Huawei's New MateBook Fold Could Be Mistaken for Apple's Rumored Foldable iPad

[aibloop]

It's sad to see how one of the most innovative chinese makers, even in terms of smart watches, went down on to copy existing or rumored Apple designs.

You people have a weird understanding of how engineering works, how under-contractors develop technology and then sell to higher up companies like Apple.

Chinese companies are advancing the technology, Apple buys the parts and makes a new product. If Apple does not have a screen available that is capable of working like this, do you think Apple sits down and makes it from the ground up, ships the blueprints to China and they make it with blindfolds as to not StealTM their technology?

This is a severe misunderstanding of the entire industry.

Chinese companies like foxconn and more importantly smaller undercontractors and similar, are very advanced in what they are able to build and ship at scale.

Similar to Belgium and UVA laser lithography, very advanced optics and engineering, is reliant on an entire stack of available engineering and tooling skills. This stack goes all the way to the state funding universities and building up a critical base of educated engineers and theoretical scientists working on advancing the scientific base for the engineering.

Currently, Belgium and the Germanic countries have a very deep and established stack of engineering and science from universities all the way to the companies that deliver this tip-of-the-spear technology to build the chips that are used in everything. TSMC in Taiwan is similarly built, the state funds and supports TSMC by making sure people are able to study, professors are able to do research etc, and when the skills are available in the country, they are able to do something incredible like building nanometre scale chips.

China has developed a deep manufacturing base in a similar way. They have a deep stack of engineers and they have research at their universities and research institutes. AND they invest in engineering and research and education in a much bigger way than the west.

Do you feel like your government is helping students and researchers do the best they can to advance the fields? I think no. It is far too expensive and difficult to study in the west, and engineering is not a favoured field. Because the jobs are in China or somewhere else.

This is why, if the western governments actually wanted the west to jump ahead in engineering and manufacturing, they would be investing in the education sector and actual engineering. They would be throwing billions and billion at universities and students of engineering and theoretical research. Do we see that? ...seems like the opposite is happening.


So... Demand that your governments invest in education and engineering if you actually want an Apple that is able to build unique products in your country. Currently... TSMC is reliant on bringing engineers from Taiwan to spin up their facilities in the US. Apple has NO way to build a foxconn in the US, simply because there are not enough tooling engineers and research centres to do the research required to advance the field in the US. Not even tooling and manufacturing engineers to build macs and AVPs and laptops in the US...

That is not an accusation of "US are bad at engineering" ofcourse you are not... US hasn't invested in the education of engineers and the engineering research, and without that, it is not possible to have advanced manufacturing.

Apple says they will start manufacturing in the US once they have robotics capable to build what they need... But who will build the robotics? Only China fits the bill currently...

If the west/US wants to be independent from the world, they need to invest in the base science and engineering workforce. Invest in the schools/universities with a slant towards engineering and manufacturing. Support niche specialized engineering industries that support advanced manufacturing. But this takes usually a long time, so get to it I guess... OR just not be isolationist and wake up to the reality and fund education properly so you are not stranded if things get insecure down the line.

I say use Chinese know-how and learn together, they are already so good at manufacturing and engineering that we are better served to co-operate and advance science together. China is on an accelerated track to be 100% green by 2045. We need to look to China and learn how they are able to advance this fast and implement the same strategies in the west. The climate tipping point is already possibly behind us... We need to pull together as humans if we want our kids not to grow old in a world that is very dangerous. Even acknowledging that China is far ahead in engineering is controversial, but it is the truth. I care about my kids, I want them to be safe and thrive. I do not care about politics, I care about if they are forced to survive in famine and hyper extreme weather... And as such, we are forced to work together to find ways to survive in a world that is fast tipping towards a climate humans may not be able to survive in.

 

[cicalinarrot]

Chinese companies are seemingly way ahead of Apple and Google at making innovative devices. I've been really impressed with their phones. They seem like designs that Apple would release 2-3 years later.

Things have been like this for more than 10 years.
Truth is a little different though IMHO.

