Haven’t you heard? Everyone is dying for two smartphone screens glued side-by-side so people can have 2 app cards running side-by-side! It’s an incredible experience.
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Other Why the iPhone Fold will Fail
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Zensō
Contributor
Price, downgraded specs, internal screen issues, case issues, it doesn’t truly solve a problem that people were asking to be solved… I could go on.
jz0309
macrumors P6
Why do people buy iPads? It's just a larger iPhone. And there's the problem being solved.
The foldable iPhone is for anyone that needs a larger screen than the iPhone Pro Max, but can still fit in a pocket and use one-handed. You can ditch your iPad mini, eliminate the second data plan (for some), only carry one device, and finally have an iPad mini experience with 120Hz ProMotion.
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Bkdodger
macrumors 603
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
There are scenarios where this form factor comes in very handy for many people, as mentioned above with the ease to pocket or carry the phone, are they going to be some early pains yes most likely, but I think Apple can succeed and time will tell it's a good debate.
There are scenarios where this form factor comes in very handy for many people, as mentioned above with the ease to pocket or carry the phone, are they going to be some early pains yes most likely, but I think Apple can succeed and time will tell it's a good debate.
It's first-generation Apple hardware and I think it will depend greatly on the degree of compromise. Will users of Pro models be happy to sacrifice cameras - battery life and possibly durability? Much also depends on whether Apple has exceeded the achievements of other companies although the eco-system as applied to the new device may compensate.
I'm sure that this product will bring some less than well considered purchasing decisions by those that simply have the money and want something different. Some will be happy to end up paying twice as much as a conventional iPhone for a device that is actually less capable in some respects.
Apple's first version of a completely new mechanical device is precisely the one I'd be reluctant to spend £2,000+ on. The hinge, flexible display, crease, dust ingress, battery and long-term durability are all things that will become considerably better in generations 2 and 3.
I'm sure that this product will bring some less than well considered purchasing decisions by those that simply have the money and want something different. Some will be happy to end up paying twice as much as a conventional iPhone for a device that is actually less capable in some respects.
Apple's first version of a completely new mechanical device is precisely the one I'd be reluctant to spend £2,000+ on. The hinge, flexible display, crease, dust ingress, battery and long-term durability are all things that will become considerably better in generations 2 and 3.
Jeweller
macrumors 6502
You seem to have the most levelheaded responses to all this nonsense and I appreciate it. People who likely never intend to buy seem to have this weird obsession with spouting the same stale reasons why the fold will fail. Especially the AVP comparison. Unlike many here, I’ll reserve judgment until I actually see what they release. It’s probably not for me as I really like the cameras on the Pros but I would never waste my time actively rooting for it’s failure. Such strange behavior.
klasma
macrumors G4
The vibes on the forum here feel more positive for the Ultra than they were for the Air (I might be wrong), and it helps that foldables are an established product category. Given the robust rumors about the Air 2, the Air hasn’t failed yet. Will the Ultra in 3-4 years, like the mini did? It’s a long time.
ayephoner
macrumors 6502a
We don't even know the price yet, but it seems somewhat close to the comparable Samsung models.
Phone screens have been growing in size for years (and bezels shrinking). We've plateaued that trend with a non-folding form factor. This allows for a pretty big jump in screen size while still being able to fit in a pocket or purse.
Concerns I duly shared...with the first Fold in 2019. Except the foldable iPhone is building on eight generations of Samsung foldables that already significantly refined the hinge, display, crease, dust ingress, battery, and durability. The first-gen foldable iPhone isn't really "first-gen" in the same sense.
The big difference with those products are that the mini, air, etc., are not losing to cheaper options.
The iPhone mini didn’t lose because people were opting for a cheaper option, it lost because people would’ve rather had a Pro Max, A device that was $500 more expensive, than they would a mini. Or even a regular iPhone, which was $100 more expensive.
The folding iPhone is coming from the opposite end of the spectrum, it’s the most expensive option. And also very likely the most profitable per unit.
