iPhone Duo You guys aren’t seriously considering buying a “Folding” iPhone Are you ?

[NeonNights]

@svenmany, your signature quote... thanks for the laughs. My wife has probably had that thought many times, but yours said it LOL.

 

[Luftkopf]

People keep trying to sell the concept as combining an iPad and an iPhone in one device, and thinking of it as such leads me to conclude a foldable is utterly useless, since it’s smaller than the iPad mini, which is already so small as to be useless to me.

It’s a phone with a bigger phone inside it, which does have a use. E-books, web browsing, and old 4:3 TV (good excuse to re-watch Peter Gunn), would be much better on an iPhone Jumbo. It wouldn’t work for anything I use my iPad for though.

I know it’s a bit of semantics, but framing does matter. It’s still not worth anywhere close to its price to me, since I can’t justify the price of a much more useful Pro Max, so it’s a bit of moot point.

 

[eyoungren]

People keep trying to sell the concept as combining an iPad and an iPhone in one device, and thinking of it as such leads me to conclude a foldable is utterly useless, since it’s smaller than the iPad mini, which is already so small as to be useless to me.

It’s a phone with a bigger phone inside it, which does have a use. E-books, web browsing, and old 4:3 TV (good excuse to re-watch Peter Gunn), would be much better on an iPhone Jumbo. It wouldn’t work for anything I use my iPad for though.

I know it’s a bit of semantics, but framing does matter. It’s still not worth anywhere close to its price to me, since I can’t justify the price of a much more useful Pro Max, so it’s a bit of moot point.

I wouldn't mind a jumbo iPhone. I just don't want to have to manually transform it to get there. 😉

I suppose I could buy one and then just never fold it up though. 🤔

 

[collin_]

No. I'm less pessimistic than most of this forum but I have a feeling it's going to go over about as well as the iPhone Air did.

 

[vi2867]

I never say never, but there are two things that I need on the fold to consider purchasing it. Face ID (willing to live without), MageSafe (needed), and Price (under $2k). If those two are met, then I'll consider. If not, I will get the iPhone Pro Max in Black.🙂

 

[Happy_John]

No. I'm less pessimistic than most of this forum but I have a feeling it's going to go over about as well as the iPhone Air did.

There’ll be lots of moaning on here.

I think it will do well enough, when you acknowledge it’ll be very much a niche item and prohibitively expensive for many people.

It’ll only sell a tiny fraction of the amount base iPhones and iPhone pros sell in, but that should be expected.

And keep in mind the iphone air has sold twice as many units as the preceding plus, so, outside of influencer / Reddit / YouTube / mr worlds, the air isn’t the disaster it is made out to be.

The “folding iPhone” will most likely sell in the amounts Apple expect. But the amount Apple expect to sell will be far lower than what the “community” thinks is appropriate.

The three reasons I can think of that will be obstacles for buyers will be 1) price 2) worries about durability, and 3) usefulness (no point buying a folding phone if you never fold it or never unfold it).

All that said, I imagine there’ll be a lot of people saying “I was about to buy, but…”, and I’ll be sceptical. Anyone who orders and buys as soon as possible were go8ng to buy under any circumstance. Those who don’t were never really going to buy in the first place.

 

[vi2867]

After buying the iPhone Air, last year. I am a little more hesitant. I thought the speaker wasn't a big deal, then I heard it. I tried plugging the Air to my 4k monitor to watch a movie. It did not work. Finally, I am hearing the Air 2 is moved to the spring release. This gives me a concern to jump on the first model. What if it bombs, and I have to go back the Pro next year. Apple is starting to feel like Google.😵

 

[Leobreaker]

The price alone is a no-go for me. The only reason I have a normal 17 is because I got the "free" (bill credit) carrier upgrade promotion. I can't fathom spending what will be $1,500+ on a smartphone! That's well-speced laptop money!

For what it's worth, I try and keep my Screen Time low and not install many apps. Maybe the phone super users would benefit from the Fold.

 

[rensuchan]

Personally for me, I'm interested in the tech, but I won't be buying it.

