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Sharp corners as its a foldable.

Reminds me of a Blackberry and the Microsoft fold tablet, which i said at the time this would be the best size/ratio.
 
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With all that said - basically which do people prefer, round corners on the spine or sharp?

Roundy
View attachment 2590692

Pointy
View attachment 2590693
Ooh wow, the iPhone Air style looks sooooo much better on the foldable! This actually looks like it could be the real deal, I can see this look happening.

And you might be on to something here regarding the outer screen and back being square on one side. That would be very Apple like, exactly like how it is on the MacBooks. I must say that I like it more than I was expecting. The squared one looks the best.

Thanks for taking the time to play around with these renders again! They look beautiful and even more real now.
 
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Ooh wow, the iPhone Air style looks sooooo much better on the foldable! This actually looks like it could be the real deal, I can see this look happening.

And you might be on to something here regarding the outer screen and back being square on one side. That would be very Apple like, exactly like how it is on the MacBooks. I must say that I like it more than I was expecting. The squared one looks the best.

Thanks for taking the time to play around with these renders again! They look beautiful and even more real now.
Cheers, it only took me three months to get around to it, after your challenge - I think your photoshopping did a fine job getting the idea across anyway! TBH Unreal is great to just chuck stuff in and get a consistent output because of its heavy ambient occlusion, but Enscape although still really simple compared to industry-grade rendering packages still needs a little finessing with lighting to get it looking good. But thanks, I agree these are looking better quality than the last round.

I'll re-run some of the old renders and comparisons with this new style, but not today, I'm getting festive and overeating for the next 24 hours and hope you are too!
 
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Cheers, it only took me three months to get around to it, after your challenge - I think your photoshopping did a fine job getting the idea across anyway! TBH Unreal is great to just chuck stuff in and get a consistent output because of its heavy ambient occlusion, but Enscape although still really simple compared to industry-grade rendering packages still needs a little finessing with lighting to get it looking good. But thanks, I agree these are looking better quality than the last round.

I'll re-run some of the old renders and comparisons with this new style, but not today, I'm getting festive and overeating for the next 24 hours and hope you are too!

It's nice that you are experimenting with different engines and experiencing the pros and cons of them. These new ones look almost like real photos, so the mission is successful! Curious to see where your game designer career might be going in the future.

These 3 new variants gave me so many new ideas! I really have no clue which one Apple will actually do.
- Rounded: No downsides, but looks visually the least appealing
- Squared: Looks the best and very much like something Apple would do to distinguish themselves. The screen being squared on the left side might look weird with the roundedness of the UI and especially the dock (maybe they would create rounded bezels in software). The same goes for the camera plateau which is very rounded and comes close to the squared off side.
- Googly: A nice mix of both, works great with the UI, but same camera plateau challenge.
Maybe they will be going for a base iPhone 17 camera setup, but I think chances are slim. They seem to be all in on the camera plateau (and it has a lot of space saving advantages). I still think the squared one is the winner design wise.

1766672104133.png


You have a merry Christmas iZac and enjoy the overeating and the receiving and giving of presents! I had 2 days in the weekend of dinners with friends, last night with the in-laws for Christmas Eve, today at home and tomorrow with my family (2nd Christmas Day is a thing in The Netherlands). So I've definitely joined you in the overeating part 😄
 
With all the fun I had yesterday seeing a bunch of people accidentally 3D printing my CAD plans, I thought I would do a little update to my renders. I still haven't changed the size, but I did redo the 3D model to make it look like an iPhone Air, since like @deuxani I think it could follow that design language - i.e. they'll both be Titanium, and ultra thin. So I remodelled it a bit and re-textured it to basically make it 'iPhone Air' polished. It's still the same size though, I really don't know what rumours to believe about the sizes yet. I also changed my rendering engine from Unreal to Enscape. (long story, I'm pretending to be an Indie Game Dev and wanted to test the Unreal render output)

Anyway, silly question, round corners:

View attachment 2590689


In the last renders it made sense to me because there was lots of round features intersecting - but the glass MagSafe window ended up only appearing on the Pros. If it's designed with a full glass back like the Air, it doesn't seem as obvious. The Macbooks have round corners on the top and squared on the bottom so it's not unheard off that Apple would articulate some corners differently.

With all that said - basically which do people prefer, round corners on the spine or sharp?

Roundy
View attachment 2590692

Pointy
View attachment 2590693

EDIT: a very reasonable mixed version like the Google Pixel Fold - I'll call it ... Googly
View attachment 2590712



Sorry, this is like a game of spot the difference!
These new renders really stress something to me that I truly hope we get next year.

Apple really needs to provide an indent in the middle of the device (on the right edge, while closed) so that it is easy to open. I think this is something that most other OEM's have completely failed to address. You need to make it easy to open the device. Even the Z TriFold is getting some love for the fact that it's easier to open versus previous foldables.

