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Foldable iPad Now in 'Intensive Development,' Could Be Announced as Soon as Next Year
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Will it fold into a cube, a paper airplane, or maybe a swan? 🤔
But hey, if anyone can make folding iPads cool, it's probably Apple. Just don't expect it to fit in your pocket anytime soon.
But hey, if anyone can make folding iPads cool, it's probably Apple. Just don't expect it to fit in your pocket anytime soon.
Nothing. I just don’t think it’ll be a big seller.
Microsoft did something similar with the Surface Duo, and it didn’t sell well.
To be fair, foldable phones are not twice as thick and twice as heavy as a comparable slab phone.
Z Fold 5 (folded): 154.9 x 67.1 x 13.4 mm, weight: 253g
Google Pixel Fold (folded): 139.7 x 79.5 x 12.1 mm, weight: 283g
iPhone 15 PM: 159.9 x 76.7 x 8.25 mm, weight: 221g
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I get your point. Foldable phones have their quirks, and it's fair to question their practicality.
I think you are missing the point… I didn’t mention Windows laptop. I’m referring to a iPhone and iPad… you carry around a iPhone daily... correct? Imagine being able to unfold it into a iPad and being able to use it as a tablet.
Obviously, the cost will be expensive…. Heck, the iPhone and iPad are expensive in their own right.
That’s why I wrote “normal phone” and not “large slab phone”. And secretely I was comparing with my mini.
Big seller? As in what exactly? Because apparently Google has entered the market after Samsung has been at it for years.
Technically, it folds. But it’s not a necessarily a foldable in terms of what the industry desires… that’s why Microsoft has scrapped that design and coming out with something similar to Pixel Fold and Galaxy Fold.
Haha, well that is an unfair comparison! 😁That’s why I wrote “normal phone” and not “large slab phone”. And secretely I was comparing with my mini.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Change the lens. If Apple offered BOTH options now, would there be some people who would prefer the lighter/smaller single device that can cover 2 or 3 jobs vs. 2 or 3 devices that each cover single jobs? The key word there is "some" as nothing is for everyone.
I can argue for both sides myself. However, I lean towards the former because the individual device approach all involves lots of duplication: screens, speakers, batteries, metal cases, etc. Why carry a 6" screen and a 9" screen and a 16" screen if something could reasonably duplicate that functionality on one screen? Why carry a battery to fit a 6" box and a battery to fit a 9" box and a battery to fit a 16" box if one battery could reasonably duplicate that functionality in one foldable/rollable/virtual box? Etc.
I'd be very interested if my iPad mini could fold/roll to a pocketable size. While I already choose NOT to also carry an iPhone (Mini covers that functionally for me just fine), if I did carry both, I'd love a merger of both into one device.
In the iPhone launch, Jobs sold it as iPod + Phone + Internet device in one box. He very much keyed the pitch around taking 3 tech devices and working them into ONE tech device. In Foldable Pad/unfoldable Phone, it could be pitched as iPhone and iPad in one box.
Is that for everyone? NO, nothing is for everyone. Even iPhone is not owned by everyone. But can some be interested? Certainly some seem likely to be interested in such an offering from Apple. If it would be as many "somes" as an iPad (pick a model) or Watch, that's a LOT of somes.
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Is it going to be be a big screen? A folded mini horizontally across the middle would not be a long crease. ( more a 'flip' than a 'fold' if using Samsungs offerings terminology. ). The iPad doesn't particularly need a cover screen. Flip/folded the external aluminum is the "screen protector", so don't have that additional weight. ( for an iPad that spends lots of time traveling, the inherent, low overhead protection is an upside. )
Even as a vertical 'fold' the Mini's screen isn't all that much bigger than the current 'fold' smartphones. The 'crease' in part comes down to the hinge quality. As the article points out that is the tricky part to do extremely well without cranking up the overall costs ( and complexity).
If a larger screen 13-14" and a 'fold' (vertical) crease/hinge then could weave the virtual keyboard into the part that sits on a desk and the vertical part is the 'laptop screen'. ( somewhat like take two minis and attach them with a hinge. ). No keyboard cover to add weight to higher than that of a MBA. If the usage mode is 50+% as a 'clamshell' the crease isn't going to particular matter much because not an area of the screen being significantly used in that use case.