Basically none of the companies that make the phone "invents" anything. Components' manufacturers develop new technologies (like foldable screens) and manufacturers can choose how to use them.
People keep buying Apple because of its software, reliability and... predictability. Not having some weird new tech is a good thing for Apple.
On the other hand, runner-up companies have to differentiate themselves to get noticed. And that's not always good.

I could mention dozens of "cool" features that these "inventive asian companies" have introduced and that turned out to be rushed and bad. Pop-up cameras, displays that fold back into the screen, weird attachments... most of this stuff looks cool at first and works for marketing but may be useless or even provide a bad experience (such as the first foldable screens). These products are very rarely hits.

And any time Apple does something, since they sell more, they're scrutinized way harder. They really can't afford half-baked features and issues. Apple has a something-gate that gets all over the news every couple years, its rivals' issues are rarely covered: Samsung had to make some phones literally explode to get some attention.

This is why they're very conservative. They'll usually wait for a feature to be very safe before introducing it. Sometimes they push a gimmick (such as the new useless camera button) but it still relies on very well-known and tested tech.

Moreover, it happens very often that these competitors just introduce new features because they have been rumoured to be coming on Apple devices, to brag about getting there first, even before Apple, and to enjoy some free marketing. I frankly think that's what happened with Samsung's new slim phone though I don't think I could prove it.

If you like cool new features, that's fine. But I'll have to be honest, and don't take it as an insult at all, it feels like a kinda "childish" view of phones as toys. That is totally fine, I used to love to look at phones that exciting way and in part I still do. But boring adults (like I'm forced to be for most of my day) need reliability more than fun and innovation.
I buy an iPhone, I know what I'll get. Almost the same experience as my last phone, just better. And I'm pretty scared when I move from touch-ID to face-ID or something like that but I know millions of people already had and they're fine.
People think they need and iPhone mini because they hate moving to a bigger screen, that's how boring most of us are

Sorry for the absurdly long post.

 

[Aeronauts]

How about Vision Pro? One can argue it is a solution looking for a problem or the price is too high, but the innovations are there and first of its kind?

Again Apple were not first to market with a virtual reality headset. The Quest has been around for 6 years. Apple improved the experience and expanded the capabilities but they were not first to market.

 

[Stuwil]

Things have been like this for more than 10 years.
Truth is a little different though IMHO.

Basically none of the companies that make the phone "invents" anything. Components' manufacturers develop new technologies (like foldable screens) and manufacturers can choose how to use them.
People keep buying Apple because of its software, reliability and... predictability. Not having some weird new tech is a good thing for Apple.
On the other hand, runner-up companies have to differentiate themselves to get noticed. And that's not always good.

I could mention dozens of "cool" features that these "inventive asian companies" have introduced and that turned out to be rushed and bad. Pop-up cameras, displays that fold back into the screen, weird attachments... most of this stuff looks cool at first and works for marketing but may be useless or even provide a bad experience (such as the first foldable screens). These products are very rarely hits.

And any time Apple does something, since they sell more, they're scrutinized way harder. They really can't afford half-baked features and issues. Apple has a something-gate that gets all over the news every couple years, its rivals' issues are rarely covered: Samsung had to make some phones literally explode to get some attention.

This is why they're very conservative. They'll usually wait for a feature to be very safe before introducing it. Sometimes they push a gimmick (such as the new useless camera button) but it still relies on very well-known and tested tech.

Moreover, it happens very often that these competitors just introduce new features because they have been rumoured to be coming on Apple devices, to brag about getting there first, even before Apple, and to enjoy some free marketing. I frankly think that's what happened with Samsung's new slim phone though I don't think I could prove it.

If you like cool new features, that's fine. But I'll have to be honest, and don't take it as an insult at all, it feels like a kinda "childish" view of phones as toys. That is totally fine, I used to love to look at phones that exciting way and in part I still do. But boring adults (like I'm forced to be for most of my day) need reliability more than fun and innovation.
I buy an iPhone, I know what I'll get. Almost the same experience as my last phone, just better. And I'm pretty scared when I move from touch-ID to face-ID or something like that but I know millions of people already had and they're fine.
People think they need and iPhone mini because they hate moving to a bigger screen, that's how boring most of us are

Sorry for the absurdly long post.

