Google Pixel Fold Design, Specs Leaked Ahead of Expected May 2023 Launch

[MacRumors]

New renders and design details for the long-rumored Google Pixel Fold have emerged online, including display sizes and overall dimensions, as well as an expected launch date in the spring.

According to established leaker OnLeaks (via Howtoisolve), previous rumors were correct to claim that the Google Pixel Fold will adopt a form factor similar to the Oppo Find N. Google's foldable is set to feature a 5.79-inch outer display with a center hole-punch camera cutout, with a 7.69-inch inner screen and a right-aligned selfie camera cutout embedded in a slightly thicker bezel. The Samsung-built OLED panels are said to feature an ultra-thin glass (UTG) cover, also supplied by Samsung.

The display sizes are said to be housed in a rounded-edge chassis measuring approximately 158.7 x 139.7 x 5.7mm when unfolded, making it marginally wider than the Oppo Find N and approximately the same height, but with a slightly bulkier camera bump with an 8.3mm thickness.

The camera bump on the back side of the screen, reminiscent of Google's latest Pixel phone, houses a triple-lens strip with flash and microphone, while the SIM tray is located at the bottom edge of the outer screen. The USB-C port sits directly opposite when folded. The volume buttons sit on the right edge alongside a fingerprint scanner-equipped power button.

Previous rumors have suggested the Pixel Fold will be powered by Google's Tensor G2 chip processor and come with at least 12GB of RAM. The likelihood is that it will run Android 13. The starting price is expected to be $1,799, with black and silver color options available when the device launches in May 2023.

Google's foldable has been a long time coming. Documents leaked in 2020 suggested Google planned to release a in-folding smartphone in late 2021, but that didn't happen. Google didn't even mention foldable devices at its recent I/O developer conference, leaving some Pixel fans wondering if the device had been canned.

In 2019, when Google revealed it was developing technology that could be used in a foldable, it admitted in the same breath that it didn't see "a clear use case yet." However, well-connected Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young has said the emergence of software innovations or a new chipset that Google wants to incorporate likely held back the device.

Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold and Flip devices having made inroads into the nascent market, and Google is in catchup mode. Where that leaves Apple is unclear. The company's long-rumored foldable iPhone is unlikely to launch until 2025 or later, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple's first foldable device may even be a hybrid ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌, or simply a foldable ‌iPad‌.

If or when its foldable comes, Apple's long game has allowed it to watch and learn. Early foldable devices had a long list of issues with screen quality and durability, which perhaps explains why Apple has yet to come out with a foldable device of its own.

Article Link: Google Pixel Fold Design, Specs Leaked Ahead of Expected May 2023 Launch

 

[MayaUser]

beautiful, at least google phones are not wobbling

 

[contacos]

I think these are cool on paper but so far only as good as it’s available software. I had a look at the Samsung Fold at the store but not that many apps seem to be optimized to turn into some kind of small „laptop“ mode. It looked cool on YouTube tho.

I also like how wide this one seems to be in „phone“ mode. The Fold for example is too narrow. Looks weird.

 

[Havalo]

Unpopular opinion: That’s actually quite a nice design!

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

Didn’t Jon Prosser leaked this weeks ago?!

 

[BrownyQ]

Foldables are nice in theory to me.

But until someone comes up with a material that can fold and unfold without leaving any noticeable crease or indent, I'd rather stick to the tried, true and boring slate form factor.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

Thanks I hate it already. I like my devices with as few moving or breakable parts as possible. They need to easily fit a case on it. They need to easily fit in my pocket. I don’t want to unfold anything except my wife when she is doing those yoga positions her friend brainwashed her to do.

 

[MrGimper]

I'll only be interested when the folded size is the same thickness as the current iphone 14, and there's NO crease in the screen when unfolded.

 

[1557750]

I’d like it better if it just had a hinge and two separate screens. Don’t understand the obsession of an actual folding display.

 

[santoshah]

Until someone figures out the crease issue, foldable phone/tablets/laptops are not going to be mainstream. That crease is an eyesore.

 

[crsh1976]

Honestly, I don't get foldables. The tech is impressive (still not perfect), but manufacturers use it in such ways that devices are incredibly clunky and hard to use - be it this one, of the Surface Duo, or Samsung's foldables.