Generally if I need a device bigger than my phone when I go out, I have a backpack. The backpack can carry my MacBook Pro, or my iPad Pro if I really need a larger device, which both give me significantly more real estate than the Ultra would.

As far as replacing a Mini, I prefer the devices to be separate. My ideal case is using the Mini to wind down with some light gaming or reading until I fall asleep in bed while my phone charges for the next day. If both my phone and small tablet are the same device then I can't do that.

I generally have more trust for Apple hardware than most other brands, but even if I was interested in buying a folding phone, I'd probably wait for the second iteration given the cost and greater number of moving parts.

 

[Macdctr]

I never say never, but there are two things that I need on the fold to consider purchasing it. Face ID (willing to live without), MageSafe (needed), and Price (under $2k). If those two are met, then I'll consider. If not, I will get the iPhone Pro Max in Black.🙂

Plan on getting the Pro Max then. I see the Ultra starting at $2k minimum for the miminum storage configuration and possibly going as high as maybe up to $3k for the max storage configuration when it launches this fall, that is if it launches on schedule.

Hopefully I’m wrong on the pricing but won’t be surprised if I’m close.

 

[vi2867]

I do not think that Apple can sell a phone over $2K. It will not sell. Maybe if they are having problems producing them, then maybe. Sixteen years ago when rumors of Apple launching a tablet, everyone was saying that the price of the tablet would be $1k. They launched at $499. I predict they will launch at $1,699 to $1,899. Why, because they probably have purchased the hardware before the recent increases.

 

[vi2867]

Also, I am on the annual renewal program. I currently pay about $60 a month. I am willing to go up to $80 a month, which is about $1,900.

 

[Macdctr]

Also, I am on the annual renewal program. I currently pay about $60 a month. I am willing to go up to $80 a month, which is about $1,900.

I’m on the I pay in full every time I get a new iPhone program so I look ahead and budget accordingly when purchasing new iPhones. Buy once without having payments is how I purchase my iPhones.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

People keep trying to sell the concept as combining an iPad and an iPhone in one device, and thinking of it as such leads me to conclude a foldable is utterly useless, since it’s smaller than the iPad mini, which is already so small as to be useless to me.

Dimension show that the screen is 0.1 inches smaller than the iPad mini 1 through 5 which were 7.9 inches.
Plus the vast majority of android tablets in the sub $500 market, including Kindles, are usually between 7 and 9 inches.
It’s obviously not a replacement for 11 and 13 inch iPads, at least not in most cases, but it is very much the size of many many tablets that exist.
It also has over double the usable screen area as the iPhone Pro Max due to the different aspect ratio.

So no, it won’t be for everybody and it certainly won’t be replacing every iPad out there. The iPad still absolutely has a place.
But I think it will be far from useless.
Personally, as someone who has an iPad and a MacBook, I absolutely love the iPad, but do find it to be a little bit redundant. My phone can do absolutely all of the same things, my laptop can do even more. The only advantage to the iPad is that it’s nicer to use, which usually means that it ends up only being used when my phone is dead.
For me, this is where the folding iPhone makes sense. You get the insanely thin iPad like form factor when it’s opened, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like a device that’s duplicating something I already have because it’s still just my phone.

 

[vi2867]

I think the success of the fold, needs to be a usable phone when it is closed. I played around with Samsung folds, and they seem to be terrible phones closed. The vertical feels like phones I used over 20 years ago and the horizontal feels too narrow. Apple's passport size seems to look more usable, base on pictures.

 

[Happy_John]

I think the success of the fold, needs to be a usable phone when it is closed. I played around with Samsung folds, and they seem to be terrible phones closed. The vertical feels like phones I used over 20 years ago and the horizontal feels too narrow. Apple's passport size seems to look more usable, base on pictures.

I’m curious about the form factor when closed - to be honest, I wouldn’t mind non-foldable iPhone in that passport size - it would be good for reading ebooks and PDFs.

 

[vi2867]

I think the fold might be able to be the best of both worlds, if it works. Imagine you are using your iPhone and you come across a situation where you need a bigger screen. You open your iPhone and now you have an iPad mini. It is like an amphibian. You can go from iPhone to iPad and iPad to iPhone.

