When I say Obsolete, I mean it in the sense that the candy bar design has nowhere left to go, its reached its saturation point that's why we just get iterative updates each year of the same thing.
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Other Foldable phone
- Thread starter Nebula29
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Apple know what is a passing fad, and what people actually want…
They have the best and most successful tablet on sale, why would they compete against themselves with a folding phone?!
You don’t become as rich and successful as Apple by releasing unwanted products.
They have the best and most successful tablet on sale, why would they compete against themselves with a folding phone?!
You don’t become as rich and successful as Apple by releasing unwanted products.
a clamp shell style foldable like the z flip will not compete with a tablet. It would just allow us to have a screen as big as the new PM without being as bulky.
and if they decided to go book style like the pixel fold or z fold then there will still be a major size difference between it and an 11” iPad (not even speaking of the 13”)
and I’m sure they are well aware of the success of foldable phones in Asia especially in china where they are loosing a lot of market share to them.
Dude, yes! I was just speaking about this with someone else. The new Google Pixel 9 Fold Pro Max Ultra Super Mega Folding Whatevs looks basically pretty close to if Apple made a folding phone. Each half of the device is as thin as the new M4 iPad Pro, which means both stacked together is about as thick as a iPhone 15PM with a solid case. Such a device could serve as both an iPhone and an iPad mini, which would be super!
C’mon, Apple! Do this! 👏🏼
C’mon, Apple! Do this! 👏🏼
The material sciences aren't there, and aren't likely to be for many, many years, to be able to offer a foldable phone that doesn't also come with a host of compromises. I have zero interest in a foldable device, and I'm guessing many other folks feel the same way. It's more of a gimmick at this point than anything else.
Nothing wrong with wanting one, of course, but Apple has a tendency to pump out gimmick tech just for the sake of pumping out gimmick tech.
We could say the exact same thing about the Macbook and the standard shape of laptops that have not changed in 30 years.
Exactly because they are technically foldables by design and have large thermal envelopes with Desktop operating systems, screen sizes that can go from 11” up to 17” and larger than that if required so you have all kinds of options for productivity. They are just much larger ‘canvases‘ to work with If you know what i mean, to the point that they have largely replaced desktop PC’s.
Folks out here throwing out the word gimmick (relating it to a 3D tv) and I don't believe it's associated with a foldable phone... especially book style foldable. The concept of having a tablet in your hands and fold into a phone to put in your pocket, there is no ploy or trick to something like this.
Granted, there's more areas in which the current technology can improve (which that's what makes it appealing) ... but it's not a fad as critics make it out to be. Maybe, it's not their thing... that's fine. There are plenty of things I look past when I go shopping, while others might find value in it.
We look at the iPhone, hardware wise... what more can Apple add to it? It's near peak design. Look at the iPhone 12 Pro to the 15 Pro, not much has changed. I think Apple is going to lean heavily on marketing the camera with the 16 Pro... but for the most part, the design won't change.
Makes me wonder, the folks calling foldable phones a gimmick... is it the same people not interested in the Vision Pro? Is that considered a "niche" product?
Granted, there's more areas in which the current technology can improve (which that's what makes it appealing) ... but it's not a fad as critics make it out to be. Maybe, it's not their thing... that's fine. There are plenty of things I look past when I go shopping, while others might find value in it.
We look at the iPhone, hardware wise... what more can Apple add to it? It's near peak design. Look at the iPhone 12 Pro to the 15 Pro, not much has changed. I think Apple is going to lean heavily on marketing the camera with the 16 Pro... but for the most part, the design won't change.
Makes me wonder, the folks calling foldable phones a gimmick... is it the same people not interested in the Vision Pro? Is that considered a "niche" product?
I think a lot of people confuse tired with classic.
Nobody complains that the Porsche 911, the paragon Umbrella, The Mcdonalds Logo or the humble house brick are tired designs because they're not.
Its just Apple has conditioned the market to expect new designs all the time which is counter-productive. For me they could make every future iPhone the iPhone 4 in aesthetics and I would keep buyng them.
I think you completely missed the comment’s point. Laptops have used the same form factor for 30 years (since the PowerBook 100, actually): wrist rest and pointer device in the front, keyboard behind it, screen that folds down over it. Laptops are the candy bar of the portable desktop computing world and therefore “obsolete” by your logic. If folding phones are necessary because the candy bar design is “obsolete”, then laptops would need some new form factor (three screen laptops, like the Razer Project Valerie, perhaps?) because the current form factor is just iterative.
No i got what ctrlos meant, thats why i pointed out that there are different sized laptops, which are larger canvases to work with. I mean laptops have a keyboard, variety of I/O ports, they used to have dvd drives etc, you can upgrade the RAM, internal storage, GPU etc you cannot do none of that with mobile phones so its a apples to oranges comparison.
Now look at the Honor Magic v3 compared to the iphone 15 pro max, you essentially get 3 screens in the same size package as the iphone when folded weighing only 5 grams more but with a larger battery.
Basically going forward i want to see all tech companies inc Apple to offer similar to what Google and Samsung are doing (entry, midrange and premium candy bars with foldable flagship).
Why? Just buy that stuff from the other companies.
Why would Apple, the most successful company on the planet, do what their lesser competitors do? I’m not saying to sit back and do nothing until you die like BlackBerry did but Apple innovates at their own pace and it seems to be working. The worst thing they can do is chase things few want as proven by the sales of foldables.
I do consider foldable phones a bit of a gimmick, for me personally. What does a folding phone add, besides awkwardness? It’s just a pile of compromises that give me a bad phone that transforms into a bad tablet.