I feel like Apple will address this.
 
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With all the fun I had yesterday seeing a bunch of people accidentally 3D printing my CAD plans, I thought I would do a little update to my renders. I still haven't changed the size, but I did redo the 3D model to make it look like an iPhone Air, since like @deuxani I think it could follow that design language - i.e. they'll both be Titanium, and ultra thin. So I remodelled it a bit and re-textured it to basically make it 'iPhone Air' polished. It's still the same size though, I really don't know what rumours to believe about the sizes yet. I also changed my rendering engine from Unreal to Enscape. (long story, I'm pretending to be an Indie Game Dev and wanted to test the Unreal render output)

Anyway, silly question, round corners:

View attachment 2590689


In the last renders it made sense to me because there was lots of round features intersecting - but the glass MagSafe window ended up only appearing on the Pros. If it's designed with a full glass back like the Air, it doesn't seem as obvious. The Macbooks have round corners on the top and squared on the bottom so it's not unheard off that Apple would articulate some corners differently.

With all that said - basically which do people prefer, round corners on the spine or sharp?

Roundy
View attachment 2590692

Pointy
View attachment 2590693

EDIT: a very reasonable mixed version like the Google Pixel Fold - I'll call it ... Googly
View attachment 2590712



Sorry, this is like a game of spot the difference!

Your renders are so good mate
 
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@deuxani I'm happy you're annoyed by the same design wrinkles I am! Not rounding the corners gives the camera bump a funny junction, but the weird leftover corners being titanium feel like a design afterthought rather than being purposeful.

@blairh I think the power button being central and projected might be enough to grip the edge and open it, but I do see your point, the Macbooks have always had a generous recess to open the lids and the Trifold seems to be slightly projected.

With that in mind, to fix the fiddly corners created by the camera bump and to add a fingerhold to open it, I present to you (this is a joke) the iBook nano...
iBook nano.png
 
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@deuxani I'm happy you're annoyed by the same design wrinkles I am! Not rounding the corners gives the camera bump a funny junction, but the weird leftover corners being titanium feel like a design afterthought rather than being purposeful.

@blairh I think the power button being central and projected might be enough to grip the edge and open it, but I do see your point, the Macbooks have always had a generous recess to open the lids and the Trifold seems to be slightly projected.

With that in mind, to fix the fiddly corners created by the camera bump and to add a fingerhold to open it, I present to you (this is a joke) the iBook nano...
View attachment 2590985
Yes a recess would be a great potential feature. We need something. I don't find unfolding natural or easy on any foldable that I've tried.
 
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Do you think there is any chance that Jon 'Tosser' is right that the power button is going to be on the top?

I find this hard to believe. The last iPhone with a power button on the top was the 4S in 2011.

If it's true that Touch ID is the only unlock option with the folding iPhone, then it would be annoying to reach up to the top of the device each time to unlock. Even if said device is short.

The only reason it could make sense is that Apple places a rather large indent in the middle of the right edge to make opening the device easier. Then it places the volume buttons above said indent. And then it places the Touch ID button on the right most edge of the top bezel.
 
Do you think there is any chance that Jon 'Tosser' is right that the power button is going to be on the top?

I find this hard to believe. The last iPhone with a power button on the top was the 4S in 2011.

If it's true that Touch ID is the only unlock option with the folding iPhone, then it would be annoying to reach up to the top of the device each time to unlock. Even if said device is short.

The only reason it could make sense is that Apple places a rather large indent in the middle of the right edge to make opening the device easier. Then it places the volume buttons above said indent. And then it places the Touch ID button on the right most edge of the top bezel.
Anything is possible at this point but I definitely wouldn’t put too much weight into that FPT video. It’s obvious those renders were done quickly so he could take advantage of the all the iPhone fold hype this past week. The aspect ratio of his model looked pretty off compared to what we know from leaked resolutions.
 
Anything is possible at this point but I definitely wouldn’t put too much weight into that FPT video. It’s obvious those renders were done quickly so he could take advantage of the all the iPhone fold hype this past week. The aspect ratio of his model looked pretty off compared to what we know from leaked resolutions.
His renders are terrible. He's just the first person to mention the Touch ID button on the top. Hence my question.
 
His renders are terrible. He's just the first person to mention the Touch ID button on the top. Hence my question.
It is an oddly specific change, as well as the suggestion that the inner camera will be a left-side hole punch which contradicts a few other rumours that it will be under-screen.

Interestingly the rumour of the screen size getting shrunk to 5.25-5.3 inches might actually put it at the same height as an iPhone 4 though. Still I think a side-button would make more sense for someone to unlock it one-handed.

If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say Apple seeded a fake rumour to someone to catch Proser in another act of espionage.

But he’s most likely pulling it out of his butt and just matching the top right-hand corner position as an iPad mini.

Also his renders don’t actually show a capacitive zone on the supposed Touch ID at the top. Like Terminator says, I think he just rushed it out to ride the current wave of interest.
 