It’s just like the iPad, the base iPad is the best selling iPad, wins every single time. It doesn’t stop Apple from selling the iPad Pro, which is on average about 3 to 4 X the cost of the base iPad.
There is absolutely no point in comparing to the Vision Pro, an optional additional device. The folding iPhone is neither, it’s a replacement for someone’s phone. Everyone has a phone. Not everyone has, or has a need for, a a headset. And there’s also the fact that that headset has absolutely no financing options, is only sold within Apple stores, and to this day is still within very limited countries. Things that will not affect the folding iPhone.
Zensō
Contributor
Seriously? I use mine for music production and performance, graphic design, photo retouching, and so on. That’s not going to happen on a phone, folding or not.
For the record, music production has been done on phones before, including by some of the biggest artists out there.
Kendrick Lamar’s song “Pride” was reportedly entirely made on an iPhone 6, and that was back in 2017.
Zensō
Contributor
Yeah, I’m aware of that. But it’s not a regular thing, as I’m sure you know.
Harthag
macrumors 68030
Comparisons to AVP have been beaten to death. AVP is a completely different product targeting a different audience.
To address your points- Samsung has nailed the format over the past 8 years. Sturdiness is not really an issue anymore. Plastic screen- the inner screen is made of ultra thin glass with a plastic screen protector on top. It's incredibly inconvenient to replace and needs to be done by authorized technicians. From an optics standpoint, in the case of the Fold 8, the crease is not visible when viewing the screen from normal viewing angles and even at other angles that don't catch light in a certain way. The Fold 8 has an anti-reflective film on the inner screen which is fantastic. Time will tell whether the crease gets worse as time goes on.
Processing power- it'll be fine for most people. The vast majority of consumers don't do "pro level" tasks on their phones. For those who do, yeah a slab phone makes more sense.
Your final comment re: very few use cases- that's highly subjective. Market share is low because vast majority of consumers have no idea about foldables. Once Apple gets in the game and other passport style devices come out over the next year or two, I'll be very interested to see that stats. I'm betting the number will go up.
Plenty of people will have use-cases for these types of devices. Here are mine. I don't use a tablet and have no interest in one. I used my Fold 8 unfolded at a local state fair the other week to view a PDF map of the park. Also to shoot videos and take some photos. Yesterday while hiking opened it to view trail maps. Last night I used it unfolded for fantasy football draft to view the draft on one side and player stats / news on the other. Viewing media / streaming services unfolded is an incredible experience. Today I used it unfolded in portrait mode to view some documents that were a pain to view on a regular phone. All of this on a proper widescreen format device that folds up into a small phone you can throw in your pocket and use for daily tasks, etc. For people like me who don't want a dedicated tablet the Apple foldable will be an extremely attractive device.
It will come down to the software. This is where Samsung's 8 years of experience could really outshine Apple. They nailed it, in my opinion. Unfolding the (Fold 8) device defaults the OS into "tablet mode" and it goes back into "phone mode" when rotated to portrait. Not to mention file system, multitasking, Good Lock customization options, separating the inner screen experience completely from outer screen experience if desired, re-sizing keyboard. Apple's keyboard on iPhone truly sucks compared to the competition. Hopefully they adjust it somehow with the 18 Pro and Fold series, but not getting my hopes up.
It's a broken record but if you've never used a Fold and especially the "new" passport style Fold (moment of silence for OG Pixel Fold), you don't know what you don't know. I really hope the Apple foldable succeeds because it has the potential to be a really nice device for many people. If it ends up being just a giant iPhone or stripped of some features as to not hurt sales of iPads, then it'll be a big disappointment for me. I still think it'll succeed for the reasons above. We'll all soon find out.
G5isAlive
Contributor
I predict your prediction won't age well.
Agreed, but so? I predict you will see the fold, folded, most of the time in the wild where they can use it with one hand, and unfolded in a more private or at least stationary location when they want the bigger screen.
