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Kuo: Apple to Launch 8-Inch Foldable iPhone in 2023
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By the time Apple enters the foldable market the components to do it will be more mature. A lot of comments in this thread fail to grasp that and are listing issues with current and past foldables as the reason why Apple shouldn't do it.
I've been quite impressed with the Huawei Mate X2 which is 14.7 mm thick when closed and 8.2mm thick when open. That's not as thin as a traditional slate-like iPhone (12 Pro being 7.4mm thick for instance) but it's certainly usable and it has a very large outer screen that rivals traditional device form factors.
The most impressive thing for me with the Huawei device though is the screen crease which when unfolded has been minimised to a degree that you can't see it at most angles and can't feel it as a bump under your finger, it feels more like a minor distortion.
And this is only their second attempt at this. By 2023 which is 2.5 years away if Apple releases it around October 2023 I'm sure the technology will be there. Apple is not going to settle for any kind of feelable crease in the display and they aren't going to make a thick brick.
You have to think outside the box. It wasn't so long ago that people on this forum were decrying phablets and saying Apple will never make a huge phone like a Samsung Galaxy device and if Apple did so they would never buy it. Then the iPhone 6 became the most successful iPhone in sales ever, period (and I believe still is to this day).
I've been quite impressed with the Huawei Mate X2 which is 14.7 mm thick when closed and 8.2mm thick when open. That's not as thin as a traditional slate-like iPhone (12 Pro being 7.4mm thick for instance) but it's certainly usable and it has a very large outer screen that rivals traditional device form factors.
The most impressive thing for me with the Huawei device though is the screen crease which when unfolded has been minimised to a degree that you can't see it at most angles and can't feel it as a bump under your finger, it feels more like a minor distortion.
And this is only their second attempt at this. By 2023 which is 2.5 years away if Apple releases it around October 2023 I'm sure the technology will be there. Apple is not going to settle for any kind of feelable crease in the display and they aren't going to make a thick brick.
You have to think outside the box. It wasn't so long ago that people on this forum were decrying phablets and saying Apple will never make a huge phone like a Samsung Galaxy device and if Apple did so they would never buy it. Then the iPhone 6 became the most successful iPhone in sales ever, period (and I believe still is to this day).
A typical comment from someone who've never used a foldable phone. The crease is a non issue. Nobody who got this phone or who've being in the position to use one complain about a crease. It's nonsense.
Well, a single fold really doesn't provide that much value. Things could look different if this would be a couple of folds or a roll to create a really big screen – which is kind of a mechanical nightmare.
Yet even then, we're all pretty spoiled by the perfection of the current screens – personally I would not accept visual seams of any kind. After all, an iPad is not that hard to carry.
Yet even then, we're all pretty spoiled by the perfection of the current screens – personally I would not accept visual seams of any kind. After all, an iPad is not that hard to carry.
My take and apparently that of Motorola also . Folding to compact only useful iteration
A typical comment from someone who's bought a foldable phone…
Wow that’s a lot of opinion around foldable devices without ever using them! There is a word for it...
To dear philosophical group of people here, we don’t actually need iPhones or any other smartphone essentially. However, as a Fold2 owner for 7 months, I can say that it makes the following at least much more enjoyable:
To dear philosophical group of people here, we don’t actually need iPhones or any other smartphone essentially. However, as a Fold2 owner for 7 months, I can say that it makes the following at least much more enjoyable:
- Looking at music sheets,
- Reading comics,
- Reading Kindle,
- Following presentations on Teams,
- Reading pdfs, words, ppt files,
- Consuming media like watching Youtube or Netflix,
- Browsing desktop style web,
A typical comment from someone who is clueless. Just like a lot of people who've complained when Apple got rid of the small 4,7 inch iPhones and went bigger and bigger. The outrage on this forum particularly was funny to read. Till the iPhone X came out and suddenly it wasn't a problem anymore after all. This foldable phone would sell. You're fooling yourself for thinking otherwise.
As long as they keep making regular iPhones, others can buy this thing as much as they want.
I just think foldable phones are still too gimmicky and require too much of a compromise for Apple to commit the technology to ant device that they would want to make.
I guess that’s the end of the iPad mini? Still...I do hope Apple releases an iPad mini with the flat edged design of the iPad Pros that can use the Apple Pencil 2.
I also hope that the foldable iPhone becomes a separate iPhone line and doesn’t replace the regular iPhone & iPhone Pro line.
Having said that, I am not anti foldable iPhone. I think new tech is cool, and love to see it.