If you’re correct in what you’re saying then why does Huawei have 1 billion users and they are not allowed to operate in parts of the world if there products weren’t good.

And you could say that android & Huawei do need to innovate more & try different things to help sell their products but apple on the other hand
As they have been accused of is waiting to see if that product or feature works and then they implement it into their own product line up.

 

[mikefj2004]

Who reviewed this article prior to publishing? This article literally makes no sense as Apple has no such product. I'm at a loss.

 

[cicalinarrot]

If you’re correct in what you’re saying then why does Huawei have 1 billion users and they are not allowed to operate in parts of the world if there products weren’t good.

Are you could say that android & Huawei do need to innovate more & try different things to help sell their products but apple on the other hand
As they have been accused of is waiting to see if that product or feature works and then they implement it into their own product line up.

Huawei has many more users because they sell an ungodly amount of cheap phones but in the flagship category, the most profitable ones, Apple just wins. Apple is so good they are among the world top sellers even without a phone under $600. All rivals sell phones starting at $100 so it's not a great comparison.

According to the first charts I found online, in 2024, of the top ten best selling phones, 6 where iPhones (all ranging between between $600 and $1200). The other four where Samsung (one for $800, two for around $200, one for $120). This is how much Apple dominates.

So... in the flagship category, where Huawei barely qualifies as one of the main players, they absolutely need some weird new tech for people to even notice they exist. No matter how many $120 phones they sell on amazon.

 

[Stuwil]

Huawei has many more users because they sell an ungodly amount of cheap phones but in the flagship category, the most profitable ones, Apple just wins. Apple is so good they are among the world top sellers even without a phone under $600. All rivals sell phones starting at $100 so it's not a great comparison.

According to the first charts I found online, in 2024, of the top ten best selling phones, 6 where iPhones (all ranging between between $600 and $1200). The other four where Samsung (one for $800, two for around $200, one for $120). This is how much Apple dominates.

So... in the flagship category, where Huawei barely qualifies as one of the main players, they absolutely need some weird new tech for people to even notice they exist. No matter how many $120 phones they sell on amazon.

Why don’t you try in china for example
Obviously apple will be in the top worldwide because they sell worldwide
Unlike Huawei because they are not allowed to in certain countries

Do you know why Huawei phones are cheap on Amazon because the ones on Amazon are from 2019 and if you buy a Huawei phone & try and use it in my country you can’t access
5g on it because they are banned
It’s not because they are cheap and sell inferior products compared with apple or samdung

 

[Stuwil]

If Apple was first to market with new designs then I would agree but they’re not. Under Tim Cook Apple has become the last to market with so many new innovations because he’s a bean counter not a risk taker like Steve was.

The reason why Tim Cook doesn’t take chances is not because he can’t because they have the resources to do it
However he doesn’t want to fail so that is why under his leadership it’s a sit and wait and see approach

 

[applefella]

You people have a weird understanding of how engineering works, how under-contractors develop technology and then sell to higher up companies like Apple.

Chinese companies are advancing the technology, Apple buys the parts and makes a new product. If Apple does not have a screen available that is capable of working like this, do you think Apple sits down and makes it from the ground up, ships the blueprints to China and they make it with blindfolds as to not StealTM their technology?

This is a severe misunderstanding of the entire industry.

Chinese companies like foxconn and more importantly smaller undercontractors and similar, are very advanced in what they are able to build and ship at scale.

Similar to Belgium and UVA laser lithography, very advanced optics and engineering, is reliant on an entire stack of available engineering and tooling skills. This stack goes all the way to the state funding universities and building up a critical base of educated engineers and theoretical scientists working on advancing the scientific base for the engineering.

Currently, Belgium and the Germanic countries have a very deep and established stack of engineering and science from universities all the way to the companies that deliver this tip-of-the-spear technology to build the chips that are used in everything. TSMC in Taiwan is similarly built, the state funds and supports TSMC by making sure people are able to study, professors are able to do research etc, and when the skills are available in the country, they are able to do something incredible like building nanometre scale chips.

