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This would compete to closely with the iPad lineup.. I don’t see this becoming reality
It’s always enjoyable to read Ming Kuo’s articles.
However, in order to accomplish this, there’s a series of patents that need to licensed and acquired going back to the days of Motorola StarTac.

I offered to put Apple in touch with the right people who manage the patent portfolio, and licensed to Motorola, Samsung, LG, and others, but Apple declined.

To a point, I can also see why Apple would scoff at the idea of a introducing a foldable design. It isn’t an iphone if it isn’t like the previous ones.

If you ask me, it seems like this article was planted by Korean and Chinese manufacturers, who need Apple to create and design a folding mechanism that works. Anyone whose held a clamshell Samsung phone knows that they feel, well, cheap and plasticy.

A folding design will have the words “Welcome to to 2006” embossed on the side. I could conceivably see Samsung trying to make a folding phone a 3rd time.
 
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Foldable phones are the 3D HDTVs of this decade.

remember when every pundit predicted how every home would have a 3D tv by 2020, 😂How every movie would utilized 3D to bring in movie goers, how eventually we wouldn’t even need those glasses anymore

How did that turn out

also, if Samsung sells theirs for 2k, expect apple to charge 4K for theirs
The problem with 3D was that it required either passive or active 3D glasses. I don't really want to put that on just to get 3D contents especially since I already wear prescription glasses. Second there were really no content to support the need for it. I would bet Apple has the use cases, UI, and UX for it in research.
 
funny people think these are a fad. They are just getting started. They will turn into our new phones. when you’re at home you use it as an iPad. Never have to close it. In the car its a media and maps device. When you want to get work done you have real estate to be more productive like a computer.
why do people hate on something they can’t imagine themselves using? I’d use it all the time. I’d get rid of my iPad mini of course.
Phones will evolve into more than just one sheet of glass you hold in one hand. It’s just inevitable.
comparing it to a 3D tv makes zero sense. Really if you think about the things I said are use cases it makes no sense comparing it to a 3D tv. Or a curved TVs. Both of those had small fan base and 3D came with complications. Curved tv’s are good for monitors. That’s about it.
I think lots of people are comfortable using an iPad and an iPhone and have zero interest in combining the two. Hopefully it’ll just be the high end models that have this and the normal devices stay as solid reliable slabs without folds and creased screens. A view disliking this sort of direction is just as valid and important as those in favour of it. It’s important to always remember that IMO.
 
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The fact that Apple or anyone else tinkers with it does not mean much. The world is full of interesting concepts that never took off, and Apple has its fair share of those as well.
I have a feeling you were one of the ones that thought Phablets were a phase when Samsung introduced the Note nearly a decade ago. Apple tried to stand firm on the idea... phones should be one handed devices. Yet, over time... they brought out larger sized iPhones. I'm not trying to declare that this is the same situation. But if you think foldables are going away... I strongly disagree.
 
Apple won’t put macOS on the iPad or iPhone, but it might put an M-series chip inside a foldable that is an iOS iPhone that opens once into an iPadOS iPad and opens once again into a macOS MacBook - they even patented a MacBook keyboard based on a glass surface…
 
+100

I kinda get why it happened when it did in 2017 as a stopgap solution, perhaps with a lifespan of 2 years max. Apple should have thrown a heap of R&D money and talent to beat the race in under-display camera technology instead of milking the same tooling again and again and again

i would have absolutely been much, much happier with a no notch display. they could have blacked out the "ears" and used it as a low power status bar, and left the aspect ratio of the display as a proper, unadulterated rectangle.

app visual space being cut in these bizarre ways was not the right plan
 
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No thank you.
That’s what people always say until the first time they see one of their friends, relatives or someone on the street with one in their hand/hands. I’m sure a lot of people probably said I’m good with my current flip phone/crackberry/palm/whatever and I don’t need that in 2007 when Steve introduced the iPhone. If Apple gets this magical iFold right and people start seeing their friend or work colleague magically turn their pocketable iPhone into an iPad mini at the coffee shop or wherever…you know the rest.
 
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2 years away? when Samsung has one available today?
Too Late.
The Samsung one is complete junk. What is the point of being “first” when the phone literally falls apart in your hands? They only sold 400,000 of them and the new version they are targeting only 800,000 sales. It’s garbage that less than 0.1% of people are even willing to take a chance on.

I don’t know about the veracity of this rumor, but making trash that falls apart days after buying it just to be ”first” at a category is not what Apple is about.

Samsung was too soon… as we know, they do their best work when copying Apple. It’s a disaster when they try to create something original.
 


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.

Foldable-iPhone-2023-Feature-Yellow.jpg
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
This is the $6,000 iPhone we have all been waiting for!!!
 
I will believe it when I see it released. Until then I’ve zero interest in foldable iPhone rumors.
 
It's true that Apple come late to the market with features that other smartphone manufacturers have already implemented. But what Apple do that Samsung doesn't, for instance, is not **** it up royally. FaceID on my S8+ was terrible. You could fool it with a photo. Just awful.

Oh absolutely agree. Apple have a much better hand for delivering a pleasant product rather than a spec sheet monstrosity.
 
Never been interested in a foldable phone. So I hope that apples entry does not become the flagship while getting all the bells and whistles along with an outrageous price tag, and rendering the #pro max as inferior.
 
i would have absolutely been much, much happier with a no notch display. they could have blacked out the "ears" and used it as a low power status bar, and left the aspect ratio of the display as a proper, unadulterated rectangle.

app visual space being cut in these bizarre ways was not the right plan
Hundreds of millions of iPhones sold shows it doesn't matter whether you think it was the right plan or not.
 
I doubt that would be for me but I am sure other people can see where they might want that.
 
When the time comes...take my money Apple. iPad Mini and iPhone in one device, yeah I'm sold. I typically upgrade my iPhone every year, however after I picked up the iPhone 12 Pro Max I planned on holding off for a fold-able option anyway. 2023 works for me. I can't wait to see the folks who have been trashing this tech sleeping outside the nearest Apple store to score one. It will be priceless.
 
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