Ah. so you are hedging your prediction but saying it it is a niche product it fails. Gotcha. You no doubt consider the whole foldable market at niche. Apple will enter the market and stay there as long as they have a decent return. I predict they price accordingly.
Tablets are used for consumption and productivity/laptop replacements. As I keep pointing out, a foldable phone is worse at pretty much everything compared to the dedicated category counterparts. The screen size for instance... it won't touch an 11 or 13" iPad. It won't have a magic keyboard with trackpad as people use tablets on the road as laptop replacements... and accessories are hampered given it's a foldable design. It won't have as good of a screen given it's plastic. It will have seams all over it whether folded or unfolded. It will not have the same thermal capabilities which can affect sustained performance.
Foldables optimize convenience; dedicated devices optimize the experience within their category.
TVreporter
macrumors 68030
Like the Vision Pro, price will keep it from becoming a major success. It too will have early hype, the tech YouTubers will praise it (and return it once their videos are posted).
I’d rather a folding iPad Mini.
I’d rather a folding iPad Mini.
Aside from you casting aspersions against people that are unfounded, you do seem to waste your time talking to people about a topic you seem to think is a waste of time.
I always find this interesting that some people seem to think that people want a larger screen such as a double size jumbo smartphone screen X2. People are not asking for this. Some people like it. Some people have bought into foldable smartphones. But after 7 years, it is still only 2% of the global smartphone marketshare. That's reality.
I've done usability studies on smartphones and tablets. There is a threshold of screen size where something starts to breakdown in terms of convenience and efficiency. One handed use pretty much becomes impossible with a large sized unfolded smartphone. That is not what people are wanting in many applications they use their smartphone for. They are using a standard smartphone precisely because it allows one handed use with interfaces that work for that use case. As soon as that screen size grows like to an iPad Mini size, the user not only needs to generally use two hands to keep the device held steady, they have to deal with user interfaces where the hit targets (e.g., buttons) are farther away, so the arms and fingers and hands have longer distances to travel. This is where it's less efficient in straightforward use cases.
Tablets are good at consumption when it comes to reading books, news, browsing the Internet for shopping, and things like this. For productivity, larger screen sizes generally afford more productivity, and foldable smartphones are limited here. The Trifold is interesting, but absurd in terms of three effective smartphones sandwiched together.
It is not a replacement for someone's phone. It is trying to be 2 devices: a smartphone and a tablet. What's fatal to approaching this if we actually were betting a lot of money and time on this at a company, is thinking/assuming/stating as a fact that people want a tablet. Right now, there is no evidence at all that most people who buy and use smartphones want a tablet across smartphone use cases. So the Fold is actually like a Vision Pro because a tablet is an optional device.
You are asking people to buy something that has effectively an extra device built in and because of this, it makes compromises in its design and function in relation to its primary smartphone function. And I predict people's response will be the same as it was with the AVP and with someone you are trying to sell a lawnmower with wings to: they don't need it, they don't want it, they won't buy it. It's useless. My prediction is that it will remain niche. Some people will buy it but it will remain niche.
JPack
macrumors P6
OP posted these exact arguments last year, predicting Apple would never enter the foldable market. Now that Apple’s launch is imminent, doubling down on the same flawed logic doesn't make it any more accurate.
Reasonable people adjust their perspective when presented with valid counterarguments.
In 2025, there were over 20 million foldables sold. This is an established market and it's increasing by double digits every year.
Reasonable people adjust their perspective when presented with valid counterarguments.
In 2025, there were over 20 million foldables sold. This is an established market and it's increasing by double digits every year.
You are part of the niche, and my prediction is that it will be a product category that remains niche. And it won't all come down to software at all, it comes down to one simple thing: whether people will choose to buy a device that is worse at its functions compared to its dedicated counterparts. And my prediction is that most people will not choose to buy it. The market currently agrees with me: total foldable smartphone marketshare globally is 2% of the overall smartphone market.