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Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

toodeep said:
This sounds a lot like the Surface Duo, which was my best ever phone and perfect for productive thumb-based multitasking. Apple: CRUCIALLY this requires a system-wide 'back' gesture.
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Apparently, there has been a systemwide back gesture in the iOS code for the last several versions, according to 9to5Mac.
9to5mac.com

iOS Decoded: Visual Intelligence Control Center shortcut, and more - 9to5Mac

In this episode of iOS Decoded, we uncover a new Visual Intelligence Control Center shortcut, Camera Pose, Music app updates, and more.
9to5mac.com 9to5mac.com


“Apple is testing a new “fluid” transition in regular navigation controllers. You can see an example of the difference in the Settings app, as shown in our video walkthrough. This new animation also makes it possible to swipe to go back from anywhere, not just from the left edge of the screen. This change would make it easier to navigate back in menus with one hand, while holding your iPhone in your right hand.”
 
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deuxani said:
I personally think the rounded corners on the square side look better, it creates an optical illusion that the square part is not there and the phone is symmetrical. I'm really curious how Apple will solve this as on their MacBooks they do use rounded corners on the top and square on the bottom. Also curious to see where they are going to position the camera on the inside screen. You've rendered a Dynamic Island, but it won't have FaceID so I assume it will just be a circle, but where will they put it...

But really great renders! Finally one based on the 4:3 inside screen and showcasing what that would mean for the size of the device and of the outside screen. It really has a small footprint in your pocket with it being so short.
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Kind of a weird tangent, but on all of Apples more modern Macbooks they have this odd double curve, which I've never really liked. There's always this strange 'nothing' space below which they try and hide with black paint now:

unhinged.png


Now the old Titanium Powerbooks, they had an awesome hinge!
 
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deuxani said:
I personally think the rounded corners on the square side look better, it creates an optical illusion that the square part is not there and the phone is symmetrical. I'm really curious how Apple will solve this as on their MacBooks they do use rounded corners on the top and square on the bottom. Also curious to see where they are going to position the camera on the inside screen. You've rendered a Dynamic Island, but it won't have FaceID so I assume it will just be a circle, but where will they put it...

But really great renders! Finally one based on the 4:3 inside screen and showcasing what that would mean for the size of the device and of the outside screen. It really has a small footprint in your pocket with it being so short.
Click to expand...
I respectfully disagree. The rounded corners on the square side draw attention to it being out of the ordinary. In my opinion that side must be squared, unless you can somehow figure out how to round the housing, but that’s likely impossible with the folding screen itself.
 
So when watching YouTube or movies will it have same size pictures on both screens, except that unfolded it will have big black bars on top and bottom. That’s so cool!
 
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hokuspokus said:
I'm somewhat in the target audience for this. I use an iPhone and iPad Mini. I'd love to combine them into one. I don't always carry a bag so there are times when I wished I had my iPad Mini with me for better screen real estate (even if a phone's screen is larger, the long rectangle aspect ratio isn't great where 4:3 or 16:9 aspect ratios would be preferable).

I say "somewhat" though because a potential $2k+ USD price (for the base model I assume) is high. I don't mind not having some other "premium" features to get the price lower but I assume that'd hurt sales more. Most people want the "best" and, being Apple's first foldable, it's already in the premium category so skimping on features isn't likely unless there are technical limitations. Oh well. I may stick with the iPhone + base iPad Mini combo. We'll see.
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Will you still feel the same if this combined device ends up having an unfolded screen aspect ratio that is square rather than one similar to the iPhone or Mini? That's where I am concerned with foldable devices, the odd aspect ratios. Right now an iPad Mini folded in half either way does not result in a device with a screen aspect ratio that matches an iPhone, and being that I do a lot of media consumption I would prefer something like a Mini in landscape orientation vs something too square with lots of wasted space during video playback. If their new foldable ends up having video playback with larger black bars and smaller videos than on a Mini then it's a hard pass for me (which ultimately means that I am not the target audience for the device).