 

[collin_]

There’ll be lots of moaning on here.

I think it will do well enough, when you acknowledge it’ll be very much a niche item and prohibitively expensive for many people.

It’ll only sell a tiny fraction of the amount base iPhones and iPhone pros sell in, but that should be expected.

And keep in mind the iphone air has sold twice as many units as the preceding plus, so, outside of influencer / Reddit / YouTube / mr worlds, the air isn’t the disaster it is made out to be.

The “folding iPhone” will most likely sell in the amounts Apple expect. But the amount Apple expect to sell will be far lower than what the “community” thinks is appropriate.

The three reasons I can think of that will be obstacles for buyers will be 1) price 2) worries about durability, and 3) usefulness (no point buying a folding phone if you never fold it or never unfold it).

All that said, I imagine there’ll be a lot of people saying “I was about to buy, but…”, and I’ll be sceptical. Anyone who orders and buys as soon as possible were go8ng to buy under any circumstance. Those who don’t were never really going to buy in the first place.

Makes sense. Part of the reason I'm skeptical is because it'll occupy the "highest end iPhone" slot currently occupied by the Pro Max, but it'll have tradeoffs similar to the ones that sank the iPhone Air (e.g. fewer cameras). I think people who are really serious about their iPhone are going to balk at the price and downsides and ignore it in favor of the Pro Max. That crowd (myself included) tends to care more about and pay more attention to the phone's capabilities compared to form factor gimmicks.

 

[Happy_John]

Makes sense. Part of the reason I'm skeptical is because it'll occupy the "highest end iPhone" slot currently occupied by the Pro Max, but it'll have tradeoffs similar to the ones that sank the iPhone Air (e.g. fewer cameras). I think people who are really serious about their iPhone are going to balk at the price and downsides and ignore it in favor of the Pro Max. That crowd (myself included) tends to care more about and pay more attention to the phone's capabilities compared to form factor gimmicks.

I honestly think that people who will buy on day one won’t give a damn about the specs of the internals. They’ll buy it simply because they can afford to, and the attraction is simply the firm of having something “different” that few other people have.

No-one will be buying it for the camera array or battery life.

He Pro or pro Max s “pro” iPhone, not just because it’s pricey, but also because the cameras and mics do make it a professional device - ie, of a standard to be used in professor all use-cases.

That really isn’t what the folding iPhone has been pitched as. It’s being pitched as “convenience and portability”

(That said, pitching of this device has only come from leakers and rumour ill. Afaik, Apple have not confirmed the exustsbcevifvthus phone in any way).

 

[Luftkopf]

Dimension show that the screen is 0.1 inches smaller than the iPad mini 1 through 5 which were 7.9 inches.
Plus the vast majority of android tablets in the sub $500 market, including Kindles, are usually between 7 and 9 inches.
It’s obviously not a replacement for 11 and 13 inch iPads, at least not in most cases, but it is very much the size of many many tablets that exist.
It also has over double the usable screen area as the iPhone Pro Max due to the different aspect ratio.

So no, it won’t be for everybody and it certainly won’t be replacing every iPad out there. The iPad still absolutely has a place.
But I think it will be far from useless.
Personally, as someone who has an iPad and a MacBook, I absolutely love the iPad, but do find it to be a little bit redundant. My phone can do absolutely all of the same things, my laptop can do even more. The only advantage to the iPad is that it’s nicer to use, which usually means that it ends up only being used when my phone is dead.
For me, this is where the folding iPhone makes sense. You get the insanely thin iPad like form factor when it’s opened, but it doesn’t necessarily feel like a device that’s duplicating something I already have because it’s still just my phone.

Well, yes, my post was about framing. I had a 1st or 2nd gen mini, because I wanted to like it, but once I had one couldn’t get rid of it fast enough. It was great for watching episodes of TV, or reading books on the train to and from work, but sucked at everything else.

