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Hands-On With Samsung's Latest Foldable Smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip

blazerunner said:
Samsungs doing all the R&D and heavy lifting. In a few years when Apple releases their own folding phone, they'll take all credit and Macrumors will actually give them all the credit.

Happens all the time.
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You do know that Apple also has their own R&D. The different is Apple don't always tease or showcase their prototype to the public like other companies do to be the first (except for several products), making people think that Apple always late to the party.

Apple probably has their own version of folding phones / tablet in their lab right now from years of research but they didn't show or release it when they think it's not ready. Example: the M series chip, you think how many years they took for the research in their lab before they think it ready for release, and how many other chips & experimental products that we don't know are being research.
 
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DD88 said:
I have a question for you all, if Apple made this EXACT phone as it looks now but place an apple logo on instead of Samsung, would it be getting as much hate as it is now ?
By the way I think it looks garbage but I’d buy one if it was made by Apple
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Of course it would. If Apple made a screen with that curvature/cress, with a plastic protector that peels/deteriorates over time, and if you pull it out, the screen slowly begins to damage… If Apple releases such a product, of course we would be criticizing it.

Actually, Apple released several models of MacBooks with a defective and uncomfortable type of keyboard, and we complained and criticized it, to the point that 3 years later Apple backtracked.

As for the concept of a foldable phone, regardless of it having an Apple logo, or iOS running on it, I am not interested in paying over 2 thousand dollars/euros for a device like that. I’m happy with a 5.8” display, more than that is already too much for me.
 
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blazerunner said:
Samsungs doing all the R&D and heavy lifting. In a few years when Apple releases their own folding phone, they'll take all credit and Macrumors will actually give them all the credit.

Happens all the time.
Click to expand...

Indeed.

www.macrumors.com

Apple Executive Says Samsung Copied the iPhone and Simply 'Put a Bigger Screen Around It'

The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern today shared a new documentary about the evolution of the iPhone ahead of the 15th anniversary of the...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Every single time.
 
All kinds of wrong. If Apple ever does this they are dead to me. Cell phones are supposed to be cell phones, not badly folding iPads that double the weight and thickness in service of those who absolutely cannot be without the internet for more than three minutes. I suppose I should concede they’re quite cool for those who want them, but I’m not going to, because they suck. Unlucky.
 
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Unnecessary complexity, that lead to questionable usability and extreme expensiveness. Bad engineering, that is focused mainly on stock earnings with the prices they ask for that gimmick. We must all feel respect that Apple doesn't fall for this scam
 
I bet if Apple made one first a lot of this crowd would be singing its praises, saying you don't notice the crease in general use like the notch for instance <cough> and buying them by the billions and having a iPhone/iPad in one and singing Apples courage for stepping up with such a new design, with some of course hating the crease like the notch. But its Samsung so instead hammer them for doing something fun and new with phones and refining each new model. Its either Android is so far behind (many probably have not even testing new Android devices), or Apple fans just hating on anything that's not from Apple anyway. Yes I have a iPhone 13 Pro and I would love a foldable to watch films on the go or facetime on a bigger screen, instead of carrying two devices or one huge phone that being disabled means is to heavy for me to old (osteoporosis so my wrist joints along with all my bones are crumbling away a tad quickly) and heavy objects hurt like hell to hold, the iPhone 13 Pro is at my limits, I Pads are for desks only, I cant hold one in front of me. So yes there is a use for these devices but sometimes even unintentional ableism seems to be a thing you find these days still. People don't look at why another group of users may find a folding phone a blessing for instance.
 
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Lord look at that crease! And still doesn't fold flat? Seriously Samsung, you practically did nothing in the face of the Chinese doing a better job.
 
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I bet you 100% that as soon as Apple releases a foldable people will be praising everything about it - you don't have to judge it unfairly just because it's a Samsung device; these look pretty good ^^
 
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It feels to me too thick to comfortably carry. You’d have to get half the thickness of a slab phone in order for these to feel like a real win, and that’d come with too many other compromises.
 