I also hope that the foldable iPhone becomes a separate iPhone line and doesn’t replace the regular iPhone & iPhone Pro line.
Having said that, I am not anti foldable iPhone. I think new tech is cool, and love to see it.
What with all the "foldable"/"non foldable" camps fighting here with so much vigor ? Apple knows the market better then anyone in this forum , they know the trends and buying habits of consumers around the world , there decision if to engineer or not engineer it will be based on data and the market of said devices , if the phone market wants those devices it would be foolish to ignore it , if the market does not want those devices we wont get them (as apple is all about scale when it comes to their major products) , simple , cold , objective analysis , so many emotions !!! I feel like I am in a Barcelona vs Real Madrid game!!!
Samsung (apple’s screen manufacturer) is very scared…..not. 🤣
Apple is working to launch a foldable iPhone with an 8-inch QHD+ flexible OLED display in 2023, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a note to investors that was seen by MacRumors.
Kuo predicts that foldable smartphones will become a "must-have" for all major smartphone brands and will boost the next "super replacement cycle" for high-end models, and he believes Apple is well positioned to be the "biggest winner" in the foldable device trend. Apple will ship 15 to 20 million foldable iPhones in 2023, according to Kuo.Kuo believes that the upcoming iPhone will adopt a silver nanowire touch solution for the device's display, which will create a "long-term competitive advantage" for Apple in the foldable device market. This display technology will be needed for future foldable devices that support more than a single fold.Kuo says that Apple is already using silver nanowire for the touch interface of the HomePod, allowing Apple to "master the technology" at a lower cost using small volume production.
This is not the first time that we've heard rumors from Kuo about a foldable iPhone. Back in March, Kuo said that Apple could be planning to launch a foldable iPhone with a 7.5 to 8-inch display in 2023, though at the time, Kuo said that this launch timeline would be dependent on Apple solving "key technology and mass production issues."
Kuo said in the same note that development on a foldable iPhone had "not yet officially kicked off," though Apple's plans may have progressed with Kuo now providing additional details about the display technology the company plans to use.
Article Link: Kuo: Apple to Launch 8-Inch Foldable iPhone in 2023
Yup. It's plenty of comments from those who never used a foldable... I salute you, I'm not going to even entertain the critics. As of now, Apple plans to enter the market (major kudos).. there's couple of Android foldables... which this being a Apple related article, the amount of people who actually owns a foldable device is slim to none.
I'm not saying those who never owned one should not have an opinion on one, but to absolute deny the use of having one... well, as you say, its nonsense.
Unless Apple can somehow come up with screen technology that allows a bend without a crease, offers as much protection against water ingress, regardless of how it folds and a screen as close to as tough as Gorilla Glass as possible, it's just to appease the "I want a Samsung foldable that runs iOS" crowd. If it offers the Apple Wow-Factor and gives a one-fingered salute to what's out there when it's released, sure - it could be an exciting product, but I won't hold my breath.
I know it's just a render based on someone's imagination but I almost wish something would come out looking like that because it would be real "grab the popcorn" time on these forums. With the negativity from a fair number of people still about the iPhone notch just imagine the fury that an off-centre (when unfolded) notch would generate!
Personally I'm definitely not interested for my phone but if Apple did do this then I would be quite interested if it ultimately expanded the technology to some of the iPads. I'd quite like a foldable 12.9" iPad Pro. Once the world gets back to normal and I start travelling again having a foldable device would be convenient for packing it into a bag when not in use.
Personally I'm definitely not interested for my phone but if Apple did do this then I would be quite interested if it ultimately expanded the technology to some of the iPads. I'd quite like a foldable 12.9" iPad Pro. Once the world gets back to normal and I start travelling again having a foldable device would be convenient for packing it into a bag when not in use.
Finally, excellent news.
All those hating it right now will love it when they see it.
All those hating it right now will love it when they see it.
My idea of a foldable phone would be a Motorola RAZR - type device. Something smaller, hopefully lighter, and incredibly reliable. I have not read up on foldable phones but I would want the thing to be able to last at least ten years. My current macOS desktop is a Late 2009 iMac.
No they're not. You are simply seeing first gen products at this point. We already see them getting better with the Huawei Mate X2. It's only a matter of time that the tech improves and Apple use the more mature/better tech.
Apple is already folding their OLED screens anyway, ie. folding the edges of the OLED screens on the OLED iPhones to get that edge to edge look. There's a reason the first OLED iPhone, the iPhone X, already managed to get rid of its chin while it took a while for the Android camps to get rid of theirs.
