Foldable 'iPhone Ultra' Still Likely to Be Missing These Five Features

[iLuddite]

Like law enforcement, they can force you to unlock your phone with Touch ID but not Face ID

Not exactly true; it depends on your jurisdiction but ultimately biometrics are grouped together and treated differently than passcode entry, which is generally protected under the US Fifth Amendment

 

[simonlh]

Touch ID is cool… until winter and gloves.

And summer. Sweaty hands. In summer, I had to type the number in when I had touch ID.

 

[Zwhaler]

The amount of screen and chassis space that would take up would be hilarious.

It could be argued that TouchID is actually superior. FaceID unlocks your phone whether you want it to or not. You have no control over this process without turning it off.

Unlocking with a fingerprint is a conscious decision on the part of the user and provides a necessary barrier of entry. It's also how the majority of phone users do so.

If anything, TouchID on the outside and FaceID on the inside. But in my opinion FaceID provides a vastly superior user experience to TouchID. FaceID is touchless and just works.

 

[Zwhaler]

So it’s missing half the advancements of the last decade. Got it😂

It won’t be missing the biggest advancement of the past year: price.

 

[NeonNights]

So a worse iPhone and a worse iPad, both in one. Lots of compromises on an ultra expensive device. Toaster-fridge.

There are some advantages too.

If you normally have a separate data plan for an iPad mini then the iPhone Ultra potentially saves you $100-$200 a year by ditching the second data plan. You can then sell the iPad mini to offset some of the iPhone Ultra cost.

The iPhone Ultra will also be the only way to have an iPad mini experience with 120Hz ProMotion (at least in the immediate future).

 

[Zwhaler]

There are some advantages too.

If you normally have a separate data plan for an iPad mini then the iPhone Ultra potentially saves you $100-$200 a year by ditching the second data plan. You can then sell the iPad mini to offset some of the iPhone Ultra cost.

The iPhone Ultra will also be the only way to have an iPad mini experience with 120Hz ProMotion.

Fitting it in your pocket is a game changer. A lot of naysayers on here have been poo-pooing the foldable concept, but when they finally realize what it can do for them they'll understand. I don't plan on buying the first gen, maybe the second.

 

[nyboilermaker]

.

 

[N47H]

The lack of an action button is a dealbreaker by itself for me. I don't see why the "best" iPhone that costs $2k+ can't have it.

This is the bizarrest complaint to me, I don’t use my action button at all, it’s a redundant feature so wouldn’t miss it.

Obviously you’ve maybe discovered some unique use case for it that benefits you so fair enough, but feels alien to me that someone would miss it so much.

 

[Zorori]

I just can't get past it looking like a disjointed, uncoordinated mess... It's just visually ugly. Not usually a concern for Apple products. I don't know what the solution would be, and still have it be a foldable design

The solution is to get rid of the rounded corners. For once, Samsung made the correct design decision with the more squared off edges

 

[Macaholic868]

It’s the second coming of the iPhone Air and the Vision Pro.

 

[ofarlig]

The solution is to get rid of the rounded corners. For once, Samsung made the correct design decision with the more squared off edges

I am so happy they have the rounded edge, one of my biggest gripes with my Fold 7 was that the edges dug into my hands if I held it the way I wanted.

Sure the square look is much nicer looking but ergonomics go before looks for me.

 

[Ctrlos]

If anything, TouchID on the outside and FaceID on the inside. But in my opinion FaceID provides a vastly superior user experience to TouchID. FaceID is touchless and just works.

The difference between looking at a phone and pressing your thumb on the screen/side is largely semantic, surely?

For law enforcement to use a fingerprint against your will requires physical co-ercion. For FaceID they can just hold up your phone.

 

[F-Trunks]

this phone is gonna flop harder than Lebron

 

[Beanoir]

I just can't get past it looking like a disjointed, uncoordinated mess... It's just visually ugly. Not usually a concern for Apple products. I don't know what the solution would be, and still have it be a foldable design.

But I know I don't like it, enough to keep me from having any real interest in the phone. Especially with the tradeoff's and cost. "Foldable" doesn't, at least in my option, make up for any of those other things anywhere near enough to justify.

I agree. I can only hope those dummy models are far away from being anything like the final product - because if not, I think it’s looks utterly disappointing as an Apple product, in fact it looks like a phone from 20 years ago.

I’m quite shocked that this is what we’ve all been getting a bit excited about.

As F-Trunks intimates, it’s looking like the Apple iFlop foldable device is a dead phone walking.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

I cannot help but think that this may be a “Me Too” device that Apple is making just to prove that they can do it too for some reason. I feel the same way about touch screen Macs.

Let’s look at the iPhone Fold for a moment as if it were two separate devices.