Pretending that it's a phone that unfolds into a tablet doesn't fix the issue for me.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Phone when closed, tablet mini when opened. For those of us able to look beyond one brand, it seems like having both a phone and tablet in one would be a great device.

My phone and tablet (in one) is iPad Mini 6 cellular. It works great in both roles for me (buds + VOIP app for phone calls). The one thing I wish it could do is fold/roll into a pocketable size.

This thread should fill up with a massive pile of disgust and the usual pounding of something Apple doesn't sell (yet) but I bet that collective sentiment will make a remarkable flip as soon as Apple rolls one of these out. After all, "we" used to ridicule phablet-size phones to no end while Apple clung to 3.5" and then 4" as "perfection" screen sizes. This will be no different.

 

[coffeemilktea]

I hope they make it a little thinner like the Z Fold, something this wide looks uncomfortable to hold while closed... not to mention it bears an uncanny resemblance to the Surface Duo.

Do you really want a phone that people think of as "the Surface Duo, only Google-ier?" 😅

 

[AppleTO]

Looks… awkward.

 

[enterthemerdaverse]

This thread should fill up with a massive pile of disgust and the usual pounding of something Apple doesn't sell (yet) but I bet that collective sentiment will make a remarkable flip as soon as Apple rolls one of these out. After all, "we" used to ridicule phablet-size phones to no end while Apple clung to 3.5" and then 4" as "perfection" screen sizes. This will be no different.

Phablet size phones were 6-8” and they failed badly. I had a friend at work with a Dell phablet and he looked like a dork holding it up.

The iPhone Max are not phablet size.

 

[zapmymac]

Have played with the Sammy Fold, it was actually built nice imo. These things are too thick at the moment though, love the idea as others have said.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Phablet size phones were 6-8” and they failed badly. I had a friend at work with a Dell phablet and he looked like a dork holding it up.

The iPhone Max are not phablet size.

HaHa. The arguments against anything BIGGER than what Apple had for sale at the time slung the word phablet. Let's not re-write history. One handed use. Pants with bigger pockets. App resolution fragmentation. And good old "abomination" was slung like crazy to rationalize the 3.5" and then 4" that Apple offered. Do some searches and look back at countless threads here where anything other than Apple's chosen screen size was "abominations" and generally called- correctly or incorrectly- phablets.

Then Apple rolled out bigger-screen phones and they immediately become "Best iPhone ever" and "how did we ever get by with those puny screens?"

The magic to make "our" opinions flip is for Apple to stick their logo on one of these and spend a few minutes telling us how great flip/roll phones are. Then, we will magically see tons of use cases and turn on the classic slab just like we turned on 4" screens as perfect size. We can't do that now because Apple doesn't offer one yet. So, of course, all such creations by others are stupid, "no use case", ugly, etc to be followed any time now by "99% don't want" and the rest of the bag of dislike posts... which then won't apply- and be outright forgotten- when Apple rolls out their cut of the same.

 

[Adithya007]

That looks like the Microsoft one!

 

[arkitect]

HaHa. The arguments against anything BIGGER than what Apple had for sale at the time slung the word phablet. Let's not re-write history. One handed use. Pants with bigger pockets. App resolution fragmentation. And good old "abomination" was slung like crazy to rationalize the 3.5" and then 4" that Apple offered. Do some searches and look back at countless threads here where anything other than Apple's chosen screen size was "abominations" and generally called- correctly or incorrectly- phablets.

Then Apple rolled out bigger-screen phones and they immediately become "Best iPhone ever" and "how did we ever get by with those puny screens?"

The magic to make "our" opinions flip is for Apple to stick their logo on one of these and spend a few minutes telling us how great flip/roll phones are. Then, we will magically see tons of use cases and turn on the classic slab just like we turned on 4" screens as perfect size. We can't do that now because Apple doesn't offer one yet. So, of course, all such creations by others is stupid, "no use case", ugly, etc to be followed any time now by "99% don't want" and the rest of the bag of dislike posts... that won't apply- and be outright forgotten- when Apple rolls out their cut of the same.

You summed it up perfectly. 👍

As soon as Apple come out with their own foldable all the naysayers here will be ****** in their pants at the thought…

The Apple fetish is real.

 

[AltecX]

Phablet size phones were 6-8” and they failed badly. I had a friend at work with a Dell phablet and he looked like a dork holding it up.

The iPhone Max are not phablet size.

