The MacRumors Show: Galaxy Z TriFold vs. Apple's Foldable iPhone

[The Game 161]

The usual people crying about a foldable. Fact is cameras will be it’s only real short coming. If you want a telephoto then you still get another slab phone

And cost wise not everybody can afford this or want to

However for everything else it will offer great usage more than a slab will be. Using the device will be better. It’s really all about price and lack of cameras

 

[Greenmeenie]

I’ve been an Apple user since the 90s. Love their products. And as an artist, i think the iPad Pro & Apple Pencil Pro are the best devices they’ve ever made. I also have an iPhone Pro Max & Apple watch. They all just work seamlessly together. Zero complaints. Yes, you can say I’m an Apple fanboy. 😜 Having said that tho, i don’t buy everything that Apple comes out with. For starters, their iphone & ipad cases are ridiculously overpriced and I always buy 3rd party cases for a fraction of the price. But I also don’t buy or even like all their tech devices either. Not cause they’re bad or even overpriced. Just because i think they’re niche and don’t appeal to me personally. Like the Apple Vision Pro. Zero desire to own one. I’m sure the tech is cool, but Meh. Not interested. I think i feel the same way about the upcoming foldable iphone. Cool tech. And I’m sure Apple will solve the crease issue that has plagued their android counterparts… i just don’t want to own one. I’ll stick with my iphone pro max with it’s superior cameras & battery life. I also have an iPad mini already, so i don’t lust after a phone that folds out to an ipad mini size. Chances are it won’t work with the apple pencil, and that’d be a deal breaker anyway. I’ll check the foldable iphone out in the store cause i love tech. And i even invested in LiquidMetal stock as a play on the foldable iphone, so i hope it does well. 😉 I’m just pretty sure it’s not for me.

 

[NeonNights]

Foldables are not for everyone but the crease is severely overblown. People haven't stopped reading books because of a crease or stopped buying pants due to a crease. People naturally fold a piece of paper to put in a pocket and don't mind the creases later, but somehow are bothered by the minimal crease on a phone even though the crease is invisible when watching content.

Having owned three generations of foldables, I would argue the notch or island is more distracting than a crease and billions of people got past several generations of the iPhone notch. However, if all that's left to complain about is a slight crease (and really, price) then I see that as true progress since the Fold 7 eliminated thickness and weight as former excuses.

The true last barrier is price. If Apple surprised the world by pricing the iPhone Fold close to the Pro Max then many people would suddenly sing the praises of the device and easily accept a crease. Flagship foldables are undoubtedly expensive but the remaining criticisms are really objections on price.

 

[kenta_]

I’ll buy the fold day one, as long as it’s not just another compromised iPhone Air like device, and only a single hinge (tri-fold seems too fragile). It better have the full array of cameras, biggest battery, etc. Sure the price will be rediculous and likely still have a visible crease, but still I’d rather carry just one device when traveling than a phone and a iPad.

 

[whelmedjedi]

I hope apple names it iPhold

 

[mcled53]

Who wants a brick in their pocket

I want half a brick in my pocket. I would be interested in a phone that unfolds to the size of a iPhone Pro Max... Not a mini ipad.

 

[klasma]

I still have zero interest in a foldable phone, but the tri-fold is the first one that makes any sense. Unfolding to a square is stupid because the whole advantage of a bigger screen is for watching videos and videos aren’t square. This one at least gives you a regular tablet and a phone.

The iPhone Fold won’t unfold into a square either.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/rumoured-iphone-fold-size-concept-drawing-and-renders.2456447/

 

[Arthur75]

Won't buy any of these before a quadruple fold, at the very least !!

 

[klasma]

@Hartley I wouldn’t be so sure the iPhone Fold will run iPad apps, because for the outer screen it would have to use the iPhone version of the app, and I don’t see how using both the iPhone and iPad version of an app on the same device can work seamlessly, with regard to application state and local application data. This is not simply a question of packaging. A “universal” app would also have to be able to switch between iPhone mode and iPad mode at runtime, and distinguish between iPhone-only and iPad-only APIs. That would be a whole new thing, not trivial to implement for many apps.

 

[Apple Fan 2008]

I don't want a foldable, they're fragile as can be, and can scratch if you stare at it too intensely.

 

[SiXiam]

I was going to get an iPhone Fold, but ever since watching Westworld I want that trifold!

 

[Radeon85]

I cant see how these phones will be anymore popular then a mini.

Because a small phone will always be a small phone, which the majority don't want. People want large screens and this not only gives you a large screen when folded which should be a similar thickness profile to a current iPhone, it transforms into a tablet sized screen.

A foldable iPhone would kill the dedicated mini tablet for me, one device for both is what I want.

 

[CaspianKing]

Almost bought the iPhone Air but atlas, I opt for the iPhone 17 Pro which is nice in my hand and light enough as my previous iPhone 14 pro. Will definitely waiting to see what Apple has installed for the iPhone Fold, if it's good will buy if not will wait for next-next year model of the Fold.

