You really think the Apple Fold will be under $1,999 when the 16PM Max starts at $1,199? My guess is $2,499 starting price.
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Foldable iPhone Display Production Begins Ahead of Launch Next Year
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It will likely start at 2k US price basically which Z fold does now and likely will going forward due to cost of elite chips.
Apple won’t price the foldable too high from the competition.
Okay, fair enough. I’m just curious about the main use cases for a larger display area, given that the width stays the same in landscape orientation. For example, when watching content like movies, the image remains the same size, but the black bars at the top and bottom just get larger, so in that case, the added value seems limited. Are there other specific use cases where the larger display actually brings enough benefit, considering the compromises that come with a folding device?
If Apple can sell this for $2k they will push millions of units onto the market. US customers are already trained to finance $1000-$1400 phones over a period of 4 years.
Samsung has already absorbed the first-mover cost for foldables: R&D, reviewer critiques, identifying weak points, discovering how devices are used and abused, multiple years of iterations to discover what works.
Now there are millions of Samsung Folds floating around in the wild and people are seeing them in the hands of users, asking questions, imagining how they might use it. Apple will stroll in with the iPhone Folio, show everybody the device “the way you expected it to be”, and the $2000 spread out over 48 months will feel like a steal (especially after the last 5 years of inflation). And knowing Apple, they will have upsell storage options to get another $200-$500 and people will happily pay it.
Samsung has already absorbed the first-mover cost for foldables: R&D, reviewer critiques, identifying weak points, discovering how devices are used and abused, multiple years of iterations to discover what works.
Now there are millions of Samsung Folds floating around in the wild and people are seeing them in the hands of users, asking questions, imagining how they might use it. Apple will stroll in with the iPhone Folio, show everybody the device “the way you expected it to be”, and the $2000 spread out over 48 months will feel like a steal (especially after the last 5 years of inflation). And knowing Apple, they will have upsell storage options to get another $200-$500 and people will happily pay it.
I do think Apple needs to make one and i like the latest thin folding phones. But if it costs substantially more than a regular iPhone and iPad mini combo, i really dont see the value and its not for me. Having an iPhone + iPad is way more versatile even though my preferred combo is a max size iPhone that doubles as an iPad + cellular watch when i dont want to lug my phone. Though the timing of iPadOS 26 makes way more sense with this iFold around the corner. And i hope that Folds with smaller and larger options, and Flips totally replace the slab form factor and lower price point in the future.
iPadOS is getting so close to looking like MacOS, that everyone will soon be asking apple to just put MacOS on the iPhone.
Fold no, clamshell yes. Till then I’ll hold onto my 13pm. Anything over £700 after trade in then forget it
US customers don't finance phones over 4 years; it's 2, and sometimes 3 years. I also have my doubts that a foldable is going to have the lifespan and durability of a slab phone.
Additionally, I have yet to see any phone that is worth $2k, regardless of features or build. They just don't have $2k of utility. ~$1200 is the max I'll spend, and anything higher that is going to be a computer.
I have ZERO faith in this product, Google and Samsung have nailed it in western markets and a heavy headstart on development.
Apple have been very "2013 Samsung" by throwing loads of sh*t at the wall to see what sticks lately.
It'll cost $2000+ and flop like the Vision Pro.
Apple have been very "2013 Samsung" by throwing loads of sh*t at the wall to see what sticks lately.
It'll cost $2000+ and flop like the Vision Pro.
It's perfect to use multiple apps at a time. It's basically like using 2,5 phones at a time without constantly going back and forth
Or how about 3 and a floating one
People nowadays expect some sort of outer screen on a clamshell. Apple probably doesn’t want to get in that kind of headache, having to introduce another variant of widgets like for the Watch and the lock screen, and also how to handle unlocking because they wouldn’t include two Face ID sensors, so would have to go for Touch ID, probably a showstopper for too many people. (The Fold at least compensates for that by having larger screens.)
Why tho? It is still good. It can be used as camera shutter button, as activity monitor for movement tracking, to get notifications from iPhone, to measure pulse.
I have first gen ARM MacBook and honestly feel no need to upgrade it until it becomes non-functioning.
It was a pity tho when Apple abandoned iPad 1st gen so fast, most apps were released for a more powerful iPad 2. Same happened to first Intel MacBooks - they were powerful when those were released, but these Intel chips were underpowered comparing to newer devices from 2010-2012 (which ironically can be used lag-free to this day)
It does get larger even for 16:9 content, because the iPhone is only around 19.6:9, not 16:9. The Pro Max as a 16:9 display is only 5.85”, while the Fold would be 7.27”, a 24% increase in diagonal and 54% in area (https://www.displaywars.com/6,86-inch-d{2868x1320}-vs-7,76-inch-d{2713x1920}).
For web browsing, reading, and gaming, the benefit is even higher.
Can someone explain to me the allure of a foldable phone? Is it just having more screen real estate? I just don't see the point of these devices...
For me, the first Apple watch was useless as it didn't have GPS. I use my watches primarily for outdoor running and activity tracking; everything else is secondary or tertiary.
Hence when I went back to Garmin a few weeks ago. My 6th gen couldn't make it though warm a day on a single charge, and on cold days, it would die mid run even if charged to 100% before hitting the trails.
The battery life on Garmin is so hard to move away from. Garmin blows Apple away on anything fitness.
I had a Garmin until the series 3, so I kinda knew what I was getting into, but holy hell, the Garmin software does suck. It has a lot of data and options, but it's tough to navigate.
Still enjoying it, though!
Yeah, I switched to Garmin a year ago. It took a while, but now I prefer the buttons, battery life, and data for guidance/reference. I tried to go back to Apple Watch Ultra 2 and only lasted about 2 weeks before it became a paper weight on my desk.
I just couldn't care less about a foldable phone (or tablet). It's literally the last "feature" I'd care about. Just makes for more worries about the crease and/or premature hardware failure. It's a gimmick looking for a market, like the water special effect in the movie Abyss or the 'melting robot' special effect in Terminator 2.
Folding is just the implementation. The real feature is being able to fit an iPad mini in your pocket. Sure it's not for everyone, but I can tell you from experience that it is a paradigm shift to have that with you all the time.
