'iPhone Fold' to Feature Metallic Glass Hinge That Resists Deformation

[sunapple]

So, Google and Samsung don’t have “world influence”? Apple already attempted to do something similar with the Vision Pro and by pricing it SO high very few units were sold in comparison to other VR/MR devices. I expect the same will happen with the “iPhone Fold”, priced too high and nothing that differentiates it from the competition (Devices that have been out for years, with several iterations already, and priced MUCH lower).

Yup, I'm expecting the same. A niche product simply due to price, no revolution.

Apple reasoned Vision Pro replaced many separate products that amount to an even higher price (flawed logic when your household exceeds one person, but whatever), but in this case you're replacing a 1,000 dollar iPhone plus 1,000 dollar iPad with a 2,500 dollar folding phone that has a smaller screen than said iPad. It just doesn't seem like a good deal. And I don't see a foldable being as much of a tablet as an iPad, it's way off if you see iPad as an alternative to a laptop.

Maybe Apple has a couple of aces up their sleeves and that could come from the software. Software that might launch two years later.. Oh well.

 

[cdsapplefan]

Still not paying $2,000 for this. Sorry Apple 🍎

 

[macjaffa]

Oh oh - I get a chance to repost the size comparison I made to judge if the 5.5" outer screen is comparable to the iPhone mini at 5.4".

I struggled to guess if the two sides would butt up against each other, or if there is a central hinge / spine that they fold against. I settled on them folding similar to the current Samsung phones. My guess is this is strangely both bigger and smaller than an iPhone Pro Max.

This sketch doesn't actually show a hinge, which I guess would protrude like all the other current folding phones do.


View attachment 2496274

are you saying the iphone could be smaller than iphone mini in height and a little bit wider? Interesting. This could change my view on this device.

 

[macjaffa]

Did they say ...Liquid Metal ? I, for one welcome our T-1000 overlords and I will help to toil in their underground sugar caves.

 

[EightyEight]

To everyone who has a SIM ejector handy: please fold it a few times and report back here.

 

[cocky jeremy]

Make both halves thin enough to be the same thickness as a current Pro, and make the unfolded screen the same 6.9" that the Pro Max is now and I MAY care. Until then, nah.

 

[HappyGuyDE]

Please note that “liquid” and “metal” are two Chinese characters and translate as two separate words, when in fact, they are referring to “LiquidMetal”. Yihao uses Liquidmetal from LiquidMetal Technologies (LQMT). I wish they would correct this.

 

[brentv]

Apple has 2 things to focus on for a fold. -- (my opinion) Samsung Fold 5 daily here with iPhone 12pro as business phone. People are in awe every day when they see the fold 5 asking what is that. The fold 3 & 5 in my pocket over 4 years has been amazing (screen size & Muti tasking are my wins & the kids love tablet mode with pen). #1 APPS For android developers a big pain point is developing an app for so many different size and ratio device layouts. Apple's app developers love ability to create one app design layout that can deployed to such a large percent of active devices. Samsungs fold closed ratio is too narrow & tall, take a iPhone 16 ratio, shrink the screen a little a double it to fold. This makes the screen easily reachable with one handed use and keeps the ratio all developers use. #2 SCREEN Apple will keep the screen to look amazing closed like all iPhones do along with perfecting the hinge design and screen material to look like an iPad mini when open with a great brightness output. Add the pencil & we've got a win.

 

[EugW]

If it only has two rear cameras, then that's a deal-killer for me, at least at $2000+

 

[poorcody]

It's interesting that the rumors are the thickness folded will be pretty close to existing iPhones. I wonder if there will be some people interested in the phone for the smaller (outside) screen size with little or no interest in the folding aspect. (Price considerations aside.)

 

[FredTX92]

Anything but fix Bluetooth….

 

[cbaca51]

I can't imagine anyone feeling less excited about this than I do. More excited about bout the new Beats charging cables.

I’m totally in the same boat as you. Don’t really care about the “foldable phone” trend. But I’ll keep an open mind to see if Apple’s version can catch my interest

 

[sleeptodream]

It might be a bit better than the competition, you would expect it given the long wait, but expecting a revolution like in 2007 is believing too much in the hype. Way too much. Or it gives way too little credit to the original iPhone.

Have you had a foldable yet? It’s pretty revolutionary. I have a Galaxy Fold3 and I still love it, only reason I don’t use it is I missed the Apple ecosystem.

When I was using it, I had never gotten more questions since the original iPhone. Remember those days when everyone would ask you “whoah what’s that, is that an iPhone?” It was basically that, so I think there’s a lot of consumer interest, but I think Apple owns such a high percentage of the high-end/luxury market that it hasn’t gone mainstream yet. People aren’t willing to switch from the iPhone ecosystem for it (which shows how strong the gravitational pull of the ecosystem can be)

 

[darngooddesign]

It's two-in-one : a phone that's too thick to be comfortable to use, and an iPad that's just a bit too small to do anything other than quick web searches or consume content...