 

[Mitochris]

Great discussion! I am so tempted now to switch from Apple to Samsung for the trifold. The trifold size will be about iPad 10 inches size 👍👍👍😍😍😍🥰🥰🥰. I feel I cannot wait anymore to get the foldable phone with the trifold release😰. The trifold unboxing video in YouTube seems amazing. The trifold is my definite and ultimate phone and tablet in one device. Two fold now seems outdated. I think I will switch to trifold when it is released in US. Let me see if I can overcome my temptation on switching to trifold. 😉

This must be a bot entry. Who starts 3 sentences with the same words and uses the word trifold 7 times in 5 rows?

 

[psingh01]

iPamphlet

 

[Christopher Kim]

APPLE PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST. The Fold needs to have 3 cameras or it'll fail.

I am with you 100% Hartley, there is no way in hell I will buy a $2000+ phone that does not have the zoom camera. Anything else is a step backwards.

I was 100% with @Hartley about how I think Apple has gotten it wrong, where they think more people prefer the ultra-wide for a 2nd lens (if only 2 lenses) over a telephoto zoom lens. That's what they've done w/ the base iPhones for many years, and is the rumor for the iPhone Fold as well.

I bought the iPhone Air Day 1, after looking through my photos, I was about 95% Main, 4.9% Telephoto, 0.1% Ultrawide. Just never liked the warping / fish-bowl of the Ultrawide, and I rarely need the wider frame. (As an aside, I like @Dan Barbera's suggestion of using the 0.5x, and then cropping after-the-fact a little bit to get rid of the worst of the warping parts along the edges).

In my ~3 months with the iPhone Air, I've only missed the Telephoto zoom lens once. Taking a video of my kid playing soccer, when I wanted to zoom in on them from further away. That, or like at a concert when you want a better optical zoomed video of the performer. Day to day, I never need it, and 1x/2x more than covers my needs. If there's only room to add 1 more lens to the Main, Apple needs to offer the Telephoto Zoom over the Ultrawide.

I actually think if they had put 2 lenses on the iPhone Air, the Main and a Telephoto, it would've gained significantly more traction. And would also add to the "premium" over the base iPhone 17, which would still be Main + Ultrawide. Apple shouldn't make that mistake again with the Fold, which at its estimated price point, is already going to have difficulty getting traction.

 

[ofarlig]

@Hartley I wouldn’t be so sure the iPhone Fold will run iPad apps, because for the outer screen it would have to use the iPhone version of the app, and I don’t see how using both the iPhone and iPad version of an app on the same device can work seamlessly, with regard to application state and local application data. This is not simply a question of packaging. A “universal” app would also have to be able to switch between iPhone mode and iPad mode at runtime, and distinguish between iPhone-only and iPad-only APIs. That would be a whole new thing, not trivial to implement for many apps.

Isn’t it mostly a UI problem though? On my iPad I can already resize what I am guessing are universal apps to instantly switch to the iPhone UI from the iPad UI.

I could see them pushing more developers to do that universal approach that they already have, so the outside display just uses a different UI.

 

[zenmacx]

How about an option to not integrate Health in the clock, so i can simply set an alarm to wake up when i want? The sleep/wake up at the very top of the alarm is annoying. Yes i have different sleep times based on travel and weekend, no i dont want to have to make more and more sleep schedules.

I’m in complete agreement.

Yet this reminds me that using Apple products subjects one to “The Apple Way”.

This from the company that often boasts they know what’s best for the customer. A condescending position that many of the Apple Faithful are quick to embrace and say so in public forums.

It’s good to be Apple

 

[d-klumpp]

I agree completely with Hartley: 1 or more folds cannot come at the expense of photo capabilities!

 

[krakenrelease]

The iPhone Air is the only new iPhone of interest to me. But I’m not really a target market because I will not replace my iPhone until I feel a compelling need to. I expect that to be a five year lifecycle and since I have the 15 Pro… as to the foldable iPhone: hard pass. Why? A question of compromises. Three of the four dimensions we live in: if you fold it, it becomes thicker. If you add tech to compensate for how it folds, e.g. cameras, you add complexity and cost with no net benefit. Any visible crease, no matter how minimal, will be noticed by me, and will drive me nuts (definitely a “me” problem).

As to the destruction of macOS should it ever get locked down like the other Apple OSes: the reason I’m minimizing my iPad use is because the things of greatest value to me are the very things those devices lock away. Control. If it happens, my leanings towards Linux will become full blown biases… I already expect to install Asahi on my M1 generation MBPro when it ages out of macOS updates. I’ll also install Bazzite or SteamOS on my NUC next year… my main systems will remain macOS for most things, Windows for gaming. For now…

Would you really need bare metal on an aging Macbook though? VMs work extremely fast. I've been playing around with Kali Linux on my M1 Pro and it feels native like.

 

[leifp]

Would you really need bare metal on an aging Macbook though? VMs work extremely fast. I've been playing around with Kali Linux on my M1 Pro and it feels native like.

No idea, really. I have dabbled with Linux since the mid 90s and keep waiting for “the year of Linux” but I’m completely inexperienced with using it natively for my daily grind.