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Other iPhone Fold - what are you dealbreakers?

Its a gen 1 product so no go for me. Same for Apple Watch and iPhone. Waited for series 2 and 3G respectfully.

Dealbreakers next year would be if the Pro Max has anything superior to it, because 2k+ for something that isn’t the best of everything isn’t for me.
 
I’ve been exclusively Apple since the iPhone 5. I bought the Samsung Z Fold 8 and will pass on the iPhone Ultra. My reasoning is as follows:
  1. I no longer desire to be locked in so tightly to the Apple ecosystem, or any other single ecosystem
  2. Apple Ultra will be a first-generation device. Samsung has been iterating foldables for 7-8 years now
  3. The pre-order deals for the Fold8 brought its price for me below $1,500. I don’t see Apple getting anywhere near that price point
  4. (Assumption based on rumors) I prefer the look of the Fold 8 to rumored Apple Ultra
I am keeping my current iPhone Air, but have switched my main cell phone number to the Fold8.

I’ve ironed out most of the major issues caused by this mixed environment to acceptable levels. There is a bit more tech friction in my tech life now, but I feel much better not being so locked in, as many services I now use are distributed out to various 3-party alternatives.
 
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I don't plan to purchase one, but for me the downsides so far, from the rumors are:

No Face ID
No Telephoto lens
No MagSafe
Potential durability issue of the inside screen surface
Likely not mountable on a bike or dash with a custom case like Quadlock.
Price, probably will cost close to $3k CAD after taxes.
 
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Price is a no-go for me at first few gens, I just can't spend that much on a phone. Ignoring that and just talking about the product itself, durability and the crease are my only issues. To be honest, I actually would consider one of these if there was a strong carrier deal and it was durable, even if I don't really use the inner screen as much as some others. Based on the mockups I am seeing, the aspect ratio of the outer screen is intriguing. I have always favored a more square ratio on almost everything I use, the phone is no different. Give me a bigger keyboard and less cramped feeling images when I zoom in on them. I will absolutely try to test thing out in a store and see how it feels.

I would only fold it open to inspect documents, that's about it. But that is still a very nice use case for the larger screen, and it would probably make me use my phone more than I currently do, even at home. Maybe even extended typing would become considerably easier. These are worthwhile advancements.
 
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comptr said:
Also 90% of people buy phones on phone payments via their carrier in the us. Whether or not they can afford to buy it outright.
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Even though I don't lease or use carrier subsidies, the recent discussions about the monthly costs of leasing Apple devices has inspired me to calculate/estimate my monthly costs of ownership. Eye opening for sure.
 
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doolar said:
I was very excited for the fold, but I’m not so sure anymore. I have the Air which I love, it’s so perfect for my use case. I don’t want a bigger and heavier phone again.

I’ll probably get the new iPad mini instead, if it comes with OLED and call it a day.
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Right ?
I love my Air - perfect for me since day 1 - no regrets.

All that hate during the release and launch of the Air by the naysayers and keyboard warriors didn't turn me around.

Love the lightweight, thin profile with premium titanium casing and battery that lasts all day.

As for weight, I do also have a Google Pixel Fold phone which I use for my small business and that's too heavy to carry around so it sits on my desk, acting as a desktop next to my Studio Mac which I use 90% of the time....
 
walds11 said:
BTW, width of 16 Pro Max is 77.6mm per GSM Arena, but I totally get your synopsis.

Any idea what the weight of the Ultra is/will be? That is another factor for me
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Thanks for catching my typo, I was going too fast 🤣

Haven’t seen the weight of iPhone Ultra, but my Z Fold7 isn’t heavy or cumbersome.

My foldable experience has been outstanding. Couldn’t imagine why I would buy one, to having a colleague let me try his, to wow I need one of these. Now months of usage later, it’s my primary work device.

I hope iPhone Ultra works for you.
 
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ChantyBinx said:
I'm curious what you all would need from a £2.5k+ iPhone Fold to make it worthy of the price.

For me it's parity with what Samsung are doing, but in the realm of the Apple ecosystem.

