Thickness is only a problem when folding. When scrolling, thickness may be less of a concern. I could see Apple offering a device that alters dimension without folding.
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Samsung Claims Foldable Phones Are Going Mainstream
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It seems like the main criticism of folding phones is the crease. That's a bug that will certainly be fixed. When it does, why wouldn't it be amazing to have a phone the size of a 13 pro max that opens up to something the size of an ipad mini? It's mind boggling that we have folding freaking screens and people are whining about creases.
I think the folding screen technology is being used for the wrong purpose. Samsung should use bendable screens for displays that have a permanent curvature - for instance a displays meant to conform to the body, like one on a thick arm band akin to a bangle (perhaps as an alternative to a smart watch). The solution to a foldable screen is a ultra-precision hinge joining two rigid conventional displays. The join would never be perfect, but it just needs to be less visually disruptive than the crease on the current crop of foldable phones. Just my two cents.
Which is why I’m not certain Apple’s take on foldables will actually fold. I’m thinking more extend. 😏
Assuming the numbers are even true (units shipped is often more than units sold, I would discount that by 40-50% to get a more accurate picture of the actual number of folding phones actually purchased by consumers), we are still looking at extremely niche territory here. Samsung clearly has an obvious interest in trying to make foldables go mainstream as they stand to benefit both in terms of selling devices into their own ecosystem as well as supplying panels to others, but I wouldn't call it "mainstream" by any stretch.
I'm also a folding-phone skeptic. My guess (and it is 100% a wild-ass-guess and I'm probably wrong) is that the near-future of this tech is something more like a foldable screen phone, not a foldable phone.
Imagine a phone where one edge (say the left) is flat like the iPhone 12/13, and the opposite edge is more rounded like the X/11 design language. The screen rolls gently around the curved edge front-to-back. When "folded", the "back" screen has some nice features to make the phone more attractive/compelling (always-on wallpaper, widgets, etc). But what unfolds is not the body of the phone, but rather the rear half of the screen (and enough of a backing plate to support/strengthen it). This would double the screen size when desired for video/browsing/apps, but retain the same physical form-factor when folded, allowing a smaller-but-still-smartphone-shaped physical device, not requiring constant unfolding in daily use, and notably, no thicker than current phones.
If the screen & folding mechanism could be shown to be durable and not a major failure point, I'd give that a try, especially if it allowed for an iPhone-mini-size chassis when folded.
Early iPhone users didn't think that Phablets would go mainstream.
Non iPad people didn't think tablets would go mainstream.
Mainstream does not mean market dominance, it just means that they wont be thought of as a curiosity. Obviously at some point folding phones will be thought of as just another kind of phone.
Samsung is saying foldable because that's their current direction, but maybe we need a different term for these resizable phones which can have folding screens, sliding screens, unrolling screens, etc.
Non iPad people didn't think tablets would go mainstream.
Mainstream does not mean market dominance, it just means that they wont be thought of as a curiosity. Obviously at some point folding phones will be thought of as just another kind of phone.
Samsung is saying foldable because that's their current direction, but maybe we need a different term for these resizable phones which can have folding screens, sliding screens, unrolling screens, etc.
This is the key point. If it can be done properly it may be an interesting new form factor.
that haven't been the trend for quite a while, apple the last to get into the oled, the periscope lens, night mode, they been playing catch up for the last couple of years.
Flip phones were great when you needed both a screen and physical keypad, but notably only the screen flipped out (usually laptop-style), not half of the phone.
And Apple takes plenty of risks. The difference is that Apple takes those risks privately, in early design/engineering mocks and prototypes, and usually (side-eye at you, butterfly keyboard 😒) applies a strict editorial industrial design process, not exposing their customers to designs that they don't see as fullly-baked.
Alters Dimensions? Explain.
But I don’t have a problem with the thickness of my Galaxy Fold, my issue is with the narrow outer display. Google is planning on entering the market and rumors suggest they are copying Oppo Find N design, which has a more useable outer display.
My hope when or if Apple enters this market… give the user a more usable outer display. But I’m skeptical of Apple entering the market… with their focus on Apple VR headset. IMO, I think Apple skips foldable market with their sole efforts placed on building out their VR ecosystem.
bends the laws of physics ...wow, Samsung it is real the only one who .....fails so much
my observation is almost everyone that says they want a smaller phone want it until they realize that it has a smaller screen. The big reason the iPhone Mini failed
Apple no longer has the luxury of being first because Apple users will never accept the teething pains which come from actually being innovative. Even the slightest issue, gets #gate nickname that lasts a decade. Samsung had to stop the Fold-1's launch because of the hinge/screen problems; just think about how deafening the internet response would be if that were Apple instead. The world is full of crappy PC laptop keyboards, but we're still living in the hate-shadow of Apple's butterfly one. Twenty years ago Apple ditched legacy connectors and went USB-A only and the change was welcome despite needing new cables or dongles; Apple did the same thing seven years ago with USB-C and we are still hearing about how awful it was to need new cables or adapters. Apple users are simply less tolerant of innovative or forward thinking changes.
Apple couldn't release OLED until they could guarantee no burn in. Apple couldn't release night-mode until their movement-artifact removable was better than Google (which it was because Apple's night mode combined different exposure lengths). That and Apple doesn't manufacture screens so they have to wait until someone can build a folding panel which meets their requirements.
TL-DR: Samsung can release the Z-Fold-1, Apple has to release the Z-Fold-5.