I like having a Mini to compliment my iPhone Pro Max with a larger display but better portability than a full sized iPad. Currently there are still UI elements in iPadOS that need improvement like control center and today view panels that are not optimized to scale correctly to utilize available space for every screen aspect ratio that exists on Apple devices. If Apple's diving into this market results in them finally addressing the current issues with their UI such as that then I will be happy even if I don't end up buying one of their foldables.
 
bobbyjack said:
What’s the demand for foldable phones? I never see anyone using one for anything other than showing it’s a foldable phone.
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If you use an iPad for input a lot, say making notes, lots of reading, it allows you to have one do all device instead of carrying around 2. It’s niche, I don’t need it, but I want it lol. Good for consumption, say watching training videos or something. If you need it, you already know if you want one
 
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muzzy996 said:
Will you still feel the same if this combined device ends up having an unfolded screen aspect ratio that is square rather than one similar to the iPhone or Mini? That's where I am concerned with foldable devices, the odd aspect ratios. Right now an iPad Mini folded in half either way does not result in a device with a screen aspect ratio that matches an iPhone, and being that I do a lot of media consumption I would prefer something like a Mini in landscape orientation vs something too square with lots of wasted space during video playback. If their new foldable ends up having video playback with larger black bars and smaller videos than on a Mini then it's a hard pass for me (which ultimately means that I am not the target audience for the device).

I like having a Mini to compliment my iPhone Pro Max with a larger display but better portability than a full sized iPad. Currently there are still UI elements in iPadOS that need improvement like control center and today view panels that are not optimized to scale correctly to utilize available space for every screen aspect ratio that exists on Apple devices. If Apple's diving into this market results in them finally addressing the current issues with their UI such as that then I will be happy even if I don't end up buying one of their foldables.
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Read the article, latest rumors are that it will have a 4X3 aspect ratio when unfolded like the old iPad mini 5.
 
I hope we don’t get 2 years of the same rumours over and over otherwise everyone will be sick of the iPhone Fold before it’s even launched.
 
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Mike Boreham said:
This is such a tired argument. Phones stopped being only a phone long ago. Now they are pocketable PCs. I haven’t researched it but believe you can get basic phone only devices for a fraction of the cost.
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They aren't good at being PCs, so for me, they aren't worth that much money. They are PCs when don't have better options.

I've decided that $1200-$1300 is about all I'll spend on an iPhone. I don't find enough utility in one to spend anything more than that.

Have no need for an iPad. Bought and sold one four times because they ended up collecting dust after a few weeks.
 
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The only way I see to make it truly creaseless is to have the center be 2 separate screens with the pixels going to the very edge where they meet when fully opened. Every single foldable device I've ever seen has a definite distortion along the center.
 
Joshuaorange said:
I respectfully disagree. The rounded corners on the square side draw attention to it being out of the ordinary. In my opinion that side must be squared, unless you can somehow figure out how to round the housing, but that’s likely impossible with the folding screen itself.
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Yeah it’s a taste thing. I personally would prefer all corners to be rounded as the screen is what you focus on. When the left side of the screen is square and the right is rounded, that would draw more attention as the UI would be asymmetrical. The housing is the frame and that’s not what you would be focusing on. But again, it’s just how I look at it. I would prefer MacBooks to also have rounded corners on the bottom for consistency. I’m just really looking forward to how this device will look like in real life, because they’ve got a challenge on their hands. The corners of the outside screen is one of them 😄
 
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iZac said:
Kind of a weird tangent, but on all of Apples more modern Macbooks they have this odd double curve, which I've never really liked.
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It looks a bit like what they do in iOS, where the curves of the corners of the frame, screen, widgets, icons and dock are all slightly different depending on the size of the object. It’s giving the illusion that the screen part ends above the keyboard, while there is a whole part beneath it.
 
deuxani said:
Yeah it’s a taste thing. I personally would prefer all corners to be rounded as the screen is what you focus on. When the left side of the screen is square and the right is rounded, that would draw more attention as the UI would be asymmetrical. The housing is the frame and that’s not what you would be focusing on. But again, it’s just how I look at it. I would prefer MacBooks to also have rounded corners on the bottom for consistency. I’m just really looking forward to how this device will look like in real life, because they’ve got a challenge on their hands. The corners of the outside screen is one of them 😄
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That’s a fair assessment that I can agree with. So then the only real solution to having it look right all around is squared corners everywhere like Samsung does now. I’ve never noticed the MacBook screen but it would drive me nuts if the bottom corners were rounded. From my perspective, needlessly so.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
They aren't good at being PCs, so for me, they aren't worth that much money. They are PCs when don't have better options.

I've decided that $1200-$1300 is about all I'll spend on an iPhone. I don't find enough utility in one to spend anything more than that.

Have no need for an iPad. Bought and sold one four times because they ended up collecting dust after a few weeks.
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Very personal issue of course. Obviously not as good as a PC but always with you. The commonest things I use my PC for I can do directly on the phone, and I can remote in to my Macs with Jump and Screens5 from my iPhone when I need to, not with great was of course, but very useful sometimes. Some things eg SatNav, compass, Music are much better on iPhone.
 
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