I’ve no interest in a phone that folds. It’s just going to be thicker, and more fragile. Give me an external swappble battery and hardware cutoff switches for wireless and camera. A microSD slot. And ffs, the ability to have both my owned music files and Apple Music files on my phone at the same time (seriously, wtf, not everything is on Apple Music—is there a way?!)
If the foldable screen could be more robust, and the fold could be truly invisible when unfolded, I could see it being useful for some people as a phone-tablet hybrid.
Unfortunately features like hardware kill switches will probably always be too niche for a mainstream flagship.
I don’t understand why there’s a lot of hate here for a product people don’t have to buy lol. I think foldable phones are neat.
Foldable displays are still relatively new technology and they have their downsides. People these days are very unforgiving of early tech. Everything has to be just be perfect from version 1 for people complain, but that’s not possible. You can’t perfect a product in isolation, you have to have earlier versions on the market to be able to find where the problems are.
I just don’t listen to them.
If the Model One Ford came out these days they’d complain it was too slow.
Whenever my upgrade window comes around, I ponder getting a folding phone. But two things stop me.
Firstly, they all run Android, and having been on iOS since 2009 I have very little ambition to switch.
Secondly, as it stands, it’s a point of failure that will massively impact its resale value when I upgrade. It’s bad enough trying to sell a phone with a two or three year old battery, but batteries can (in general) be replaced. Now imagine trying to sell a phone that has three years worth of screen wear on it, knowing that it could fracture at any moment.
So in the end, cool as they are, they’re also pretty handy to the manufacturers as offering a point of failure that’ll make them unsellable.
I have a friend with a foldable phone and it works wrt screen. The thing I can’t get over is the thickness because it seems too thick for a back pocket.
I personally believe it’s not supposed to be pocketed but to be backpacked. They’re trying to encourage less phone usage, you should use your watch for immediate notifications and only get your phone out to use it for taking a picture, drawing something with the apple pencil or another task that requires a phone. Most everything else should be done by the watch though.
Here’s the problem with the watch alone - folks like me who can’t see well up close (even with the larger font settings on the phone and the ‘zoom’ accessibility feature is…confusing?) and need glasses but either don’t have them or can’t find them in the time it takes for the notification to disappear. By that point, I may as well just use the phone.
When my glasses are handy, I do agree that the watch is a good use for this. Additionally however, my phone case is also my physical wallet with ID and a couple of credit cards. I understand that with Apple Wallet, these physical items are increasingly being able to be replaced by using the watch interface, but not always.
I get those are just a couple of examples using small anecdotes, but just my .02. If Apple could figure out a better way to make the Watch easier to see for people like me without requiring glasses, that would be ideal. Or if I could figure out why I can’t seem to use the Accessibility feature correctly, if that is the problem as well. I’ll work with it some more.
Surely the best option is voiceover for key notifications on the watch?
Situation-dependent but sometimes, yes.
I think the biggest issue with that direction of technology is that pretty much every Android smart watch sucks. There isn’t anything in the Android ecosystem that’s comparable to the apple watch.
So? What does that have to do with Apple pushing this philosophy? It’s not their fault there isn’t an equivalent in the Android world.
Eh? I never said there was. I merely pointing out that it’s not a direction that the phone market in general is moving.
I didn’t say this was the direction the phone market was moving though. I stated this is how their devices are supposed to be used.
I agree, I think someone that’s into minimalism and sees the appeal of an iPad or an iPhone, would be happier to choose this, especially if it shares features like apple pencil support. If there isn’t apple pencil support then I’ll be upset.
Also you’re clearly not apple’s target market so you being frustrated by their choices is negligible to them.
I haven’t tried for a while but I’m pretty sure you can store your own music files on all Apple devices and listen to them via Apple Music.
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I definitely have tracks that belong to me, that don’t even exist on Apple Music, on my phone with an Apple Music subscription.
