So this is like the foldout paper map we bought at gas stations back in the 1970s and 1980s. I see.
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Samsung Shows Off Tri-Fold Smartphone
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One thing you have to credit Samsung for is that they’re willing to throw any and everything at the wall to see if it sticks.
There was a time we had 3.5” display screens and that was excellent. People enjoyed it nicely.
In fact, this was a step up from the at-the-time race to even tinier phones from Nokia and Motorola.
#GoodTimes …
Preach. Yeah a 4:3 folding iPhone will be so perfect if they make that happen, but it’s going to take a lot of software adjustments to adapt to the shorter ratios, not just for Apple but third party apps
Maybe that was part of the goal for liquid glass though, to have the UI take up as little vertical real estate, as possible so it looks appropriate on the folding phone?
Back when screens were 3.5”, I still used it mostly as just a device for making phone calls. I still mostly use my iPhone for the same purpose. At home, I’d use my laptop or desktop rather than subject myself to a painful phone screen. The creation of the iPad was awesome because we could finally have a decent screen. I got an iPad the first day it came out.
I still cannot see how people can stare at a phone screen for six hours a day, but somehow they do to continuously demand more and more battery life. But to each his own, I guess.
I would not be totally surprised if they used iPadOS on a foldable phone. It’s quite possibly why they introduced a phone app on iPadOS (and macOS) in iPadOS 26. They do have to account for the outside screen, though, which is why they’ll most likely use a hybrid of iPadOS and iOS, the latter for the outer screen and the former for the inner screen.
I can see your reasoning for Liquid Glass. That would reduce the amount of vertical space needed for many things since any controls would just lie on top of usable screen space, gaining that extra quarter to half inch.
I still don’t have any interest in a foldable, but this one makes a lot more sense. A square (like a one-fold device unfolded) is a weird shape for a screen and doesn’t make much sense for watching video.
That’s simply not true, and go die on that hill. Not everything nor the highest tier of a product category needs to cater to everyone.
Just like how many can skip a desktop and use a far more limited (in compute)laptop/phone, enough are well past that in their lives with their use of tech.
It’s telling Apple and other well known innovators see the progress towards offering alternatives.
HCI computer science and the advancement of OLED was always towards foldable pocket computers and that was phones have been limited by traditional screen tech.
For productive mobile users and creators, a foldable phone is far batter than slabs for a wide variety of core functions for a phone.
Even typing and reading/consuming text/media/web sites/apps as well as group photos are fundamentally superior on a foldable via the inner screen.
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The market is certainly there and is following what is supported by HCI computer science.
A meaningful amount of people want a more convenient way to have more functional and larger portable computers on the go without resorting to larger slab devices to do so.
OLED tech and flexible displays were always intended to support this use case.
Versatility and phones with far more real estate to read, type more optimally, consume media, edit, view websites/sheets/calendars more ideally, and so on.
I don’t follow what’s wrong with square ratio for websites and media.
Many want plenty of ample space to watch media without accidental disruption by hands + ample room for editing controls as well as most Websites not really built for a particular aspect ratio by design (media queries to allow devs to do that are rarely used objectively for the past 15+ years).
