Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Every one of these I've seen never closes completely, and is twice as bulky as any phone on the market. Until it's the same thickness, and folds *completely* in half, I see no point in this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: gund1234 and nvmls
It's a distinction without a difference.
It’s really not.
You can hate on the notch all day, but the fact is a cut out at the top of the screen Is *always* going to be more intuitive than something blocking or interfering with the dead center.
A dark wallpaper makes the notch less noticeable.
No matter what wallpaper you use, The crease is still there.
Watching 16x9 video, the most common aspect Ratio, causes the notch to disappear since it’s not being utilized.
No matter what aspect ratio you’re watching in, the crease will always be there.
Whatever you Do to your phone, The notch is the notch and it’s not going to change. It’s not going to get better, It’s not going to get worse.
Meanwhile, folding and unfolding your phone can easily cause the crease to become more noticeable.
They are two very different issues
 
Maybe your future, but probably not mine. To each their own.

Again, I think a ultra-precision hinge and two rigid screens might work just as well, and I would be interested in a phone that had that. You can't keep flexing electronics, be they connectors or screens, and not expect bad things to happen eventually.
2-screen phones exist:

 
  • Like
Reactions: VulchR
I'd love to have a foldable smartphone (but only because there is no possibility of a modern version of the HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1)... but one with two separate screens, not a single screen. Similar to the Microsoft Duo but with the aspect ratio of current iPhones.
 
Yuck no thank you, plastic screens that scratch and break easy and looks ugly af overall 🤮 I personally dont think folding phones will become mainstream
 
Folding phones are a gimmick.

You either get a standard sized phone and hold it to your ear and get a tablet to use for other things, or get a "max" sized phone and use hands free/Bluetooth/or Car Play.

I've seen the folding phones on display at the kiosks in the mall from 2 of the major wireless players (Verizon and AT&T) and they all look like garbage just from being played with at the kiosks.

Samsung says the future is folding phones because Samsung is MAKING folding phones. If they made flip phones, that would be the future.

Or...you can have one device do both.

I never understood the fierce loyalty some have over which phone to use.
 
Notches and Apple Pencils sticking out of the bottom of an iPad to charge it.

So, let's not pretend that Apple always waits "for the tech to mature." If that was true, the Macbook's notches would not have seen the light of day. They wanted to imorove the camera, so instead of waiting for the tech to mature, we got the Macbook (and iPhone) notch. Just like Samsung wanted foldables, so we got the crease. And the second the tech does mature, the notch will be Apple history. It's not there by choice.
not sure how thats relevant, is pencil sticking out from the bottom and notch on laptops considered a trend?
 
Flip phones were great, and will be great again with foldable tech, especially when it gets slimmed down. I don't think it is a novelty, you are getting the option of a bigger phone with half the pocket footprint, it is also super natural to open to answer and close to hang up.

Samsung and other companies at least try things and take risks. Apple sits back and watches, learns from their mistakes and then comes in with something generally really well thought out. They let the other guys do the leg work and then Apple pats themselves on the back for coming out with something more refined. Ultimately I don't care who had what first, only care for a product that is function and works for me. I appreciate Samsung and others taking chances and trying things whereas Apple on the other hand makes great products but seem more concerned with how much money they can make and ignore trying to make something good for the consumer.
The iPhone and iPad both basically invented their catagories. Apple watches a lot but sometimes they break new ground.
 
Every one of these I've seen never closes completely, and is twice as bulky as any phone on the market. Until it's the same thickness, and folds *completely* in half, I see no point in this.
But it is less bulky than a phone AND small tablet?

You can't ignore that aspect because that's the reason for them.
 
I still don't understand why the screen needs to fold. Surely someone can engineer two panels that shut seamlessly together? With Apple's ridiculous attention to detail and low-tolerance manufacturing, that should be a doddle I'd have thought. Having an almost invisible seam can't be worse than bendy glass with a bulge or crease in the middle.
 