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Do you think there is any chance that Jon 'Tosser' is right that the power button is going to be on the top?

I find this hard to believe. The last iPhone with a power button on the top was the 4S in 2011.

If it's true that Touch ID is the only unlock option with the folding iPhone, then it would be annoying to reach up to the top of the device each time to unlock. Even if said device is short.

The only reason it could make sense is that Apple places a rather large indent in the middle of the right edge to make opening the device easier. Then it places the volume buttons above said indent. And then it places the Touch ID button on the right most edge of the top bezel.
The power button was on top of the 5/5S and most recently the 2016 SE.
The power button moved to the right side after iPhones got too tall to comfortably reach the top, but that came with the compromise of more accidental presses. If the Fold is short enough, it would make sense to move the power button back to the top as it's a more ideal location for a power button, but if it's also the Touch ID button it's probably a less ideal location for authenticating because that needs to be accessed more often.
 
It is an oddly specific change, as well as the suggestion that the inner camera will be a left-side hole punch which contradicts a few other rumours that it will be under-screen.

Interestingly the rumour of the screen size getting shrunk to 5.25-5.3 inches might actually put it at the same height as an iPhone 4 though. Still I think a side-button would make more sense for someone to unlock it one-handed.

If I was a conspiracy theorist I would say Apple seeded a fake rumour to someone to catch Proser in another act of espionage.

But he’s most likely pulling it out of his butt and just matching the top right-hand corner position as an iPad mini.

Also his renders don’t actually show a capacitive zone on the supposed Touch ID at the top. Like Terminator says, I think he just rushed it out to ride the current wave of interest.


Yeah the fact that it should be close to the iPhone 4/5 height makes me think that it is at least possible.


The power button was on top of the 5/5S and most recently the 2016 SE.
The power button moved to the right side after iPhones got too tall to comfortably reach the top, but that came with the compromise of more accidental presses. If the Fold is short enough, it would make sense to move the power button back to the top as it's a more ideal location for a power button, but if it's also the Touch ID button it's probably a less ideal location for authenticating because that needs to be accessed more often.


That's correct. My apologies.

I don't like the idea of having to access the top bezel to unlock my iPhone.
 
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Actually now that I think about it, it might make the most sense for the power button and action button to be on top while the volume and camera control are on the right side. Otherwise the right side would be far too busy.

Another change I think we will see compared to the renderings is the cameras being on top of each other rather than side by side and the inclusion of the LIDAR sensor. Especially since the fold will be marketed as a professional phone. The idea that Apple plans to announce these alongside the Pro / Pro Max means this phone will probably carry most of the pro features other than the telephoto camera. I’d assume the main camera and ultra wide will be identical to the 18 Pro.
 
I am hoping they got the specs wrong. Your goal is merge iPhone and iPad. These concept pictures look like iPhad. The out side must function like an iPhone and when opened must function like the iPad mini. If the foldable iPhone is too wide, it won’t fit in anyone’s pocket.😬
 
I am hoping they got the specs wrong. Your goal is merge iPhone and iPad. These concept pictures look like iPhad. The out side must function like an iPhone and when opened must function like the iPad mini. If the foldable iPhone is too wide, it won’t fit in anyone’s pocket.
It will fit better than any other current iPhone that's not the air. Fail to see the problem here
 
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I am hoping they got the specs wrong. Your goal is merge iPhone and iPad. These concept pictures look like iPhad. The out side must function like an iPhone and when opened must function like the iPad mini. If the foldable iPhone is too wide, it won’t fit in anyone’s pocket.😬
That’s sadly not how it works because of the different aspect ratios. You either have an iPhone looking outside screen and an almost square inside screen. Or you have an iPad looking inside screen and a short and wide outside screen.
 
I am hoping they got the specs wrong. Your goal is merge iPhone and iPad. These concept pictures look like iPhad. The out side must function like an iPhone and when opened must function like the iPad mini. If the foldable iPhone is too wide, it won’t fit in anyone’s pocket.😬
I just took a look back at professional reviews of the original Pixel Fold, which should be nearly identical in width when closed compared to the folding iPhone. Not a single review complained about the device in-pocket, and in fact, four publications (PC Mag, Digital Trends, 9to5Google, and ZDNet) said it was comfortable in-pocket.

One can also assume that the original Pixel Fold is heavier and thicker compared to the future folding iPhone.

I'm not concerned about placing the folding iPhone in my front pocket.
 
Just realized that the 3D printed model has volume buttons on the top, not the power button.

That would be far better IMO versus the power button.
 
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Just realized that the 3D printed model has volume buttons on the top, not the power button.

That would be far better IMO versus the power button.

I've also consciously ignored modelling the camera control button, hoping I can will it out of existence. I actually thought the camera control could merge with the programable action button so people can just chose what to do with it.
 
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