Well this one is a wild ride.
Not really comparable.
Devices fold because they need to fold. That is why laptops fold and hinges haven't gone away.
That’s a terrible analogy. Laptops fold because keyboards are still the most accurate productivity surface out there. And screens are needed.
Not because devices need to fold. That is an optimisation after the requirement is defined.
Some laptops fold wrongly as well. I am eternally fed up of Lenovo machines leaving piles of human detritus all over the tables in coffee shops because someone decided to use their Yoga keyboard side down. Vile machines.
Currently there are two options for phones/tablets. Folding with a crease or two panels with a physical divide. Scrollable screens aren't there yet.
Or not bother. That one needs to be considered. I’m sure Apple have done plenty of user studies here or they’d be ok the market with it already.
That means more moving parts on a folding phone than on a slab phone but comes with the advantage of doubling the screen size when needed and being able to use the main sensor setup for selfies etc. That said, hinge mechanisms now use less parts in their designs. But a hinge is a hinge.
A hinge is not a hinge. A hinge is a mechanical component. When you start turning it from a mechanical component into a complex substrate of many parts which are flex, temperature and impact sensitive you make trade offs which are probably not a good idea. You multiply the overall failure risk several orders of magnitude.
Flexible OLED panels do wear.
All devices come with trade-offs. On an iPhone you have a notch/cutout for selfie/biometric tasks. Underscreen options still aren't good enough for the mainstream.
Yes and neither are foldable panels.
As for durability, glass backs are a terrible option on slab phones but here we are with glass backs all over the place. Completely unnecessary and tremendously fragile and not even a true trade off.
Glass backs are incredibly strong. They also do not permanently deform if you bend them like metals.
We have glue and sealants too. Unnecessary IMO and never covered under warranty.
Now we’re just going off the rails.
Nothing related to the other point. Unless you want to consider that the flexible OLED screen is glued to the substrate. Also that “IMO” is probably wrong on glue and sealants. Might want to spend some time working on ruggedized military electronics and failure modelling (I have) before comparing about glue and sealants. Wait until you hear about potted things!
I would imagine that both creases and cutouts will go at some point. Until then we have ever-improving interim solutions that still cater to their basic design goals.
No. This is poor engineering propped up by marketers.
The 'less is more' idea isn't absolute and in a relatively short period we may even see removable batteries coming back.
Again away from the original discussion. The batteries are perfectly removable and replaceable just not by the usual idiots who will do it with a shovel after 6 beers.