China has developed a deep manufacturing base in a similar way. They have a deep stack of engineers and they have research at their universities and research institutes. AND they invest in engineering and research and education in a much bigger way than the west.

Do you feel like your government is helping students and researchers do the best they can to advance the fields? I think no. It is far too expensive and difficult to study in the west, and engineering is not a favoured field. Because the jobs are in China or somewhere else.

This is why, if the western governments actually wanted the west to jump ahead in engineering and manufacturing, they would be investing in the education sector and actual engineering. They would be throwing billions and billion at universities and students of engineering and theoretical research. Do we see that? ...seems like the opposite is happening.


So... Demand that your governments invest in education and engineering if you actually want an Apple that is able to build unique products in your country. Currently... TSMC is reliant on bringing engineers from Taiwan to spin up their facilities in the US. Apple has NO way to build a foxconn in the US, simply because there are not enough tooling engineers and research centres to do the research required to advance the field in the US. Not even tooling and manufacturing engineers to build macs and AVPs and laptops in the US...

That is not an accusation of "US are bad at engineering" ofcourse you are not... US hasn't invested in the education of engineers and the engineering research, and without that, it is not possible to have advanced manufacturing.

Apple says they will start manufacturing in the US once they have robotics capable to build what they need... But who will build the robotics? Only China fits the bill currently...

If the west/US wants to be independent from the world, they need to invest in the base science and engineering workforce. Invest in the schools/universities with a slant towards engineering and manufacturing. Support niche specialized engineering industries that support advanced manufacturing. But this takes usually a long time, so get to it I guess... OR just not be isolationist and wake up to the reality and fund education properly so you are not stranded if things get insecure down the line.

I say use Chinese know-how and learn together, they are already so good at manufacturing and engineering that we are better served to co-operate and advance science together. China is on an accelerated track to be 100% green by 2045. We need to look to China and learn how they are able to advance this fast and implement the same strategies in the west. The climate tipping point is already possibly behind us... We need to pull together as humans if we want our kids not to grow old in a world that is very dangerous. Even acknowledging that China is far ahead in engineering is controversial, but it is the truth. I care about my kids, I want them to be safe and thrive. I do not care about politics, I care about if they are forced to survive in famine and hyper extreme weather... And as such, we are forced to work together to find ways to survive in a world that is fast tipping towards a climate humans may not be able to survive in.

It was pleasant to read a sensible post, for once.

To some degree, I do believe that some Chinese individuals steal technology patents from the U.S. I think this has been known for quite some time.

I've also read about issues where there are issues of Chinese students hiring people to take tests for them at universities.

The cheating scandals are not unique to the Chinese... There's also the Felicity Huffman case.

There really needs to be some level of control at universities to address cheating and admissions scandals.

But it's also true that the United States doesn't support education in the way that it should. Outsourcing to China has resulted in lost technical skills in the US.

The US has a reputation of having many of the best universities in the world, but the price tag that's associated with that is having negative detriments towards the local economies.

If there were a greater investment in education in the US, we would see some better results for ourselves, and we would hopefully have some better internal balance in our own country.

 

[cicalinarrot]

Why don’t you try in china for example
Obviously apple will be in the top worldwide because they sell worldwide
Unlike Huawei because they are not allowed to in certain countries

Do you know why Huawei phones are cheap on Amazon because the ones on Amazon are from 2019 and if you buy a Huawei phone & try and use it in my country you can’t access
5g on it because they are banned
It’s not because they are cheap and sell inferior products compared with apple or samdung

Well, where I live, flagship Huawei phones are available and very unpopular. They advertise much less than Apple but still.
I don't mean Huawei only makes bad or cheap phones, I'm just saying numbers are completely irrelevant for a comparison between Apple and Huawei.

 

[Stuwil]

It was pleasant to read a sensible post, for once.

To some degree, I do believe that some Chinese individuals steal technology patents from the U.S. I think this has been known for quite some time.

I've also read about issues where there are issues of Chinese students hiring people to take tests for them at universities.

The cheating scandals are not unique to the Chinese... There's also the Felicity Huffman case.

There really needs to be some level of control at universities to address cheating and admissions scandals.