Rexogamer said:
I bet you 100% that as soon as Apple releases a foldable people will be praising everything about it - you don't have to judge it unfairly just because it's a Samsung device; these look pretty good ^^
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The exact same people? There will be some who change their tune but I think most will judge it on its own merits. People generally don’t dislike these because they’re made by Samsung. They dislike them because they are conceptually flawed with critical engineering, durability and practicality compromises. You don’t have to agree but if you’re expecting everyone to change their mind if Apple makes one then I think you might lose your bet.
 
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Bodhitree said:
It feels to me too thick to comfortably carry. You’d have to get half the thickness of a slab phone in order for these to feel like a real win, and that’d come with too many other compromises.
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They will get thinner and battery technology is rapidly going to improve in the next few years. Along with SoCs that are more efficient that will equal something like 1.5 iPhones now or less is my guess. I really like the flip 4 better than the fold 4 but the fold 4 has that absurd under display camera that ruins the experience.
 
Bodhitree said:
It feels to me too thick to comfortably carry. You’d have to get half the thickness of a slab phone in order for these to feel like a real win, and that’d come with too many other compromises.
Click to expand...

Although I agree the Fold is quite a thick boy we don't need to get to the same thickness when folded of current smartphones really. It wasn't unwieldy to carry the around 10 mm thick smartphones that were around back when we had the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4. And we are getting there, the Xiaomi Mix Fold2 is just over 11 mm thick when folded, sure it lacks functionality like Flex Mode from the Samsung and the durability is a question but the tech is advancing.
 
blazerunner said:
Samsungs doing all the R&D and heavy lifting. In a few years when Apple releases their own folding phone, they'll take all credit and Macrumors will actually give them all the credit.

Happens all the time
Click to expand...
One scenario that I haven't seen discussed yet is that when Samsung perfects a folding screen, Apple simply start using that same Samsung folding screen on the iPhone - after all, iPhones are already using Samsung screens so it would just be an extension of that.
 
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This tech is in the same category as laser disks and video cd’s, etc. A desperate attempt to force a product that inherently has too many compromises to solve a made-up problem that no one was having an issue with in the first place. Samsung can push this “feature” until they are blue in the face. It is not going to catch on. And I’d say the likelihood of Apple releasing anything remotely similar is about as likely as that Apple TV set that was rumoured for the better part of 10 years and never materialized. Not gonna happen.
 
Black Tiger said:
This tech is in the same category as laser disks and video cd’s, etc. A desperate attempt to force a product that inherently has too many compromises to solve a made-up problem that no one was having an issue with in the first place. Samsung can push this “feature” until they are blue in the face. It is not going to catch on. And I’d say the likelihood of Apple releasing anything remotely similar is about as likely as that Apple TV set that was rumoured for the better part of 10 years and never materialized. Not gonna happen.
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If that would be the case I should pull off the patch sooner rather than later and ditch all my Apple products so I can finally get a phone that is more useful than just messaging and phone calls. It is me thinking that Apple will release a foldable at some point that makes it worth waiting, although it means my phone isn't really used much.
 
citysnaps said:
Wouldn't be shocked at all if Apple's R&D group already has a dozen or two working prototype foldable phones in their labs, going back a few years.

And for a variety of reasons, Apple has decided to not go forward with a foldable phone product.

Happens all the time.
Click to expand...
Taking a guess, Apple feels the battery tech is the big bottleneck to the design they want.

People have pointed out these devices are visibly thick when folded. They are. Everything else about them can be made thin but there’s a limit to how small the battery/batteries can be before that impacts usability.

We’re at a bottleneck with the battery. Even with increasingly power efficient processors and displays, we’re just not to the point yet where these devices can get by satisfactorily on the batteries they’ve been given.

Even Apple already deals with that on its mini iPhones. The popularity of their mini phones has been hampered by poor battery life compared to larger offerings. As evidenced by countless customer comments even here on MR.

Rechargeable batteries have been chunky for a very long time now. The needle has barely moved on that for years. Instead, Apple and other manufacturers have had more success increasing efficiencies elsewhere.
 
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IPX again, so not dust resistant at all. Hmmm. Please anyone know how it is with flips plastic display cover ? Flip 3 virtually nailed it. I have read Flip 4 has 20% better endurance. So expecting nothing. Just curious. Tell me i am obsolete but still two sealed displays are better in terms of durability. Not speaking of that moving parts age quick. Sigh. What a nice but useless phone…
 
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