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Apple's Foldable iPhone Prototype Allegedly Features Separate Display Panels Connected by Hinge
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Who said there were no downsides? Everything has a benefit and a downside, you just have to factor in if the benefit outweighs the downsides. Personally I think foldable screens are going to be huge, the advantage of having a larger screen that folds down to fit into your pocket is just undeniable, and those issues you name will be improved upon. But certainly there is some level of acceptance of downsides, otherwise why wouldn't you just use a flip phone from 15 years ago, it's lighter, has a smaller form factor, is more usable one handed, is more durable, etc.
It’s not just that the other components of a foldable phone need to be re-imagined, but at least for the foldable screen devices, the biggest issue in my opinion is the plastic covered screen itself. There are a lot of people who are too young to remember what it was like using devices with plastic covered touch screens. I had one of the first Compaq iPaq (funny how they were so close to the iPad name before there was an iPad), that I bought as an alternative to the Palm Pilot that many of my colleagues were using.
The iPaq was a solid, hefty, device but it had a plastic covered screen that was too easily scratched by the included stylus. Even if you’re just using your fingers on a plastic screen, they just do not hold up the way glass does. I think I got less than a year’s use out of my iPaq before the screen was so scratched it was unusable. Certainly coatings have improved since then, but plastics in general will still suffer from scratching, stretching, sagging, indentations, etc. All things most people will not accept for a daily driver - especially after the past 10 years of using glass based screen devices.
They can offer more than one form factor. It’s all about choice.
I just don't see the point of this personally. I'd rather just continue having an iPhone and iPad that don't come with a compromise. There is a choice though so its good for those who want this sort of tech.
If they can get fix the issues we have seen in other foldables and actually create a compelling product in terms of hardware, software, and app support - I think it makes sense, but I have a hard time getting there. In time yes, but too many hurdles at this point for limited value. I think the one area this may make sense is a clam shell like iPadOS book, with an adaptive touch screen keyboard/trackpad on the bottom half.
You’re speculating into what could be. With current implementations, the downsides are the only thing that matters.
Two things you can guarantee it will be overpriced and the base storage tier will be half of what every other flagship device ships with at the time.
Mon Dieu!!!
Apple should not come out with this. It looks unwieldy and honestly, LG's approach is the best; maybe Samsung clamshell phone. But this isn't a reliable design.
The novelty is just so un-Apple-like that Steve Jobs rolled in his grave twice then out of it.
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Yes and some choices are not viable. Apple spending production lines for this design would be a huge misstep.
Apple should not come out with this. It looks unwieldy and honestly, LG's approach is the best; maybe Samsung clamshell phone. But this isn't a reliable design.
The novelty is just so un-Apple-like that Steve Jobs rolled in his grave twice then out of it.
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Yes and some choices are not viable. Apple spending production lines for this design would be a huge misstep.
I don't agree, it's still a benefits versus downsides decision, just like pretty much any other decision we make. I'm not telling you to make the decision based on the future, rather I'm saying that we shouldn't shut down the foldables concept because of what it is today. Certainly your decision should be made on what is available today, but that doesn't mean you might not change your mind with future improvements. Personally I'm considering making the leap to the Samsung Fold 2 as I feel the benefits outweigh the downsides. It will be nice carrying one device instead of babysitting 2 devices.
Not at all in their current form. Foldable phones are objectively worse in pretty much every way except total screen size when unfolded...but it has a warped seam and a plastic screen cover.
This is also why foldable phones have completely flopped.
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Personally I am willing to accept a crease in the Fold 2 in order to be able to leave my ipad mini at home. I haven't seen the Fold 2 in person, but I've seen the Galaxy Z Flip in person and it's really amazing how much better the screen/crease is than the Fold 1. Just that one factor of having a larger screen that can fit into my pocket and obviate the need for 2 devices is much more of a benefit than the current downsides (which I'm not denying).
Foldable phones also haven't flopped, they are a very niche item at this time because of the issues you note as well as being very expensive. The Z flip has been selling well for such a niche/expensive item, the last report I read from the beginning of May puts it at 400,000 units, and that's during a worldwide pandemic. Sure that's a drop in the bucket compared to Samsung's other phones, but this is just the beginning of this paradigm and as the hardware and pricing improves we will see foldables move more and more into the mainstream space, even with those sticking their luddite heads in the sand. Reminds me of the same naysayers when smartphones came out until Apple showed us all how it was done, or naysayers regarding phablets until Samsung showed us how it was done.
I love how people think they know how a guy who’s been dead for almost a decade feels about foldable phones.
Keep spinning Steve!
Keep spinning Steve!
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I remember in college that one of my statistics classes included learning how to operate a punch card “computer”. Even back then I thought it was strange that we were learning something so seemingly outdated. I took computer programming classes in high school, so it wasn’t like things weren’t already heading down the PC path.
But in college almost no one had a computer, and the school’s system was a mainframe, with terminals that were all ancient green screens. Even the application we had to type on required you to know how to program the page setup, since nothing you did was WYSIWYG, which was awful to use. I had a roommate that got one of the early all in one Macintosh’s, back in 1984. He got laughed at by friends who were in computer programming at the time, because they thought it was like a toy - the fact that you didn’t have to know programming to write a paper, or create a database.
Looking back, that was the beginnings of the Apple vs PC battle.
The only foldables I'm a bit warming up to is the Galaxy Z flip, but even then, I'm not going to spend that much money on a phone with plastic screen. We have gone so far with gorilla glass, I'm not willing to go back to soft and less durable screen just to have it fold.
Don't worry. It will. Just like those "modular" phones and pop-up selfie cameras. Android OEMs will still make it though, merely as a technology showcase.
Because Apple is not Samsung Or Huawei. I trust Apple to not sell me a compromised device, the Apple I know offers solutions I didn’t know I need. Letting people choose is not always a good thing.
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Nope, what I am saying is, I don’t want a ToasterFridge or whatever Timmy envisioned.
These early steps are likely to be clunky almost certainly resulting in significant compromises in order to get double the screen size in the same height and width as current phones (thicker, heavier and less durable devices with probably bad hits on battery life unless they get really a lot thicker than a current iPhone Max for instance). Personally I am not in the tiniest bit tempted to accept those compromises in early generation devices if they are anything like the magnitude I expect them to be. I can however imagine a time, quite a few generations of product on, When the fold-out bit of the screen is no thicker than a thin and very durable leather flap folding over the front of an iPhone Max to protect the screen. At that point I can see myself jumping aboard but, again just my personal opinion, that is how minimal impact and unobtrusive the fold-out needs to become before I start getting tempted.
I'll sit this one out for a while but will be watching with interest from the sidelines.
I'll sit this one out for a while but will be watching with interest from the sidelines.
Triple the screen, if the fold screen goes on the inside and they have another on the outside.
maybe they'll make it so that you can connect as many iphones together as you'd like. that would be nice...
Then allow me to take it one step further. Choice. Some people want a Samsung or a Huawei. They want the choice to choose something that doesn't fit your needs........
1. Surface Neo.
2. Surface Duo.
I guess MS did some research before announcing these 2 products.
I can‘t care less about Samsung and Huawei users, I don’t know how to say Huawei but I know that there is a big difference between ”choice” and “bad product positioning” because customers can’t be more confused when they choose a product by one of these vendors. And I didn’t say anything about my needs, I said I trust Apple to make products that I didn’t know I need.