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Other iPhone Fold - what are your dealbreakers?
- Thread starter ChantyBinx
- Start date
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For me, before we even get to iPad multitasking, Pencil support, a £2.5k+ Apple Fold would first have to prove that it isn’t an extremely expensive durability experiment.
People seem to forget what happened with Samsung. The original Galaxy Fold was such a disaster that Samsung had to postpone the launch. Review units developed dead or damaged displays, some because people removed what looked like a normal screen protector but was actually an integral part of the display, and others because debris could get into the hinge area and damage the flexible OLED from underneath. Samsung eventually redesigned the protective layer, reinforced the hinge, added protective caps and reduced the gaps before finally releasing it months later.
Samsung has obviously improved the Fold enormously since 2019, but the fundamental weak points of foldables haven’t disappeared: a soft flexible inner display, an enormous moving hinge, screen-protector delamination and sensitivity to dirt and particles. Samsung itself acknowledges that the inner protector can eventually peel, bubble and require replacement.
And remarkably, even the new Z Fold8 still isn’t immune. iFixit’s recent teardown found that fine dust could enter the hinge, producing grinding noises and eventually preventing the phone from opening normally. IP48 still doesn’t mean proper protection from ordinary fine dust or pocket lint.
So at £2,500+, my requirements would be rather different: extremely high long-term durability, genuinely good dust protection, a much tougher inner display, and reasonable repair/AppleCare costs. Because when a normal £1,000 phone breaks, it’s annoying. When a £2,500–£3,000 folding phone needs a new inner-display/hinge assembly, it can become an absurdly expensive repair.
The iPad features would be nice. But first make sure the £2.5k phone can survive five years of normal use.
People seem to forget what happened with Samsung. The original Galaxy Fold was such a disaster that Samsung had to postpone the launch. Review units developed dead or damaged displays, some because people removed what looked like a normal screen protector but was actually an integral part of the display, and others because debris could get into the hinge area and damage the flexible OLED from underneath. Samsung eventually redesigned the protective layer, reinforced the hinge, added protective caps and reduced the gaps before finally releasing it months later.
Samsung has obviously improved the Fold enormously since 2019, but the fundamental weak points of foldables haven’t disappeared: a soft flexible inner display, an enormous moving hinge, screen-protector delamination and sensitivity to dirt and particles. Samsung itself acknowledges that the inner protector can eventually peel, bubble and require replacement.
And remarkably, even the new Z Fold8 still isn’t immune. iFixit’s recent teardown found that fine dust could enter the hinge, producing grinding noises and eventually preventing the phone from opening normally. IP48 still doesn’t mean proper protection from ordinary fine dust or pocket lint.
So at £2,500+, my requirements would be rather different: extremely high long-term durability, genuinely good dust protection, a much tougher inner display, and reasonable repair/AppleCare costs. Because when a normal £1,000 phone breaks, it’s annoying. When a £2,500–£3,000 folding phone needs a new inner-display/hinge assembly, it can become an absurdly expensive repair.
The iPad features would be nice. But first make sure the £2.5k phone can survive five years of normal use.
Unami
macrumors 68000
I'm probably not the target audience for this anyway, but I do find foldable display fascinating. For me, dealbreakers would be:
1) Durability - if a fingernail can damage the inner sceen, for me the technology isn't there yet. It doesn't have to be gorilla glass 4, but at lest some sort of self healing film that can be replaced for cheap.
2) Too small use case - I can see the benefit of bigger apps and using two apps side by side sometimes. I guess they'll show some fun way of apps interacting. If that's done very well, maybe that's all that's needed for a killer feature. But it might also become an niche Apple product with nice ideas that get neglected after release because not a lot of people buy it. No way to say that in their notoriously underpowered first gen products.
3) Price - even if it's the next thing in usability, I have a hard time imagening paying north of €1500 for a pocket PC myself. Double so if it's less durable than a normal phone. Even if the massive effort of technology in such a small package and ramageddon justifiy a much higher price, combined with fragileness it's out of the "sane purchases" territory for most people.
1) Durability - if a fingernail can damage the inner sceen, for me the technology isn't there yet. It doesn't have to be gorilla glass 4, but at lest some sort of self healing film that can be replaced for cheap.
2) Too small use case - I can see the benefit of bigger apps and using two apps side by side sometimes. I guess they'll show some fun way of apps interacting. If that's done very well, maybe that's all that's needed for a killer feature. But it might also become an niche Apple product with nice ideas that get neglected after release because not a lot of people buy it. No way to say that in their notoriously underpowered first gen products.
3) Price - even if it's the next thing in usability, I have a hard time imagening paying north of €1500 for a pocket PC myself. Double so if it's less durable than a normal phone. Even if the massive effort of technology in such a small package and ramageddon justifiy a much higher price, combined with fragileness it's out of the "sane purchases" territory for most people.
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Contact_Feanor
macrumors 6502a
CaféPicasso
macrumors regular
It will be interesting to see if these phones will look sexy, smart, or cool in the hands of a user or if they might look a bit embarrassing or even make you feel a little bit sorry for the person who is using them... Just a thought. I think it will depend on the balance between price and functionality and the design. (I know that it's totally irrelevant what other people think of other people)
Capeto
macrumors 6502a
As someone who is definitely curious about it but in all likelihood not buying it (at least this year/gen), I'm approaching this from a different angle: what would it take for me to buy one?
1. Price - I don't mind carrier deals, but I doubt my carrier is going to fully subsidize a $2k+ device
2. Durability - my regular iPhone gets lint in the USB port pretty regularly while being in my pocket, that hinge is going to get dirty real quick unless some sort of case or pouch is made for it
3. The "soft" inner screen being both more prone to scratches and possibly developing a crease over time worry me, so I'd like something more... resistant
I think those are my main pain points - I don't think I'd mind the lack of Magsafe (though it would be nice) or the lack of telephoto.
1. Price - I don't mind carrier deals, but I doubt my carrier is going to fully subsidize a $2k+ device
2. Durability - my regular iPhone gets lint in the USB port pretty regularly while being in my pocket, that hinge is going to get dirty real quick unless some sort of case or pouch is made for it
3. The "soft" inner screen being both more prone to scratches and possibly developing a crease over time worry me, so I'd like something more... resistant
I think those are my main pain points - I don't think I'd mind the lack of Magsafe (though it would be nice) or the lack of telephoto.
4sallypat
macrumors 603
^^^ Yes !
I would love the next gen Air!
Currently loving my Air from day 1 with zero complaints and lots of praise by others who held it and said they wish their Pro/PM phones were this thin and light.