Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Sure but why wouldn't you want a iPhone Pro that can double up as a tablet when flipped open :D

Well, the plus sized iPhones could fold out to an iPad mini size I guess. Just combine the two products and get the Apple Pencil to work with? That could be useful to some people I guess. I think journalists on the go would love that. and doodlers. :)
 
Well Tim Cook will most likely be dead by the time this rolls around. Any suggestions who will succeed him?

Either MR posters

TimCookMustGo

or

Orandy.

They seem to think they are qualified.

Don't know whether they sent their application for the job to Apple's board yet.
 
  • Like
Reactions: citysnaps
How about a 'windup phone'?
Then you won't have to worry about battery life.

I wouldn't be surprised, sir, if you were recruited by Apple. Now, you are thinking. Apple could even change the wind up socket from generation to generation to force new dongles for our wind up keys!
 
I'd like to see flexible screens being used to make the devices more resilient. There are other flexible options around to support it. There are too many cracked screens around. There is the potential to do that now.

A pocket friendly phone that unfolds into a useable size will be great, but not as easy to make. Why has the beneficial intermediate step been missed?
 
One thing I think will be a negative with a foldable display, is the fact that the screen will not be glass. I'm sure plastic displays have come a long way from where they used to be, but I just don't think it will ever match the feel and longevity that glass provides.

In response to this and the battery comment someone else made, I imagine Apple will be interested in using them in fixed displays in devices...I can imagine it in a phone or device with a curved body with a display that slightly bends on either side or wraps around the whole body. It'd still be encased in glass and have a solid body (if that makes sense). The battery wouldn't need to be bendable...
 



LG's display division is developing and will start mass-producing foldable displays for smartphones in 2018, and supply them to Apple, Google, and Microsoft, according to South Korean website ETNews.

LG has shown off various futuristic-looking curved and foldable display prototypes over the past three years, including one with a book-like design and another that can be rolled up like a newspaper. Both designs take advantage of the flexible property of OLED displays, compared to rigid LCD displays in current iPhones.

lg-curved-foldable-displays.jpg

LG curved and foldable display prototypes

Multiple rumors point towards Apple releasing a new iPhone with an OLED display and glass casing at the high end of its smartphone lineup next year, but the reports suggest the display will be curved rather than foldable. With more than ten iPhone prototypes in testing, however, the exact design remains to be seen.

The all-new premium model is expected to have at least a 5-inch display, with early rumors claiming it could be up to a 5.8-inch device. Samsung is expected to be the primary--and possibly sole--supplier of OLED displays for Apple, at least until LG joins the mix in 2018 or later if today's report proves to be accurate.

Next year's iPhones could have bezel-free designs and no physical Home buttons, as some reports claim Touch ID will be integrated directly into the display as now possible. Apple has filed patents for flexible OLED displays with both curved and foldable designs, confirming it has at least explored both sides of the coin.

Apple's foldable display patent describes how the display could fold outward, allowing both halves of the screen to remain accessible when the phone is closed shut. The two sides would connect via a clamshell-like hinge that allows them to rotate relative to each other, while flexible printed circuit boards keep the connection intact.

Article Link: LG Said to Supply Apple With Foldable Displays for Future iPhones
If Apple get their way, the picture on the right will be iPhone 9.
 
That Westworld foldable iPhone Tablet is going to be a reality in the next couple years! :D

l0vudtrb1qjwrokwwc7i.png


tumblr_oh20kqgSZC1qjsc4fo1_500.gif


main-qimg-44c9f03b2abfe9f3833763eece1b0cc4

Thanks for posting these. I was watching Westorld the other night thinking I was going to have to take some screen shots to post this on these forums when I wanted to illustrate this point.

Well, the plus sized iPhones could fold out to an iPad mini size I guess. Just combine the two products and get the Apple Pencil to work with? That could be useful to some people I guess. I think journalists on the go would love that. and doodlers. :)

It always amazes me when people on a tech forum seem so limited in their understanding of what other people might want from technology outside their own immediate needs.

I carry an iPhone SE because I don't want to carry around anything bigger. Even the 4.7" iPhone is too big for me. The SE slips easily into my front jeans pocket and doesn't look or feel awkward like the 4.7" does, to say nothing of the Plus. But, I would love a larger display. A bezeless SE would give me more room, especially if Apple allows smaller scaling to system defaults. But if it could flip the SE open and double the screen size, that would be perfect in certain situations -- well, almost all situations where I'm using safari and Mail.

I just can't imagine someone saying there's no need to have an expandable iPhone, the very device that needs the option for larger displays on the go, and yet here you are.

That said, I would expect Apple to be quite resistant to devices that can expand too much, since they infamously eschew hybrid devices. Why buy an iPhone and an iPad Pro when one device can do both as in the Westworld example above?
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5105973
Imagine what this could do for people that are always dropping their phones and tablets! Instead of shattering when it hits the ground, it will just bend and you can pick it back up perfectly fine.
 
I wouldn't want a foldable iPhone, but a foldable iPad would be dope. make the outer shell strong enough and you wouldn't need a case for it. You could probably add some really awesome features to the iPad pro and make it closer to a "pro" product.

But if you have it as a phone you can unfold it into an iPad when you need. The vast majority of time spent on phones these days involves things other than calling someone, so would be nice to be able to unfold, compose an email, watch a video, play a game, and then fold it back up to put it in your pocket or make/take a call.
 
That's pretty funny.
There's no stopping Sir Jony on his quest for thinness. Guess he's already gotten bored with the "slab of glass" concept.
 
I hope that along with an OLED display iPhone, they also introduce a new software feature\option within iOS to force set all text as white and backgrounds as black( px==on). I think this would be an efficient way to save energy even further from the investment into OLED. Perhaps implement the same OLED hardware and software to all the portable products.
 
It looks nice but I wonder if this will be the end of innovation for mobile phones. The only thing I can see that is left is to be able to dock your phone at your office or home and it replaces your desktop / laptop. That probably is another decade away with Apple.
 
FUTUURREEE!!

I can't imagine there no downsides to it though... what if it's bent too sharply, if it's continually bent how long will touchscreen capabilities/sharp display/durability last?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xi Xone
Either MR posters

TimCookMustGo

or

Orandy.

They seem to think they are qualified.

Don't know whether they sent their application for the job to Apple's board yet.


They don't have to. HR recruits straight from the macrumor-forums nowadays. Bonus points for memes and ********ing.
 
I wouldn't want a foldable iPhone, but a foldable iPad would be dope. make the outer shell strong enough and you wouldn't need a case for it. You could probably add some really awesome features to the iPad pro and make it closer to a "pro" product.
Yea like removing every port on the device.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.