A screen as a keyboard lines up with Apple's quest for thinnest , lowest key travel keyboard path they have been on for a while.
i like the idea of a folding phone but unless apple can invent folding glass (lol) then i won't buy it. sorry but i am NOT using a plastic screen that gets ruined with your finger nails or bits of dust lmao.
maybe if apple provide a lifetime supply of free plastic screen protectors or make it super easy and cheap for anyone to replace the screen then i might think about it.
maybe if apple provide a lifetime supply of free plastic screen protectors or make it super easy and cheap for anyone to replace the screen then i might think about it.
Current foldables feature ultra thin foldable glass. You are referring to the factory screen protector when you mention plastic, which I remove from the inner display anyway.
Comments like this are so fascinating. I was an Apple Fanboy from 2003-2019. Owned just about every iPhone since the first one, had an iPad on launch day in 2010.
I've also owned a Galaxy Z Fold 2 and 3. Neither of them had a single issue with the display or took on any damage. In fact, the screen was MORE protected on those phones because it was closed most of the time in my pocket or when I accidently dropped it.
But most of all, I can only assume the complaints about the crease are from people who haven't spent much time with the device and just want a reason to hate it. It's such a non-issue and not something you even see at all when you're using the phone unless you're deliberately TRYING to see it. Acting like it makes the device completely unusable is really just telling us you've not spend a meaningful amount of time trying one of these devices with an open mind.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Nothing is wrong with having your own wants. Some Apple people can't seem to "think different" beyond what Apple has for sale right now. We're supposed to the big imagination crowd but we seem to have become an "only whatever a Corp offers now" collective. Resistance is futile.
However, Fan opinions will dramatically flip as soon as Apple rolls out their cut of this. Many fans ripped USB-C in iPhone even days before the launch. Now that whole topic is practically crickets. Where's all that lint? Where's all those wobbly ports? I haven't even seen one of what should be millions of USB-C tongues broken and laying on the ground anywhere.
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
There are select challenges but easily worked around for me. My bank, investment firms, credit cards have no trouble at all. But there are certainly a few services that offer no easy workarounds- biggest one for me is Ticketmaster which now offers no way to reach customer service at all before 2-factor login via SMS. All support is behind that wall, so one can't even buy tickets through them with a Mac Studio Ultra or similar without select cellular services. That is certainly frustrating for a customer who has had this same phone number for 20 years and it is obviously in their records for 20 years of purchases. But oh well, there are other ticket sellers who apparently want the business instead.
On the other hand, my total cellular bill for 5G year round is $25 PER YEAR. And iPads don't get "long in tooth" every 2-4 years. My jump was Mini 2 to 6 after EIGHT years. There's a LOT of money savings in a modest amount of inconvenience on relatively select situations that generally have workarounds.
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The significant problem is that without some big changes, it would be like boot-camping iPadOS and macOS. Who wants to lose access to a local document they were working on in BBEdit until they find a keyboard to dock with?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Everyone doesn't have a phone.
And if a bigger-screen tablet could be folded into the pocket-ability of a phone, a cellular iPad can be a much lower cost overall phone too. Telephony is just an app... like making iDevices double as flashlights or tape measures. Install the app and iPads become phones. My iPad rings when people call and they can't tell I'm using an iPad instead of an iPhone in calls. Texts come to my iPad just like they come to your phone and I can text back from either the VOIP app or Messages if they are Apple people.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I wonder how many of the USB-C port bashers (lint, wobbly, broken tongues) have already purchased new iPhones with USB-C by this point.
And I wonder where they are disposing of those huge mounds of lint and getting those fragile ports repaired over and over?
Macrumors forum member reactions when this is released:
"Wow Apple innovates again with inventing a foldable dispay!"
"The crease is a feature that Apple carefully thought out"
"Yes, finally a solution not in search of a problem!"
"I'll bet Samsung copies them next year!"
"Wow Apple innovates again with inventing a foldable dispay!"
"The crease is a feature that Apple carefully thought out"
"Yes, finally a solution not in search of a problem!"
"I'll bet Samsung copies them next year!"
I'd be interested if in the folded state, it's normal iPad size (9"x7") and unfolded is double wide (9"x14") for movies.😁
Exactly. The crease will all of a sudden become "iconic" like the notch.