The iPad is the perfect ancillary device to a MacBook, and I use mine in conjunction. Because my iPad Air 2 is so old, it’s limited, but it is still great for reviewing engineering documentation, marked-up blueprints for jobs I’m working on, reading sheet music and chord charts while playing bass etc.

To me, this stuff is, alongside media consumption, core to what an iPad is to me.

The rest of my post that you didn’t quote was me figuring out how the fold would actually be useful, and that is basically it will be nice for media consumption. So basically it’s an expensive toy.

Apple has answered one of my complaints about folding phones by the ratio they’ve opted for. It looks like a much more useful shape than most existing options.

I’ve bought phones before just because they were intriguing. I had that Nokia that was shaped like a leaf, that had the numbers either side of the screen! So clearly I am not on a position to criticise anyone’s choices, even if I wanted to!

If you have a use case that justifies it, or if you can comfortably afford it just because you think it is interesting, then fantastic! Enjoy it! Comparing it to an iPad makes no sense to me though.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Anyone here deliberately going to buy a Folding iPhone please share with us Why ? And $1,000 Extra on top of regular iPhone Pro Max prices allegedly.

Why not ask the tons of people who actually *HAVE* bought folding phones by other companies?

Obviously there's a market. Just because it doesn't make sense for you doesn't mean you should post with a headline and post that are clearly meant to imply that anyone who chooses to buy such a device is somehow "wrong."

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Makes sense. Part of the reason I'm skeptical is because it'll occupy the "highest end iPhone" slot currently occupied by the Pro Max, but it'll have tradeoffs similar to the ones that sank the iPhone Air (e.g. fewer cameras). I think people who are really serious about their iPhone are going to balk at the price and downsides and ignore it in favor of the Pro Max. That crowd (myself included) tends to care more about and pay more attention to the phone's capabilities compared to form factor gimmicks.

I’m not sure that will be much of a factor to be honest.
It’s around that same pricing in both Samsung and Google lineups and both of their most premium slabs are technically better in certain areas than they’re folding devices.
I do, however, expect Apple to set the folding iPhone apart by giving it branding that doesn’t necessarily imply that it’s the *best*, but more implies that it is *different*. I certainly do not expect them to call it an iPhone “ultra.”, I instead expect them to pull a “Neo” and name it something less easy to predict that clearly sets it apart from the rest of the lineup. My guess is “iPhone Duo”.
I also think that people are quick to forget that most smart phones are not purchased outright in the US, over 60% of phone purchasers use installment plans, trade-in programs or carrier subsidies. This isn’t like the Vision Pro, it will have mechanisms built-in to bring it to more consumers despite the price like every iPhone ever has had.

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

I can't fathom spending what will be $1,500+ on a smartphone! That's well-speced laptop money!

And there are people out there with who have well speced laptops, who get more use out of their smart phone than they do said laptop.
Also outside of just raw processing power, today’s smartphone is infinitely more technologically complex than any laptop at any price point.
Idk, to me a phone costing the same as a laptop isn’t that shocking.

 

[UnifiedMelody]

never ever considered a foldable phone. with the way samsung has done it i don't even think its okay for me because it must fit in my chino pocket [i can manage 16 pro max easy no issues and the screen is big enough]

 

[thomm]

Anyone here deliberately going to buy a Folding iPhone please share with us Why ? And $1,000 Extra on top of regular iPhone Pro Max prices allegedly.

It’s the wirehead phenomenon; and also the reason the iphone air flopped; people will always tend toward whatever will give them the most potential dopamine/stimulation. All that Apple marketing has to get through to people is that “it’s an ipad-sized screen in your pocket” and the sale is made.

With the iphone air, people took one look at that battery life comparison chart, saw that it was a lower number than the other models and subconsciously their brain just wouldn’t allow them to “give up that much potential stimulation”.

Most people (not all) will choose the option that gives them the most stimulation possible over aesthetics. We all saw how smaller form factor phones gradually faded out, along with the fate of the iphone mini.

The iphone fold will sell itself. Just imagine how obnoxious it’s going to be when people out in public unfold their pocket ipads in their full stimulating glory and start flipping through instagram stories and reels. It will naturally draw everyone’s attention, curiosity and envy.