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One of my classmates has a Z Flip 3 and I've seen one on public transit. So, it seems to be a increasingly popular option.
The point of a foldable is that you have a device that still fits in your pocket, but then the screen is twice as large. But I only want a larger screen for video, or a game, for instance, which for most people is a minority of the time.
Meanwhile, using it the way we normally use a phone most of the time would be worse because I'd take it out of my pocket and the screen is not visible until I open it. When I do open it, I can't use it physically the way I always used a phone - mostly one handed. Think about all the times you look at your phone for just a second or a few. Do you want to unfold it each time?
So with a foldable, it's one step forward for large screen content, and two steps back for most content and functions, most of the time.
If the phone folds such that the screen is on the outside, I won't have to open it, but the phone will be twice as thick while using it most of the time with one hand, for regular stuff. The aspect ratio is dumb, and the aspect ratio sucks. And you'd have to raise it up with the correct side facing you or FaceID won't work. Another design it a screen on the outside and two screens on the inside. This is what the Oppo is. Thick as a brick... for most of the time you are using it, folded.
Ok, forget a foldable iPhone, what about a foldable iPad? I only ignore my iPhone and reach for my iPad for the things I want a big screen for. It is sitting on my table. Why do I need it to be folded, so it can fit in my pocket? No. So it can fit in my backpack? No. Is it so it can have a screen on half of it and a keyboard on the other half? That's a laptop.
But what about an iPad that has a 16 inch display? It would only be half as large when folded (and not being used sitting on my table). Who cares? Do you want to hold a 16 inch iPad in your hands? It's not going to happen. What about folding a 13 inch iPad Pro? Why would you fold it? So it can fit in your pocket? It still wouldn't. Is it so it would fit in your backpack easier? It would be a smaller rectangle but twice as thick, so the bulk would be the same. The only bag that is that small is a purse. Does a woman want to carry around a foldable iPad in her purse AND her phone?
Do you want your display surface a flexible plastic? I want glass.
A foldable is only interesting because it's amazing that a screen (a plastic one) can fold, but I don't actually want it. It's like those tablets in the movies that are a clear sheet of glass you can see through. Do you want to look at anything on the screen, and be able to see everything behind it distracting you? No one wants it.
People buy foldables so they can show them off, but they suck to use.
Meanwhile, using it the way we normally use a phone most of the time would be worse because I'd take it out of my pocket and the screen is not visible until I open it. When I do open it, I can't use it physically the way I always used a phone - mostly one handed. Think about all the times you look at your phone for just a second or a few. Do you want to unfold it each time?
So with a foldable, it's one step forward for large screen content, and two steps back for most content and functions, most of the time.
If the phone folds such that the screen is on the outside, I won't have to open it, but the phone will be twice as thick while using it most of the time with one hand, for regular stuff. The aspect ratio is dumb, and the aspect ratio sucks. And you'd have to raise it up with the correct side facing you or FaceID won't work. Another design it a screen on the outside and two screens on the inside. This is what the Oppo is. Thick as a brick... for most of the time you are using it, folded.
Ok, forget a foldable iPhone, what about a foldable iPad? I only ignore my iPhone and reach for my iPad for the things I want a big screen for. It is sitting on my table. Why do I need it to be folded, so it can fit in my pocket? No. So it can fit in my backpack? No. Is it so it can have a screen on half of it and a keyboard on the other half? That's a laptop.
But what about an iPad that has a 16 inch display? It would only be half as large when folded (and not being used sitting on my table). Who cares? Do you want to hold a 16 inch iPad in your hands? It's not going to happen. What about folding a 13 inch iPad Pro? Why would you fold it? So it can fit in your pocket? It still wouldn't. Is it so it would fit in your backpack easier? It would be a smaller rectangle but twice as thick, so the bulk would be the same. The only bag that is that small is a purse. Does a woman want to carry around a foldable iPad in her purse AND her phone?
Do you want your display surface a flexible plastic? I want glass.
A foldable is only interesting because it's amazing that a screen (a plastic one) can fold, but I don't actually want it. It's like those tablets in the movies that are a clear sheet of glass you can see through. Do you want to look at anything on the screen, and be able to see everything behind it distracting you? No one wants it.
People buy foldables so they can show them off, but they suck to use.
Apple’s strength has always been taking something being done but somewhat clumsily and refining it into a super polished product that handles a lot of the drawbacks to other solutions. Hoping that’s true here. Foldable phones are cool, but have too many compromises on durability, size, heft, and screen drawbacks right now. Early stages and all that.
Samsung isnt wrong here, I’ve been seeing an increasing number, but there’s a lot of room for improvement before I’d want one personally. Figuring Apple’s version will be that improvement, jump forward
Samsung isnt wrong here, I’ve been seeing an increasing number, but there’s a lot of room for improvement before I’d want one personally. Figuring Apple’s version will be that improvement, jump forward
And then everything will break and they will get a class action suit. And there will be another -gate.
yeah that was super cheesy, plus I don't think there even is a law that says "no type of man-made glass must be able to bend" or something
I have Samsung Fold 2 as a secondary phone.
It has amazing potential but still only 10-20% of the apps are optimized for the big screen. Which is a big let down.
If Apple release a fordable device they will have an insane advantage, which is the fact that 90% of the apps are already optimized to run perfectly on a big screen (iPad).
It has amazing potential but still only 10-20% of the apps are optimized for the big screen. Which is a big let down.
If Apple release a fordable device they will have an insane advantage, which is the fact that 90% of the apps are already optimized to run perfectly on a big screen (iPad).