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Do we really have to talk about phones in 2 years maybe talk about this years or next latest zzzz
 
In other words, it's the reboot of the flip-phone.

And it will be interesting to watch techie boyz square that circle.

Flip phones generally had a tiny screen and a menu-based OS that was tedious to use on a good day (tap tap tap tap tap OK tap tap tap tap), iOS and Android are way ahead of those in terms of ease-of-use.

A phone / phablet / tablet that has a very big screen, modern touch OS, yet is small enough to fit in your pocket is something that hasn't really been done before (not in the mainstream anyway). I think we're still a long way off a real product, but it's something I'd love to see.
 
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Any foldable phone is going to need the display on the outside of the fold, not on the inside as the drawings indicate. I want to quickly check for messages without having to pull the device completely out of my pocket and open it up. Unless they are going to put a separate display on the outside too (more money, thicker, and higher power consumption), then there will be no way to see or quickly respond to messages.
 
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So this article should say, Apple will use a foldable screen once Samsung has developed and made it into a reliable product ready for a consumer device?
 
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Nah can't see it.

Apple won't make a bendable phone just for the sake of it.

I can't even think of any decent shape & size the unfolded phone could be that transformed into a decent shape & size when unfolded. Like an iPhone Plus sized device folded along it's longest side would become a square shape which isn't great for content, or if it folded along the shortest side it'd become a big long thin rectangle.
 
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A folding iPad will be the schizznit. If it gives more real estate.

Despite the detractors, you know this kind of stuff is coming sometime. It might take 2,5, or 10 years, but it will be here.

Intentionally?
You're folding it wrong!

#WillItFold?
 
OLED is such an amazing product, despite some of its drawbacks. LG is even making lamps out of OLED which can double as speakers, since the extreme thinness of OLED panels can be used as speaker diaphragms.

I can totally see a fully foldable OLED phone with a full-screen speaker. Yes, full-screen. It will happen, because LG and Sony can already do this. Maybe not in 2 years, but within 5 this audio tech will likely show up in phones. Combined with moving the cameras and sensors underneath the screen, we'll finally, truly, have full screen phones. No notches, no bezels. Just pure screen.
Yes! Actually, I think there's some TV manufacturers (probably LG) that have found a way to make the entire TV screen the speaker. The first time I read it I thought, "lolwut." Crazy times we live in.

Wasn't aware of the lamps!
 
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A fold-able phone holds no interest to me personally. I can see it for certain professions. But for the everyday user, it seems like one of those "just because you can doesn't mean you should" situations.
 
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What, exactly is the value proposition of this? Ignoring that it seems very unlikely to happen technologically (especially by 2020), I am at a loss as to why anyone would want it.

Consumer utility:
  • buy one device and get two
  • carry one thing around instead of two
Think original iPhone, sold mostly on an argument of an iPod + a phone + an Internet device in one. Conceptually this could be an iPhone + an iPad in one.
 
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I doubt these things will fold sharply as shown. The flexible "hinge" part will have a minimum bend radius, which I'll optomistically guess is, say, 1/8". So they need some clever way of hinging the clamshell phone without violating the minimum radius.

I would actually expect the display to be bend around the outside of the phone. Not on the inside like a traditional clamshell phone. Maybe folded on both side on the long edge with overlapping on the rear when folded. This way the phone can be used as a "normal" non-clamshell phone without unfolding it. When you need the larger display you simply unfold the sides and you'll have an iPad size 4:3'ish display.
 
Any foldable phone is going to need the display on the outside of the fold, not on the inside as the drawings indicate. I want to quickly check for messages without having to pull the device completely out of my pocket and open it up. Unless they are going to put a separate display on the outside too (more money, thicker, and higher power consumption), then there will be no way to see or quickly respond to messages.

I would concede "more money" and "thicker", but if the internal screen is deactivated when the clamshell is closed and the external screen is deactivated when the clamshell is open I see no reason that such a design would result in higher power consumption
 
Foldable screen tech is coming along. Would be interesting if it's only two years to be large scale commercially viable. Having lived in the era of flip phones. I like the concept because it's a bigger screen in a smaller footprint. Plus if you wear an AW or other watch with notifications you can see who is calling you so unflipping won't be as annoying because you won't be doing it every call or text message. But it would be nice if a small screen was on the outside that would let you text or take a call without unflipping.
 
Nah can't see it.

Apple won't make a bendable phone just for the sake of it.

I can't even think of any decent shape & size the unfolded phone could be that transformed into a decent shape & size when unfolded. Like an iPhone Plus sized device folded along it's longest side would become a square shape which isn't great for content, or if it folded along the shortest side it'd become a big long thin rectangle.

The Apple Watch is a square shape. Just sayin.
 
Do we really have to talk about phones in 2 years maybe talk about this years or next latest zzzz
I think what they should do is rename the website to MacFacts, and only cover things that have already been released. Strictly factual information. What do you say? /s
 
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A lot of Debbie Downers here on MR......where is your vision? Why the cynicism? More choices for us, the consumer. It could be neat, or it could be not. Who knows? People complain about Apple not being "innovative" and when something like this comes out, everyone scoffs at it like is a pie in the sky....
 
Oh but the responses would be sooooo different if it were Samsung, HTC, etc that announced a foldable phone !
 
I feel that foldable smartphones are a solution in search of a problem. IF it's even possible to the extent of the sci-fi movies, it'll make the phone a little smaller, sure, but it's not like phones are huge to begin with.

It's more of a novelty than a real solution to a problem. What are some advantages that I'm missing?
 
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