Please tell me how its NOT and how Phablets failed. Nearly every big phone(and the "small" version) is over 6in now. meaning almost EVERY phone is a phablet. If anything the failure of the iPhone Mini means that NON-phablets have failed.

Also Dell never made a Phone. They only ever made tablets. Some Yes, you could do a call on just because it has a SIM slot, but that was never intended to BE your phone.

 

[Spock]

Until they can figure out how to stop that crease down the middle, I am not interested.

 

[MrGimper]

Honestly, I don't get foldables. The tech is impressive (still not perfect), but manufacturers use it in such ways that devices are incredibly clunky and hard to use - be it this one, of the Surface Duo, or Samsung's foldables.

Pretending that it's a phone that unfolds into a tablet doesn't fix the issue for me.

I've always said, you end up with a too-think phone, and a too-small tablet. It's like the latest evolution of the netbook.

 

[ThunderSkunk]

Thanks I hate it already. I like my devices with as few moving or breakable parts as possible. They need to easily fit a case on it. They need to easily fit in my pocket. I don’t want to unfold anything except my wife when she is doing those yoga positions her friend brainwashed her to do.

Normally I’d agree, but considering people who buy the latest & greatest innovative mobile devices generally keep them for a pretty short time before getting upgraditis, the shorter product lifecycle might be more appropriate.

 

[DailySlow]

New renders and design details for the long-rumored Google Pixel Fold have emerged online, including display sizes and overall dimensions, as well as an expected launch date in the spring.

According to established leaker OnLeaks (via Howtoisolve), the Google Pixel Fold will indeed adopt a form factor similar to the Oppo Find N, and is set to feature a 5.79-inch outer display with a center hole-punch camera cutout, with a 7.69-inch foldable inner screen and a right-aligned selfie camera cutout embedded in a slightly thicker bezel. The Samsung-built OLED panels are said to feature an ultra-thin glass (UTG) cover, also supplied by Samsung.

The display sizes are said to be housed in a rounded-edge chassis measuring approximately 158.7 x 139.7 x 5.7mm when unfolded, making it marginally wider than the Oppo Find N and approximately the same height, but with a slightly bulkier camera bump with an 8.3mm thickness.

The camera bump on the back side of the screen, reminiscent of Google's latest Pixel phone, houses a triple-lens strip with flash and microphone, while the SIM tray is located at the bottom edge of the outer screen. The USB-C port sits directly opposite when folded. The volume buttons sit on the right edge alongside a fingerprint scanner-equipped power button.

Previous rumors have suggested the Pixel Fold will be powered by Google's Tensor G2 chip processor and come with at least 12GB of RAM. The likelihood is that it will run Android 13. The starting price is expected to be $1,799, with black and silver color options available when the device launches in May 2023.

Google's foldable has been a long time coming. Documents leaked in 2020 suggested Google planned to release a in-folding smartphone in late 2021, but that didn't happen. Google didn't even mention foldable devices at its recent I/O developer conference, leaving some Pixel fans wondering if the device had been canned.

In 2019, when Google revealed it was developing technology that could be used in a foldable, it admitted in the same breath that it didn't see "a clear use case yet." However, well-connected Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young has said the emergence of software innovations or a new chipset that Google wants to incorporate likely held back the device.

Meanwhile, Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold and Flip devices having made inroads into the nascent market, and Google is in catchup mode. Where that leaves Apple is unclear. The company's long-rumored foldable iPhone is unlikely to launch until 2025 or later, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Apple's first foldable device may even be a hybrid ‌iPhone‌ and ‌iPad‌, or simply a foldable ‌iPad‌.

If or when its foldable comes, Apple's long game has allowed it to watch and learn. Early foldable devices had a long list of issues with screen quality and durability, which perhaps explains why Apple has yet to come out with a foldable device of its own.

Article Link: Google Pixel Fold Design, Specs Leaked Ahead of Expected May 2023 Launch

I see a lot of interest here, little outright condemnation, and it is an interesting concept in its infancy but tactilely too rigid. I want to see a holographic display - button activated/deactivated with a 16"diag screen size - no fold, good camera, usb C, a pocket/portable/mag-safe small 1/2" hub with ethernet

 

[Alp3r]

Apple needs to do a iPhone/ iPad mini.

I do want a foldable iPhone and I don’t care about the crease.

I read a lot of reviews on YouTube that you get used to it like the fkn notch that everyone was complaining about.