But it's also true that the United States doesn't support education in the way that it should. Outsourcing to China has resulted in lost technical skills in the US.

The US has a reputation of having many of the best universities in the world, but the price tag that's associated with that is having negative detriments towards the local economies.

If there were a greater investment in education in the US, we would see some better results for ourselves, and we would hopefully have some better internal balance in our own country.

There is a reason why the current president of the US wants a abolish the education department in the US
Because the more educated people there are the more they will challenge the status quo
That’s why

 

[ZiBart]

Chinese companies like foxconn and more importantly smaller undercontractors and similar, are very advanced in what they are able to build and ship at scale.

Foxconn is Taiwanese. And also operates in countries other than China.

 

[cicalinarrot]

I'm a little confused how a launching product may get mistaken for an Apple product that doesn't exist? 🤔

These companies base products on upcoming and rumoured Apple products and clearly mimic Apple's design language all the time. See that Samsung slim phone, conveniently launched before Apple's long rumoured one.
So the title could make a lot of sense but in this case, especially considering the back of that thing (which I personally find kinda disgusting) I don't see how it could be mistaken for an Apple product.

 

[Stuwil]

Well, where I live, flagship Huawei phones are available and very unpopular. They advertise much less than Apple but still.
I don't mean Huawei only makes bad or cheap phones, I'm just saying numbers are completely irrelevant for a comparison between Apple and Huawei.

Because you don’t live in china
That’s why
If I bought this new Huawei tablet & took it back home there would be no point in owning one because you are not properly going to benefit from it.

One company has 1.5 billion users worldwide
The other has 1 billion but are not allowed to sell in parts of the world and even if you bought their flagship device you can’t access 5g on it because it’s banned from accessing countries 5g frequencies outside of Asia

What country do you live in just out of curiosity in regards to Huawei devices

 

[Sophytaylor6@]

Huawei's new device is just impeccable. The overall concept and the features are amazing. I just saw the design and details of it, and according to me, it's top-notch.

 

[iMac The Knife]

I can tell you from experience that typing on a glass screen like you would on a physical keyboard sucks. I would never want to do it for more than a few minutes tops...and that's only if I absolutely had to. I had the Lenovo Yoga Book back in the day and typing on it was an abysmal experience. I don't think it was actual glass, although I could be wrong, but it was close enough.

Edit: I have confirmed that the typing surface on the Lenovo Yoga Book was made of glass.

 

[Aoligei]

Not sure how you’re confused about this. It’s a copy of a product that’s still in development stage. Just because the product isn’t on the shelves doesn’t mean someone can’t copy it. China is very good at industrial espionage. They use that along with their skilled manufacturing to clone products.

Just because something is being rumoured, doesn’t mean Apple is actually developing such a thing.

You can also spin things in this way: If let’s assume the foldable staff is actually in development and it has been in past few years. Huawei’s foldable phones were released back in 2019, that was 6 years ago.

The first rumoured Apple foldable was back in 2016, when LG was rumoured to supply Apple foldable display. Now 10 years after, there still aren’t any foldable devices from Apple.

So let me ask you, is it Apple being incompetent? A Chinese company can copy Apple in three years but Apple can’t develop its own product in span of 10 years? Apple as a three trillion dollar company can’t compete with Chinese company?

That’s because people in the USA would protest if we actually had prisoners do forced labor. We all know how China handles protests. It’s not recommended to do in China.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, inmates earn between 12-40 cents per hour for these jobs, which is below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Penal labor in the United States - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So pensioner in US earns between 12-40 cents per hour, you are not calling this labor abuse? Where is mass protest that you said?

 

[Stuwil]

I can tell you from experience that typing on a glass screen like you would on a physical keyboard sucks. I would never want to do it for more than a few minutes tops...and that's only if I absolutely had to. I had the Lenovo Yoga Book back in the day and typing on it was an abysmal experience. I don't think it was actual glass, although I could be wrong, but it was close enough.

Yes but your are basing that off experience from years ago not this type of tablet

That’s like an older person using a self service checkout screen that’s slow when you touch it and saying all touch screens are like this

 

[ZiBart]

If you’re correct in what you’re saying then why does Huawei have 1 billion users and they are not allowed to operate in parts of the world if there products weren’t good.