As an iPhone

• Thicker and heavier than a traditional iPhone
• Narrower and more awkward outer display
• Less comfortable to use one-handed
• Bulkier in your pocket
• Possible compromises in battery capacity
• Potential compromises in camera hardware
• More limited internal space due to the folding mechanism
• Potentially worse thermal performance
• Less rigid and solid than a traditional slab phone
• More expensive to repair

As an iPad

• Much smaller display than a traditional iPad and even iPad mini
• Less ideal aspect ratio for productivity
• Potentially less comfortable for long reading sessions
• Less suitable for watching movies and other video content
• Limited space for multitasking
• Smaller keyboard and typing experience
• Less practical for creative work
• Does not support Apple Pencil
• Smaller battery than a traditional iPad
• The crease is visible and noticeable while using the display
• The folding design may make it less stable when used on a desk or lap

General Compromises

• A more fragile and complex structure
• A folding mechanism that can wear out over time
• Greater risk of damage from drops
• A more vulnerable display
• More expensive repairs
• More moving parts that can potentially fail
• Possible dust and debris issues around the hinge
• Water resistance may be more difficult to achieve
• Higher manufacturing complexity
• A significantly higher price
• Potentially shorter long-term durability compared to traditional devices

These compromises essentially mean having a worse iPhone and a worse iPad and it will cost $2,500.

This is ultimately the key question with the iPhone Fold: Does the convenience of having both form factors in a single device outweigh all the compromises required to make that possible?

Yep, hit the nail on the head there. It is a technically complex solution to a problem that is more elegantly solved less expensively by owning two devices that are both more durable, more capable, while slightly less convenient. If one does not mind the compromises and truly values the device it will probably be great. I had a Z Fold 3 for about 6 months some years ago and there were things that I liked about it, however they were outweighed by the things that I did not like about it.

 

[nateo200]

Not exactly true; it depends on your jurisdiction but ultimately biometrics are grouped together and treated differently than passcode entry, which is generally protected under the US Fifth Amendment

Exactly. That is why I think Apple makes it easy to disable biometrics by pushing the power and volume buttons, and even if you don't turn it off, it disables biometrics until you enter a password. I'm not giving legal advice, but if you were to accidentally do this before an encounter or during an encounter, they'd have to prove the element of intent to charge you. Just sayin'...

 

[nateo200]

Possible in a uber-Pro variant with crazy battery. But the Pro already has such good battery life with the camera bumps that filling the camera-bump space with battery is too niche I’m afraid. But it’s not like I was complaining.

I don't understand the camera bump/plateau complaints by others. You have a smartphone in your pocket that has more power than some laptops, has cameras that blow away point-and-shoot dedicated cameras from past years, Multi-gigabit speeds to cellular networks all over the place, and a million other features you didn't even dream of years ago. I think the plateau looks sooo much better than the asymmetrical camera bump, and I sort of expect a pro phone to be thicker. Let's not give our iPhones anorexia; they need some fat/muscle on them to be healthy, powerful, and to say cool.

 

[nateo200]

mmWave is short range (hundreds of feet from a tower, not miles), low penetration (glass, concrete, foliage can block it, and rain can interfere with it), and costs more (many, many more towers required). It is very very fast when it works, but regular 5G is also fast.

Unless you’re in a city (and not all the time even in those) where a provider has built out the towers for it, you’re probably getting “only” 5G now. Rural areas will probably never have mmWave at all because of the costs.

My ONLY concern with the lack of mmWave would be venues with very large amounts of people and extreme capacity requirements from cellular providers. But even in an area with mmWave the users without mmWave still benefit because, generally, mmWave offloads users that would be on 3.7GHz n77 or 2.5GHz n41 or other frequency bands onto mmWave to clear congestion on those high-capacity mid-bands and lower frequency bands. When they deploy mmWave, they also need to deploy Mid-band/lower mid-band spectrum to assist the mmWave and that means the area in general is gonna be built for capacity on all bands. If 80% of people have mmWave in a large venue that is 80% of a chance for them to not clog the usual sub-6 GHz cell sites.

 

[TVreporter]

Why is there an article for the “iPhone Ultra” for “What to expect from the iPhone Ultra” and another for “What not to expect” isn’t that the same thing?

And if you read both, the clicks still count!

 

[GalacticVibe]

I feel like I'm at that age, my iPhone 15 PM works just fine and replacing the battery, I have all day battery.

Also, mmWave is important to me. If I'm being forced to pay for it, I want to use it.

 

[yabeweb]

Now we know what foldable 2,3,4,5,6 will add

 

[Zwhaler]

I don't understand the camera bump/plateau complaints by others. You have a smartphone in your pocket that has more power than some laptops, has cameras that blow away point-and-shoot dedicated cameras from past years, Multi-gigabit speeds to cellular networks all over the place, and a million other features you didn't even dream of years ago. I think the plateau looks sooo much better than the asymmetrical camera bump, and I sort of expect a pro phone to be thicker. Let's not give our iPhones anorexia; they need some fat/muscle on them to be healthy, powerful, and to say cool.

Agreed. I don’t mind it at all. Love it on the iPhone Air as well.

 

[Zwhaler]

The difference between looking at a phone and pressing your thumb on the screen/side is largely semantic, surely?

For law enforcement to use a fingerprint against your will requires physical co-ercion. For FaceID they can just hold up your phone.

Forget about law enforcement… as a user of both TouchID and FaceID I found the latter to be technologically and ergonomically superior. TouchID is hardly a nuisance but Apple has clearly moved on to FaceID as the superior and superseding tech. A regression is, well, a regression.

 

[SteveJobs2.0]

I was just playing with the new Samsung flip phone with the same format as this upcoming iPhone Ultra and I am convinced that it is the phone for me. I will sell my M5 iPad and 16 Pro