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Agreed. Being able to fold the device is popular because of the novelty but I argue they’re overall objectively worse devices than non-folding one with the same price and form factor would be. I’ll much rather have a flat slab in my pocket than a compact cube. There’s not a chance a folding device will withstand daily use for 6+ years.
The one I have has really come a long way. I’m using it without a case. I’ve dropped it several times from a decent height. I was using it’s light at work to show a hole in a wall to my coworker and he jammed a blunt piece of steel into its exterior screen with serious force. Not a scratch.
What phone is this?
Samsung z flip 5.
The only way flagship phones will ever get swappable batteries is if the EU mandates that.
Sad, but true.
Lol, why is that another paid service?
Because they are hosting those files for you.
And why is it a separate service from iCloud?
Because it’s more than just hosting them. Look I’m not a salesperson nor a fanboy. But years ago before I was into self hosting I was very happy to pay $15CAD/year for iTunes to host my obscure music and integrate it seamlessly with Apple Music. AFAIK there are no similar competing products.
If you’re not interested then don’t use it!
It’s been a while since I tried, but can’t you also sync your Music album locally still as well? Exactly the same as with an iPod. I know you still can with iPods, because I still use my iPod and sync it that way. But my phones have synced with Apple Music for as long as AM has existed.
If you’re not interested then don’t use it!
I won’t, but I will still mock it.
Then you’re not looking for an iPhone. They don’t care about you, they are after the common denominator.
I wonder what they’re actually developing since we all know they’re going to get the screen from Samsung.
“A new and revolutionary way of having a multi dimensional phone, the first ever of it’s kind, it doesn’t fold, it creases at the right points to give you more space than ever.”
I kind of want to rolling phone. That would get rid of the crease problem. If you put a sensor in the roller you could have the software automatically adapt the screen size to how much of the screen is out.
Ooh, like it pulls out of a little scroll case, and is stiff once it comes out like a tape measure.
Twice as many screens that any iphone. The most screen space ever on an iphone. The first iphone that folds. Apple never compares the iphone to other companies, perhaps with the exception of the very first presentation.
The hinge and everything else involved in the folding process probably. Like every other foldable.
These are software developers. So they’re not going to design hardware.
The hardware designers are probably aren’t going to design the hinge either since that’s a mechanical problem.
I can’t find anything that says that they are software developers. Just engineers which can mean many things.
But sure, software developers obviously would have a lot of work to do on iOS for it to support folding phones.
One that doesn’t suck?
Apple will do what it always does, and launch any new product as and when it feels it has solved the problems raised by new product categories, and has something it believes is better than existing products.
Hahah. As long as you don’t hold your phone wrong or put it in your jeans pocket.
Apple will do what it always does, and launch any new product as and when it feels it
has solved the problems raised by new product categories, and has something it believes is better than existing products.can extract the maximum margins while offering the minimum necessary to be viewed as premium by their customer base.There, fixed it.
That’s why they abandoned the Apple car. Too many regulations and safety requirements for them to be able to make a reasonable profit.
We surpassed peak Apple years ago.
I’m hoping after Tim retires that actual innovation returns.
Capitalism can only innovate in making more money
Apple’s stock price would disagree with you there
That is why we should have abandoned money as the single measurement for success years ago as well.
That is why we should have abandoned money as the single measurement for success years ago as well.
That’s an idealistic sentiment to have that is unfortunately not representative of our current society at all.
Sad but true.
Foldables are shit when your sweat is so aggressive it destroys the plastic
They’re also shit if you throw up acid on them.
That feels very much like a “you” problem.
Uh, maybe be less sweaty? Wash your hands?
Really doesn’t seem like a flaw with the phones if you’re sweating enough to soak it.
Uh, maybe be less sweaty?
Good idea. I will just alter my biology.
I wouldn’t mind foldable phones having two separate screens with a minor gap between them - you’d avoid getting an ugly growing crease over time like with the current screens, and with a proper hinge design you could make them thinner too probably
Like the Microsoft Duo?