I recognise that they make sense for a small segment of people. More power to them, I hope they find the folding phone that is most useful to them! I suppose I’m playing with semantics though. Since I think it’s a gimmick to me, but useful to specific circumstances, I’m all but saying it’s a niche product.
Are there more people wanting a folding iPhone than want a new iPhone mini? My brother refuses to upgrade from his iPhone 12 mini until there’s another small iPhone for him. I see more people asking for that, but evidently not enough for Apple to justify making one.
And yet they make the AVP, which is by definition and design a niche, low volume product.
How can you compare the iphone Mini to something that Apple does not currently sell? Anyway If and when Apple does release their own foldable though, even if some find it ’gimmicky’ now, every one is going to want one and pay top money for it thats for sure.
You can't make that claim. Because it isn't true. If even ONE person does not want this then your premise is false. And you can't tell me that with billions of people on the planet every one will agree to the exact same thing.
And even if everyone did, there are going to be those who game the system because they don't WANT to pay top money. Which makes the second part of your statement false.
I get the enthusiasm, but I won't be purchasing a foldable. I don't need it, I don't want it. And if I won't get one - then that means it's not everyone.
Based on your signature… you have an iPhone and iPad. Imagine if you will, those two combine… how is both a bad phone and bad tablet?
These compromises that critics bring up…. thick and heavy (along with the crease). As if future iterations won’t improve upon these areas. Look no further than the 1st generation iPhone… to what we have now with the iPhone 15, think of that progress.
Some say the iPad Pro is a niche product, due to it‘s price is similar to that of MBA…. It gets so much criticism regarding iPadOS. But that niche product generates billions of dollars.
I see two potential reasons Apple hasn't released a folding iPhone yet. 1: They don't think it will sell in high enough numbers, or 2: They aren't happy with the state of technology, and won't release until they can make one that meets their standards. I think #2 is more likely, but I'm not ruling out #1 because of the existence and discontinuation of the iPhone mini. There are a good number of people who want an iPhone mini rather badly, who won't buy a larger iPhone, but there don't seem to be enough of them to convince Apple to make a new one.
I accept you're being hyperbolic, but I don't think that even a small majority would buy a foldable. It might be a large minority, maybe? I expect in five years foldable phones will have died out again, waiting for the next wave of interest in the future.
I have contemplated this quite a bit. My iPad is already almost too small for what I need it for, and I consider my iPhone 14 to be rather large for a phone. If I could afford to, I'd go get a 13" iPad today!
Fold an iPad mini in half, and I'd have an awkward sized phone that's terrible to use, until I fold it out into the iPad mini it was meant to be. That is still too small to be useful to me. Unfold an iPhone into an iPad, and you have a compromised iPhone that unfolds into an awkward iPad. With such an awful, in-between screen ratio, that's not quite square, what is the benefit?
I have played with folding phones, and I strongly dislike them. Even if/when the crease problem is solved, and Apple makes a folding device that unfolds to a seamless, even display, with a great feeling hinge that feels robust, what am I supposed to do with it? It's still too big an iPhone, and too small an iPad!
Also, saying a product fills a niche isn't a criticism of the product, merely an observation that it isn't going to be the number 1 seller in its category. I don't believe that foldable phones are likely to ever become the majority form factor, they're devices to fill a specific set of demands. I've read that some business people like the book-fold form factor because it adds convenience for them. Some people just like to get new gadgets (which is 100% NOT a criticism, who doesn't love a new gadget! Heck, I had a Nokia 7600!). The candybar won out as it's the least compromised form factor, and I don't believe the invention of bendy screens changes that.
The simple answer to "Why" is: Because I want a foldable running iOS.
Benefit? Whether or not you find the iPad Mini too small, it’s still a different experience you get out of it compared to the iPhone. From tablet-sized apps to having the opportunity to multitask.
I own a 13” iPad Pro and I don’t mind traveling with it. But an iPad Mini would be much suited for traveling compared to a bigger iPad.
Perhaps, you are not the target demographic of such a product. But it’s still a capable product.
On this we agree, highly doubt foldable phones will ever become majority form factor (due to its premium category)… but I do think it has a place in the tech world.
I am definitely not the target demographic for foldables. I had a Motorola, back before smartphones, and I hated it. Couldn't wait to get rid of it, and go back to candybars. Went for Sony Ericsson for a bit, which were nice, but I went back to Nokia until iPhones were a thing. For me the iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro combo is simply unbeatable.
I'm not pushing back against the concept of foldables, though I may not have always been super clear on that. I believe they're a niche product. They fit some specific usage cases, and some people just want shiny toys. I do agree that there can be a place for them.
I've been on the foldable train since the Fold 2, as soon as I unboxed it... that was a wrap for me!
I was an iPhone user for a decade... wanted something different, dabbled with Android over the years. But never fully committed until the Fold came around. It's not even the customization that most people rave about on Android, it's the multitasking and the ability to do more with it (at least for me).
But I'd always keep a Mac and iPad around though.
That's what all this tech is about, right? Finding what works best for you.
One of the things I like about iOS/iPadOS is whole single-tasked, full-screen app. I know there's basic multi-tasking, that you can split-screen things, but I avoid that. I've even been playing with Stage Manager on my Mac lately. I've been loving that it lets me keep one app in the foreground at a time, whilst easily switching it up when I need to. It's been helping my focus a lot. I need less on my screen, not more! My brain is too fatigued to look at multiple things all the time!