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A tablet is an oversized smartphone that doesn’t make phone calls. A smartphone is a compact tablet that doesn’t make phone calls. A foldable phone is something between the two.
 
I can't wait for next year's article:

Foldable iPhone Expected to Launch Next Year, Costing Around $2,500​

Monday March 23, 2026
 
Having owned a Galaxy Fold 4 and a OnePlus Open, this is what I've been waiting for since moving back to iOS. If this is indeed a real thing, I fully expect both myself and my wife to pick this up at launch, assuming that Apple doesn't completely drop the ball with its implementation.
agree with your thoughts...hopefully Apple won't over price thing out of the gate.
 
No. The flip phones are way cheaper. Like about US$1000-ish. The expensive ones are the ones that fold sideways into a tablet like form factor.
I have no idea what you mean. Apple's flip phone will sell for $2,000 (or more).
 
All I can tell you is that I had my own reservations about foldables. I've owned every iPhone from the 4 to the 12PM. Once the Z Fold 3 was release, I decided I couldn't wait any longer for Apple to release one, because I was constantly switching from my iPhone to my iPad Mini and I wanted a 2 in 1 device, so I pulled the trigger on the Z Fold 3. I have never regretted this decision for a second. I now own the Oppo Find N5, which is only .68mm thicker when folded than the 16PM and only 2 grams heavier than the 16PM. It has a 6.62 inch cover display and a 8.12 inch inner display. This phone is amazing. I realize that foldables aren't for everyone, and of course Android isn't for everyone either. However, if you are using an iPhone and an iPad Mini often, and you don't mind the 6.62 inch outer screen size (or similar with other foldables) in terms of the overall form factor, you should at least try the iPhone book style foldable if/when it launches. You can always return it if you don't like it. Or, if you are up for trying Android, give an Android book style foldable a try. I'm not pushing either OS, just to be clear. Use whichever OS that best suits your needs. I am still blown away by the tech, every time I use my Find N5, and I've tried 9 different foldables and one flip style foldable (which sucked IMO) to date.

Also, $2k for an Apple foldable, as long as it is the book style version, seems about right based on the price point of other foldables out there today.
 
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I have no idea what you mean. Apple's flip phone will sell for $2,000 (or more).
There is a difference between a flip phone and a foldable. A flip phone is like Star Trek’s communicator in form with an actual mechanical hinge. A foldable is literally a display screen itself that can be folded.
Sort of. Many of the current flip phones also have a screen that folds.

However, the difference is that the flip phones are 3-4" devices that unfold into 6-7" screens with a form factor similar to an iPhone Pro Max when opened up, whereas the other more expensive type of foldable phones are devices that unfold into mini tablets.

Flip - $1000ish:

flip-6-black_600x600.png


Fold - $1500-$1900ish:

galaxy-z-fold5-highlights-kv-a.jpg


Nobody calls these latter phones flip phones, because they aren't.
 
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They’ll call it the iPhone XX.

And yes I know it’ll only be “time” for the 18.

Just watch.
 
By the time this hits production it will be $2,199. I’m predicting another Apple Vision Pro style flop. They make gobs of profit each year. Why do they insist on these ridiculous price markups to the detriment of low sales figures. They can’t reduce their margins to increase adoption?
 
It'll sell despite what some say here, especially if people are allowed to just pay for it monthly on their phone bill.
At that price though I wouldn't look at possibly buying one until the 2nd or 3rd gen is released. Not beta testing at that price
 
Another Booboisie Status Buy.

Workers need real functionality and VALUE in that fuctionality along with the ability to interface directly with networks and other networked operating systems (and the ability to lock down for security).

Booboisie Status Seekers don't need ANY of that, so HAVE AT and fund the first useful Apple fold phone ..., maybe ...

If I want something like this I'll buy a new iPad Mini and carry it around with my iPhone Pro.
 
The last prediction touted here was around $2,500 or so, so it's going down! Keep it up people, keep complaining and by this time next year, this boondoggle could be the budget option!
And it looks like Gurman has been promoted by Apple to be their "official leaker'. So it might be legit. Last week Gurman was all over the place priming people: "Someone should be fired for the Apple Intelligence fiasco while prominently calling out John Giannandrea at every turn. He knew the assignment and ran with it. It was pretty obvious.
 
It was really a wash. Sure it can break if you drop it on a hard surface (and screens have gotten significantly stronger in the past few years) but it's also a LOT more resistant to scratches than a plastic screen.
And current foldables are more durable than the first Samsung Fold. Unless there is a leap in materials technology they wont be as durable as a slab phone, but dont buy one if you are hard on your devices. Or just carry device insurance.
I remember my Palm Pre was full of scratches by the time I replaced it, and I wasn't particularly rough on that phone. Meanwhile my iPhones tend to have perfect screens after 3-4 years of heavy use.
I've cracked screens on my iPhones, which is why they go in a case. Ive also scratched the screen and the oleoiphobic coatings which is why my phones have screen protectors. I am more careful with my nicer cameras than I was with my previous compact cameras, the same would be true with the iPhoneBook vs a regular iPhone.
 
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I agree in part, that is I don’t see a use in my usage, but if I had an iPad I could see this being helpful to eliminate either.



May I undeservedly barge into your joke and ruin your fun like a bully on the playground? It wasn’t 445 days/year it was just a single year that was made 445 days long to transition from a super inaccurate calendar year to a much better one. o_O
Exactly, The year 46 BC will now become an "Apple Year"! :apple:
 
$1999. Count on it. Apple won’t sell it for cheap, but they want a starting price that will entice people, and there are folks who will pay the 2,000 for this. What people won’t pay is a starting price of 2,500. There’s a psychological difference, and I think they’re still smarting a bit from the vision pro pricing backlash.
 
So within 1 week macrumors rumored 3 different pricing estimates from „well connected guys“ for a product likely to be released in one year or 5 years or never. Even for a rumor site this is little bit too much for my taste.
 
I have absolutely zero interest in any flippable phone. The day Apple releases a flippable phone, is the day I stop buying iPhones.
 
$2000+ for a foldable phone (top end though) from Apple will be a definite hit if they don’t make any mistakes of reducing the camera capabilities and reduce features that are already available in Pro Max (For example LiDAR).
 
Depending on size and utility, I suppose this could be a way to merge by iPhone and iPad but I suspect it will be too much of a compromise for both devices: I want my phone to be small and highly portable without the bulk of the folding panel. I want my iPad to be larger and I don't care if it is less portable. I suppose YMMV, but it's very much a maybe for my use cases. And I worry about that hinge and the creasing. I use my devices a LOT.
 
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