  • iPad like tablet experience meaning iPad multi tasking and windowing on the bigger inside screen. Out of the box iPad apps running on the inner display, iPhone version on outer.
  • iPad / Apple Pencil support like an iPad mini
  • Desktop mode like DeX to a monitor, TV or even Mac (I'd settle for mirroring too)

It's possible and Apple could school Samsung on how to make these things work more seamlessly if they tried, but my concern is... if they did any of that, I'd not need an iPad and frankly for my personal use, maybe not even a Mac. Not because an iPad or 'DeX' experience is anything close to a Mac one, but for a lot of folks personally it's enough of a desktop experience to replace it outside of specialist heavy duty work apps. So I can't see Apple doing it.

Unfortunately for me though, a device costing more than an iPhone and iPad combined at a minimum would need to do the job of both with as few cutbacks as possible.

I recently pre-ordered a Fold 8 and passed it off to a Samsung obsessed family member whose paying for it now. It absolutely can do what I say above (minus pencil, boo Samsung). The device did absolutely nothing bad and met my wildest expectation such as being a mini tablet and plug in desktop, but for me it simply wasn't an Apple device, didn't play with my HomePods, Apple TVs, my MacBook Air nor iMac or iPad - had I not had that kit all sitting around, fairly new and with years of life in them perhaps it would have worked. Only an Apple fold that justifies its existence would truly do the job.

Until then it's multi-device, multi-charging, multi-compartments in the backpack, waiting for iCloud to sync, joining Wi-Fi, paying for iCloud. The day when one device can do much of this is near but it’s in Apple's court to decide when they want to provide what Samsung et al. do.
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Dealbreakers:

1. Squishy, scratch prone screen
2. Visible seam

I highly doubt these have been resolved.
 
zenmacx said:
Thanks for catching my typo, I was going too fast 🤣

My foldable experience has been outstanding. Couldn’t imagine why I would buy one, to having a colleague let me try his, to wow I need one of these. Now months of usage later, it’s my primary work device.

I hope iPhone Ultra works for you.
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No worries.

I really want a flip-style (clamshell-style) phone, but Apple isn’t doing one this year, so I’ll give the Ultra (fold-style) a try.
 
Ctrlos said:
Sadly Apple won;t ever commit to that level of functionality. If you're buy-in to the Apple ecosystem is but one device, it makes it easier to leave. They want you to own as many products as possible so you never do. The ecosystem is a great way of tying products together but only a fool would deny it isn't a form of lock-in.

My dealbreakers are the same as yours. It needs to run iPad apps on the internal display because that's Apple's trump card. Perhaps not so much for phones anymore but their tablet app catalogue is head and shoulders above that of Android. A phone that can run Final Cut and Logic would be immense.

However the experience of running both Lightroom, LumaFusion and Cubasis on the Galaxy Fold suggests that the app parity gap has been quietly exaggerated.
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Some Android apps are getting better, but when I briefly had mine, I looked for a replacement for Scanner Pro (a long time favourite during my time within the ecosystem). Office Lens.. Adobe's solution, all wanting logins and god knows what they do with the data - especially more sensitive stuff. I usually scan printed letters digitally and then shred the paper copies. Nothing really the same level of quality.

I also found an app suggested to me on the Play Store (or Samsung's like 'game' app) - it was 'GTA V' with the icon and all, and a description / screenshots. Free, wouldn't you know? Of course, it was a total scam and I couldn't even properly or meaningfully report it. Checked each day as the download count increased on it, still live. So still a lack of quality apps and a lot more scams than on the App Store side.

But I agree the polish is getting better on Android, even if its just a consequence of developers aiming for a consistent experience across both platforms. Glad to hear LumaFusion has moved over, absolute legend of an app for mobile
 
I will get it no matter what, but I'd love for it to support the Apple Pencil (or a smaller version of it) and Shapr3D...it would be my ideal device
 
doolar said:
I was very excited for the fold, but I’m not so sure anymore. I have the Air which I love, it’s so perfect for my use case. I don’t want a bigger and heavier phone again.

I’ll probably get the new iPad mini instead, if it comes with OLED and call it a day.
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The compromises people are mentioning are all valid (lack of telephoto, face id etc), but lets be real here FOMO and YOLO are descending on all of us hardcore and were all getting Ultras 🤓 😉.
 