National security concerns related to 4G/5G Telcom infastructure. Most US allies took this approach and against ZTE as well, one can claim conspiracy but thats the official reason.

In my country, only the Telcom related products are banned. All other Huawai products are not. And the Matebook X, with Windows is not flying off the shelves. I agree, they are not “cheap”products with bad QA like some claim here but the stigma of past, brand recognition, ecosystem, and warranty support fears contribute greatly. All countries have tiers of product quality. You can find many “US” companies with terrible quality products.

 

[iMac The Knife]

Yes but your are basing that off experience from years ago not this type of tablet

That’s like an older person using a self service checkout screen that’s slow when you touch it and saying all touch screens are like this

No, what I've said is really not like that at all. Your comparison is way off base. Do you honestly think they are going to be able to make typing on a glass screen more comfortable than typing on a physical keyboard? If you do, I have a bridge to sell you.

And yes, I have confirmed that the typing surface on the Lenovo Yoga Book was made of glass.

 

[Stuwil]

National security concerns related to 4G/5G Telcom infastructure. Most US allies took this approach and against ZTE as well, one can claim conspiracy but thats the official reason.

In my country, only the Telcom related products are banned. All other Huawai products are not. And the Matebook X, with Windows is not flying off the shelves. I agree, they are not “cheap”products with bad QA like some claim here but the stigma of past, brand recognition, ecosystem, and warranty support fears contribute greatly. All countries have tiers of product quality. You can find many “US” companies with terrible quality products.

Why would you buy a Huawei device in the west if you are not going to get the full benefit of it?
The example is this in my country they had a deal with a well known mobile provider in my country & more networks where starting to sell their devices.
Then the ban came in so that stopped it dead in its tracks.
The same with 4g & 5g frequencies in parts of the west
They have harmony OS so if you live in Asia it’s a different story because you buy the phone and tablet and they have that OS on it
In the west you are not getting that experience so why would you buy a Huawei device in a non Asian country
As it makes no sense

 

[Stuwil]

No, what I've said is really not like that at all. Your comparison is way off base. Do you honestly think they are going to be able to make typing on a glass screen more comfortable than typing on a physical keyboard? If you do, I have a bridge to sell you.

And yes, I have confirmed that the typing surface on the Lenovo Yogo Book was made of glass.

That is the conclusion that older people have when they use a touch screen self service checkout they think it’s all the same.

Just because your experience of typing on a company that I wouldn’t use was bad then it doesn’t necessarily mean that Huawei hasn’t got it down to a tee.

 

[iMac The Knife]

That is the conclusion that older people have when they use a touch screen self service checkout they think it’s all the same.

Just because your experience of typing on a company that I wouldn’t use was bad then it doesn’t necessarily mean that Huawei hasn’t got it down to a T (fixed it for you).

I don't care what old people think about touchscreens in the self-service checkout aisle being slow and comparing it to all other touchscreens. That doesn't have anything to do with the fact that typing on a glass surface isn't as comfortable for long periods of time, or even short periods, honestly, as it is to type on a physical keyboard, and that hasn't changed since the Lenovo Yoga Book was launched. That's not the only device I've tried that had a glass touchscreen for the keyboard, by the way. Please tell me what has changed with the chemical makeup and physics of glass that would somehow make it more comfortable to type on today than a physical keyboard? Correction above as well.

 

[Aeronauts]

How about Vision Pro? One can argue it is a solution looking for a problem or the price is too high, but the innovations are there and first of its kind?

Again Apple were not first to market with a virtual reality headset. The Quest has been around for 6 years. Apple improved the experience and expanded the capabilities but they were not first to market.

 

[Aeronauts]

The reason why Tim Cook doesn’t take chances is not because he can’t because they have the resources to do it
However he doesn’t want to fail so that is why under his leadership it’s a sit and wait and see approach

That’s why we’ve seen a total lack of innovation and very few new products in the past 14 years.

Steve built Apple on taking risks. If Tim Cook has been in charge would they have gambled on the iPod or the iPhone? Based on recent experience probably not.