There are already a few folding things like that on the market but they’re not as popular. People seem to put up with the crease more than they’re prepared to put up with a gap. Mostly because with a crease you can still have a full tablet like experience.
But it’s always nice to have options.
I was thinking about phones, having a “flip phone” without a crease which is “normal size” when opened would be cool. For tablet use the gap admittedly sucks
This bothers me a bit because I absolutely love my current gen horizontal fold phone. The crease isn’t ugly or growing in the year or so I’ve had it. You can feel it, but I got used to that in days.
But it’s quite thick for a phone, isn’t it? How do you pocket a 5cm/2 inch thick phone? It’s more bulky than any regular phone
It’s less than an inch thick folded.
can’t wait for apple fans to treat this as a huge innovation in 2027
Can I just get a phone with serviceable battery, analog audio jack, and support of the stupid apps I am required to use in society for more than 3 years?
Haha. No. But you can get an ever increasing phone where everything is soldered and glued. Also we removes the charging port.
Just remove the battery entirely while you’re at it. The whole thing becomes lighter and slimmer, which should boost sales.
Great, because phones aren’t expensive or fragile enough.
I suppose it might actually be a more sturdy iPhone. The biggest problem iPhones have is that Apple insist on making the screen out of tempered glass, rather than something a bit more hard wearing. So when you sneeze on it, it cracks.
Folding displays have to be made out of plastic which is actually more durable if more prone to scratching. So you’d end up with a slightly more scratched phone but a less broken one. Plus the delicate plastic screen is always going to be folded up in on itself, so it’s protected from scratches as well.
Of course Apple will probably make it without any bezels thus negating everything I just said. All for aesthetics.
The biggest problem iPhones have is that Apple insist on making the screen out of tempered glass, rather than something a bit more hard wearing.
Like what? Plastic?
There is a difference between strength and softness.
Plastic is stronger than glass but softer than glass. When you drop your phone you want strong, I would much rather have a strong but softer phone than a hard but brittle phone.
If you want a plastic screen you will have to buy some of the cheapest of the cheapest of phones available.
This isn’t only an iPhone “problem”. Pretty much no modern smartphone has plastic screens because they suck. They scratch extremely easily and the touch is often bad.
In my experience phones are much more prone to conditions that expose them to scratches than to drops. I absolutely don’t mind a glass screen. The back should be metal or plastic though.
Continuing the trend of not being innovative ever since Jobs’ passing.
Apple Watch was not innovative? Apple Silicon was not innovative? Vision Pro was not innovative?
Look at you, all entitled to Apple’s innovation.
People have a tendency to only equate the word “innovation” with “woooaahh, completely new in my face never before seen tech that seemingly came out of nowhere!”. When in reality innovation is almost always slow, small, incremental steps.
So when Apple introduces something to their lineup, many deride it as not being innovative, even though it is often the first version of something that is fairly solid, reliable, and useable.
People think they want mind-blowing technological jumps, but in practice they rarely accept/adopt new technology (or really, anything too outside of the norm, tech or not).
Pretty sure Apple Watch was already in progress when Steve was alive.
Apple just wait until something already exists and then make a more expensive version of it that’s not innovation. I’m not saying that something like the vision pro isn’t a good product but it’s not groundbreaking in any way.
As demonstrated by the fact that Apple made it without any real idea of what it was actually for. It’s a VR AR headset that no one wants. Actually no one wants a VR AR hybrid headset they want to be able to play games, the one thing that’s terrible at because it doesn’t have a controller.
I bet they artificially kneecap the slabphones to push people towards overpriced foldables once they are on store shelfs. Just like they did with the Plus and Pro phones.
“Some” Vision Pro engineers. Sounds like they’re all going from that headline.
I doubt these engineers have been moved to this project unless there’s some technology overlap. Apple Vision is still in development and there’s a reduced complexity/reduced cost version to be worked on.
Nah fuck that.
Please no.