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ChantyBinx said:
Some Android apps are getting better, but when I briefly had mine, I looked for a replacement for Scanner Pro (a long time favourite during my time within the ecosystem). Office Lens.. Adobe's solution, all wanting logins and god knows what they do with the data - especially more sensitive stuff. I usually scan printed letters digitally and then shred the paper copies. Nothing really the same level of quality.

I also found an app suggested to me on the Play Store (or Samsung's like 'game' app) - it was 'GTA V' with the icon and all, and a description / screenshots. Free, wouldn't you know? Of course, it was a total scam and I couldn't even properly or meaningfully report it. Checked each day as the download count increased on it, still live. So still a lack of quality apps and a lot more scams than on the App Store side.

But I agree the polish is getting better on Android, even if its just a consequence of developers aiming for a consistent experience across both platforms. Glad to hear LumaFusion has moved over, absolute legend of an app for mobile
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I find Google's Photoscan also works well with documents.
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
let’s just say that’s about $150 to $200 a month
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What! Are you guys using telepathic communication on the other side of the Atlantic?

Here in the UK I’m paying £20 to EE (one of the biggest operators if not the biggest) for 80GB of data, unlimited calls and texts and even then I still feel like I’m being robbed.

US is a mental place.
 
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SoyMaxV said:
I will get it no matter what, but I'd love for it to support the Apple Pencil (or a smaller version of it) and Shapr3D...it would be my ideal device
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Apple Pencil would be a no go the inner displays of foldables can be scratched with your own finer nail so a pencil isn’t possible unless they solve that issue
 
Lounge vibes 05 said:
For the record, even iPhones without MagSafe still have nightstand mode.
The iPhone 11 and SE, for example.
Also, I’ve said it before, but still even to this day, only two weeks before the event, there is absolutely no actual rumours saying that it won’t have mag safe. The only reason people keep thinking this is because of one dummy unit from back in February.
Of course it will have MagSafe, or at least you can guarantee it will have the 25W wireless charging, and you’ll be able to get a magnet case for it.
The magnets Apple uses are less than a single millimeter thick, and they literally just made a big deal that it’s on the 17e A couple months ago. It will be there.
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I learn something new every day. So I have multiple MagSafe stands - one on my night stand, one on my home office desk, one at my work desk where every time I use a different MagSafe, it sets it to my preferred set up. And I also use always on for this mode so it doesn’t shut off. Both of these will work without MagSafe?

I am also of the impression that I can’t see Apple getting rid of this feature, but if rumors are true and they make it 4.5mm, it could be something they get rid of. It’s been a part of the ecosystem for years and they didn’t include it on the 16E. I know that was likely more for price structure, but I can see Apple forgoing it if they need space for other components.
 
SilmarilFinder said:
What! Are you guys using telepathic communication on the other side of the Atlantic?

Here in the UK I’m paying £20 to EE (one of the biggest operators if not the biggest) for 80GB of data, unlimited calls and texts and even then I still feel like I’m being robbed.

US is a mental place.
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Yeah, you’re not joking.
I’m paying $30, and that’s one of the small NVNO’s here in the US.
If you want one of the big three carriers, you’re looking at a minimum of $80 a month.
 
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gdjsnyder said:
I learn something new every day. So I have multiple MagSafe stands - one on my night stand, one on my home office desk, one at my work desk where every time I use a different MagSafe, it sets it to my preferred set up. And I also use always on for this mode so it doesn’t shut off. Both of these will work without MagSafe?

I am also of the impression that I can’t see Apple getting rid of this feature, but if rumors are true and they make it 4.5mm, it could be something they get rid of. It’s been a part of the ecosystem for years and they didn’t include it on the 16E. I know that was likely more for price structure, but I can see Apple forgoing it if they need space for other components.
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Yes, as long as you have an iPhone that can run iOS 17 or newer, and you have it plugged in and in landscape mode, even if it’s plugged in via the port on the bottom, nightstand mode is still there.
I don’t think thinness will be an issue for the magnets within the iPhone, they are 0.55 mm thin. Also consider that the iPad Pro is 5 mm thick, and that thing is packed with magnets.
 
There is nothing besides being a wafer thin, perfectly transparent piece of glass when off and a perfectly opaque piece of glass when on that would compel me to pay £2.5k for a doom rectangle, Apple or not.
 
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