wags demand, not every product needs to sell at iPhone volume .

I agree but apparently Apple themselves think these spinoffs need to sell at peak iPhone volume to be worth continuing.
 
If it is the most full-featured and premium iPhone, it will sell like hotcakes. A large portion of Apple's buyers just want the biggest and baddest. This is why they sell so many Pro Max models, and why everything remotely premium gets the "Pro" moniker. People want to feel like they are owning top-notch quality, not some lesser tech.
It won’t have Face ID and will only have a dual rear camera. At $2000+, I’m kind of skeptical that it’ll sell very well, even though I personally like the concept. It might fall short of expectations like the Air did.
 
When folded it's the size of my iPhone 12 mini.
Absolutely not. While shorter than the mini, it will be wider and thicker than the Pro Max, and roughly as heavy as the Pro. That’s pretty far from the mini.
 
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2020 Apple: People will love small iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2022 Apple: People will love big iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2025 Apple: People will love thin iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2026 Apple: People will love foldable iPhones, let's mass produce them!

Apple doesn't seem to learn
I think it’s important to listen to users, but at the same time keep your own pace. Innovation is always the right direction, even if new things aren’t easy for everyone to accept at first. I support them pushing for more possibilities—I think that’s really cool.
 
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If it is the most full-featured and premium iPhone, it will sell like hotcakes. A large portion of Apple's buyers just want the biggest and baddest. This is why they sell so many Pro Max models, and why everything remotely premium gets the "Pro" moniker. People want to feel like they are owning top-notch quality, not some lesser tech.
One more thing — the reason some people go for the highest configuration might simply be: “Maybe I don’t need this feature right now, but who knows about the future?” I can choose not to use it, but I don’t want to be without it. Haha.
I used to think the iPhone “Air” type model was more than enough for me, but after hearing my friend say that, I switched without hesitation. Haha.
 
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2020 Apple: People will love small iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2022 Apple: People will love big iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2025 Apple: People will love thin iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2026 Apple: People will love foldable iPhones, let's mass produce them!

Apple doesn't seem to learn
The Pro Max models are a huge hit tho
 
With Samsung making that many displays for the Fold, I wonder if Apple plans to keep the same display in the following year's Fold model.
 
I wondered if a memory plastic could be developed for foldable displays, similar to the memory metal Nitinol, that when unfolded would smooth out any remaining crease by warming it up a bit, with the heat provided by the phone and display.

So I looked into it, and it seems that this is what Apple has been working on for the Fold, but it might not make it into the first version. A future version of the Fold display might include a "self-healing" Shape Memory Polymer (SMP) layer activated by thermal induction. Apple has patent 11,991,901 for their implementation, which includes transparent conductors as a heating element running under the display, which would warm up the display to make the polymer more pliable to allow it to smooth out its crease.

But for the first version of the Fold, the rumor is that it won't include this warming layer or the more advanced SMP to go with it as described in Apple's patent, since current versions of the heating layer use a lot of battery power and are too thick. Instead the first Fold's display will be made of a combination of Ultra-Thin Glass (UTG), as is the case with most current foldables, plus a top cover protective layer of a chemically reinforced, passive shape memory polymer that even without a heating layer is able to recover faster and better from creasing, fingernails, etc. than what's used in current foldables, and a new laser-etched support structure.
 
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Waiting to see Apple's first foldable. Hopefully both the external and internal screens will be big enough. Don't think there will be a telephoto lens which is very disappointing. Looking forward to more rumors regarding this foldable iPhone.
 
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2020 Apple: People will love small iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2022 Apple: People will love big iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2025 Apple: People will love thin iPhones, let's mass produce them!

2026 Apple: People will love foldable iPhones, let's mass produce them!

Apple doesn't seem to learn
2027 Tim Cook: At least people can’t blame me anymore.
 
Waiting to see Apple's first foldable. Hopefully both the external and internal screens will be big enough. Don't think there will be a telephoto lens which is very disappointing. Looking forward to more rumors regarding this foldable iPhone.
Yeah, it’s hard to downgrade to a camera that doesn’t have the telescopic lens. It’s quite useful.
 
Sorry but IMO millions of units is not "still a niche market." Perhaps it is relative to selling hundreds of millions of iPhones, but IMO that is wrong-headed thinking.

It's a novelty market. Many people that bought folding phones have since 'upgraded' back to a regular phone after a year or two.

They sound great, but they're fragile, thick when folded and don't have enough use cases to really be worth it. The tri-fold with DEX might change things, because it genuinely is phone software and tablet software (with desktop like features) in a single device.

But the fact that a lot of users try it and then revert back, makes it a niche market. The niche is the people that upgrade into future devices because they find the form factor essential AND are willing to pay the price. Without them, you don't really have a market at all.
 
They may as well. For all the people on here that claim they won’t buy it, I feel they will.
Nope. I never will. We need to spend less time on our phones not more. If I ever need a bigger screen an iPad is a much better experience. I have never been at the grocery store and needed a bigger phone. I never use my devices while waiting at the doctors office or anywhere. Your brain needs breaks from technology.
 
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