Oppo's new foldable is thinner than the Pro Max when folded, yet people have no problem using the ProMax.

 

[anthonymoody]

Oh oh - I get a chance to repost the size comparison I made to judge if the 5.5" outer screen is comparable to the iPhone mini at 5.4".

I struggled to guess if the two sides would butt up against each other, or if there is a central hinge / spine that they fold against. I settled on them folding similar to the current Samsung phones. My guess is this is strangely both bigger and smaller than an iPhone Pro Max.

This sketch doesn't actually show a hinge, which I guess would protrude like all the other current folding phones do.


View attachment 2496274

Bro. You have captured exactly what I’ve been picturing in my mind. I actually don’t mind the size while folded. Shades of wide blackberries from back in the day. Guessing too that this will take advantage of iOS 19’s ability to have 5 icons across (or just have them float free-form wherever you like).

Anyway thanks so much for the work you put into this.

Also, Apple please take my money.

 

[sunapple]

Have you had a foldable yet? It’s pretty revolutionary. I have a Galaxy Fold3 and I still love it, only reason I don’t use it is I missed the Apple ecosystem.

When I was using it, I had never gotten more questions since the original iPhone. Remember those days when everyone would ask you “whoah what’s that, is that an iPhone?” It was basically that, so I think there’s a lot of consumer interest, but I think Apple owns such a high percentage of the high-end/luxury market that it hasn’t gone mainstream yet. People aren’t willing to switch from the iPhone ecosystem for it (which shows how strong the gravitational pull of the ecosystem can be)

No I don’t buy things I don’t need just for trying them out.

Anyway, I’m not saying the foldable concept is dead. Just that if Apple launched one now it will not be the same leap the original iPhone was. And I highly doubt it will have a market share similar to any one of the current iPhone models, therefore I would still not call it mainstream. But we’ll see.

 

[philfloyduk]

No doubt Apple foldables will revolution the smartphone industry as the first iPhone did when Steve Jobs introduced it for the first time back in 2007.

For people who says that foldables is a gimmick or a solution in search of a problem, I just can say that foldables have the characteristic of deliver a big screen in a small form factor device, and if the device is a book-style, it can be 2 products in 1: iPhone and iPad Mini.

I’m all for Apple foldables. I’ve been waiting for this at least since 2019, as is stated in my MR signature.

100% agree.

Apple will have this running as an iPhone in the closed position, and an iPad mini in the open position at launch, none of the clunky hashed together, incomplete software we have seen from other folding phones. They have the app eco system of the iPad so you benefit from the larger screen from day one.

If you use an iPad in your workflow and can afford the likely 2-2.5k price tag, it’s a no brainer. An iPhone and an iPad in your pocket at all times? Yes please! It’s a day one purchase for me

 

[rman0726]

I don’t care about the hinge. I want to know what they are doing to make the crease in the middle of the screen not look like complete ass after a month of folding like the Samsung’s do.

 

[jarman92]

Damn this is a blast from the past...I remember when Apple bought this company and "liquid metal" was rumored to be in a product like every month, but all Apple ever made out of it was the SIM ejector tool 😂

 

[anthogag]

I hope Apple's foldable has only the one screen and not a 3rd smaller screen on the outside. Unfold it to use it. Adding another screen just adds more cost and weight.

 

[The Game 161]

It's two-in-one : a phone that's too thick to be comfortable to use, and an iPad that's just a bit too small to do anything other than quick web searches or consume content...

Well that’s false for a start seeing as they are aiming for it to be 9mm thick. New foldables now are very thin or starting to

 

[Tito360]

I can't imagine anyone feeling less excited about this than I do. More excited about bout the new Beats charging cables.

Your folding or the wrong way lol

 

[iphoneMiniWanter]

It's interesting that the rumors are the thickness folded will be pretty close to existing iPhones. I wonder if there will be some people interested in the phone for the smaller (outside) screen size with little or no interest in the folding aspect. (Price considerations aside.)

This could be me, as an iPhone 13 Mini and iPad Mini owner. It all depends on how functional one handed use of the folded device is. It's hard for me to imagine a 5.5" screen at the width in the mockup posted earlier here being comfortable. The weight will be key.

 

[sherwinzadeh]

More important than hinge, to me, would be the surface of the screen. All of these foldable phones have a film like screen texture rather than glass. Hope Apple can fix this texture problem as well.

 

[Tagbert]

Amorphous metal its metal, with shiny to it...for people that doesnt know there is no glass in it they just have a glass-like structure

That structure is what make is classified as glass. Metal has a crystalline structure. it really combines qualities of both metal and glass. Glass is not just silicon dioxide. Other elements can have a glassy structure.