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.
Those are spec-sheet bulletpoints, a game Apple has never played.
When it comes to actual products though, every company follows Apple.
iPhone introduced in 2007, android completely reimagined as a touch operating system in 2008.
iPad introduced in 2010, every other manufacturer follows to make smaller cheaper tablets that all mostly fail.
Smart watches were around for years. Samsung had the Galaxy gear in 2013 which to this day I believe is one of BestBuy‘s most returned products.
Apple Watched introduced in 2014 and now most people have or want one.
AirPods introduced in 2016, galaxy and pixel buds Follow the next year.
HomePod (a $350 speaker) announced in June 2017. Samsung announces a huge Bixby speaker which never ended up even coming out in August of that year, and Google announced the Google home Max (a $399 speaker) that October. They even try to copy apples failures.
Apple announces they’re switched to ARM powered computers in June 2020. Now absolutely every computer company is trying to (slowly) move away from X86 to ARM.
Apple is the leader of all of these companies, for better and for worse.
If Apple released branded multivitamins tomorrow, you’d see Google release “pixel Pills” and Samsung release “Galaxy chewables” within a matter of months
 
They won't last long, the screen will wear out and/or mess up fairly quickly. I bet life expectancy will be a year at most. KISS, like the iPhones, and they last for many years. I have no desire for a folding screen. They are just novelties.
 
All I see is one big long point of mechanical failure.
Exactly.

As a user, I have no need for this, so having more fragile devices just because some executives decide that this should go mainstream does not look like a bright future...
 
I've used cell phones since 1994. And have owned every model of iPhone since they came out. I just don't find the use case compelling for folding phones. It continues to seem like a parlor trick/ gimmick to me.
 
I'd love to have a foldable smartphone (but only because there is no possibility of a modern version of the HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1)... but one with two separate screens, not a single screen. Similar to the Microsoft Duo but with the aspect ratio of current iPhones.
Agreed! I actually prefer the Duo to the Fold in terms of hardware… just not a fan of Microsoft version of Android.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sracer
Those are spec-sheet bulletpoints, a game Apple has never played.
When it comes to actual products though, every company follows Apple.
iPhone introduced in 2007, android completely reimagined as a touch operating system in 2008.
iPad introduced in 2010, every other manufacturer follows to make smaller cheaper tablets that all mostly fail.
Smart watches were around for years. Samsung had the Galaxy gear in 2013 which to this day I believe is one of BestBuy‘s most returned products.
Apple Watched introduced in 2014 and now most people have or want one.
AirPods introduced in 2016, galaxy and pixel buds Follow the next year.
HomePod (a $350 speaker) announced in June 2017. Samsung announces a huge Bixby speaker which never ended up even coming out in August of that year, and Google announced the Google home Max (a $399 speaker) that October. They even try to copy apples failures.
Apple announces they’re switched to ARM powered computers in June 2020. Now absolutely every computer company is trying to (slowly) move away from X86 to ARM.
Apple is the leader of all of these companies, for better and for worse.
If Apple released branded multivitamins tomorrow, you’d see Google release “pixel Pills” and Samsung release “Galaxy chewables” within a matter of months
all the examples you given minus the m1 has been from 2016, 5 years ago, 5 years in tech is about the same in dog years. apple nowadays is rather playing safe than innovative.
 
  • Like
Reactions: M3gatron
Millions in relation to hundreds of millions of slab smartphones sold, makes it decidedly not mainstream, which isn’t surprising given the high price and compromises the foldable devices have.
The claim made was that Samsung isn't selling enough foldable phones for problems to be discovered by customers. Are you saying 20+ million foldable phones sold each year isn't enough for issues to be found by customers?
 
Can we at lease give Samsung credit for trying something different? My co-worker has one at work and he loved it. our job requires us to review tickets and sometimes we need to do that on site with the customer. Doing this on an iPhone is clunky, I personally either carry a laptop with me or print out the ticket. Problem is you waste paper and the laptop is annoying, you have to open it up, wake from sleep.

My co-worker just opens up the full ticket and reads all the details without issue.

Remember too, this crowd was the same one bemoaning the Samsung Note back in 2011, yet four years later Apple followed suit with the iPhone 6 Plus and has released even bigger phones since.

Tim Cook made fun of the Surface Pro, yet, there is the iPad Pro with Magic keyboard and stylus. I rather say it’s different rather that bash it with merit less criticism.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sracer
The tech is there… the problem is affordability.


Well, right now… there is already phone makers that have addressed the line on their foldable device. However, Samsung hasn’t decided to mimic their approach.

And thickness will always be a problem… you are in essence putting two slabs of phones together. Making it thinner would most likely be a hit to the battery life.
Then the tech isn't there yet.
 
In fairness to Samsung, I'd believe that the total amount of foldable smartphones shipped is about 10 million in 2021.

...But wasn't there 1.35 billion smartphones shipped in 2021, aka 1,350 million?
So that means about 0.75% of the market. Totally “mainstream” 😂😂😂

My question is I wonder how much Samsung is losing on these phones. I’ve seen them at ridiculous discounts. Of course Samsung could give them away and it wouldn’t really hurt them financially.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kc9hzn
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.