Other Is the iPhone 17 “Slim” a folding iPhone? How else would you justify it’s highest price in the 17 lineup?

[fw85]

I will once again remind everyone, just because you don't see value in a foldable, doesn't mean others don't and that Apple will not force you to buy it or make all phones fold.

Except it seems like others don't really see it either. Not empirically, and not statistically.

The entire foldable phone market fails to capture even 2% of global yearly phone shipments, despite being like 6 product generations old at this point.

Why would Apple be forcing their customers en masse into something best described as niche?

P.S.: wasn't it also Samsung who tried really hard to convince us (read: shove ads in our faces), that 3D TVs were totally, absolutely the future?

 

[Mikep976]

Except it seems like others don't really see it either. Not empirically, and not statistically.

The entire foldable phone market fails to capture even 2% of global yearly phone shipments, despite being like 6 product generations old at this point.

Why would Apple be forcing their customers en masse into something best described as niche?

P.S.: wasn't it also Samsung who tried really hard to convince us (read: shove ads in our faces), that 3D TVs were totally, absolutely the future?

Forcing? Again, no one is being held by a knife and told “you must buy this”. It’s an option. Didn’t stop them from pushing out a $3500 tech demo labeled as a headset (again, not hating I think it’s cool).

Absolutely, I do agree right now the share is minute at this time, but always comparing 3D TV to foldables forgets the numerous other times that small market shares balloneed when done right / by Apple or with competition (if we’re sticking with Samsung, phablets are a perfect example) or smartwatches, laptops, heck even the original iPad and iPhone. All things that were being done / done poorly for a while, that flourished and took off. It’s about choice and trying new things.

 

[Ctrlos]

Won’t be water resistant. I value those more than ports and other stuff making it more like a pc.

Sony manage IP68 with all the bells.

 

[spac3duck]

With the rumors of the iPhone 17 “Slim” being more expensive than the Pro Max (albeit with a smaller display, lower specs, and aluminum body), I was curious if the reason was because it would have a brand new folding design?

I mean, how else could they justify pricing it higher than the Pro Max? 🤔 The only other reason I could think of is perhaps Apple is intentionally feeding misinformation to leakers in the company in an effort to weed them out.

Any other reason you could think of as to why the iPhone “Slim” would be the top priced phone outside of a radical new form factor? Also the extremely thin nature of the phone would make sense if it folds together as you wouldn’t want it to be too thick and not be pocketable.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the matter 🙂

I feel the iOS 18 Photos app is trialling the UI/UX for a folding phone…

 

[JapanApple]

Well, the lower models will be cheaper. Those that don't care about the slim

 

[fw85]

Forcing? Again, no one is being held by a knife and told “you must buy this”. It’s an option.

I was reacting to your previous statement:

just because you don't see value in a foldable, doesn't mean others don't and that Apple will not force you to buy it or make all phones fold.

Which literally proposes some alternate universe where Apple would force everyone to buy foldables by not giving another option?

To which I reiterate, it's a 6 generations old experiment of a product that has clearly failed at this point - the novelty factor is starting to wear off, people are realizing just how much of an actual nonsense these things are in real life and thus there's been a significant slowdown in the market growth recently, slated to continue.

 

[snipr125]

Except it seems like others don't really see it either. Not empirically, and not statistically.

The entire foldable phone market fails to capture even 2% of global yearly phone shipments, despite being like 6 product generations old at this point.

Why would Apple be forcing their customers en masse into something best described as niche?

P.S.: wasn't it also Samsung who tried really hard to convince us (read: shove ads in our faces), that 3D TVs were totally, absolutely the future?

The Flip/Fold 5 series accounted for 20% of Samsungs sales last year, and are selling very well even outperforming sales of the old Note series.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 breaks records, accounts for 70% of preorders

Foldable phones are hotter than ever. Are they here to stay?

www.zdnet.com

Samsung Galaxy Z foldables set early sales record in Europe - KED Global

Samsung Electronics Co. 's Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Z Fold 5 smartphones have set early sales records in Europe, with annual sales of the company's foldables seen t

www.kedglobal.com

Also Apple wont force foldables onto their customers, the traditional candy bar phones will always be in their lineups. In fact the Flip 6 is now cheaper than the 15 Pro Max, so prices are coming down.

 

[Elusi]

I could imagine the "Slim" being a result of their rumored foldable project's efforts thus far.

IE maybe they made prototypes of a foldable phone and came to the conclusion that they didn't like how thick it was when folded, so they started to really push the boundaries on how thin they can make a phone in the first place, perhaps accepting some compromises while doing so.

I would agree with the notion that if the 17 "slim" actually was foldable it should have been mentioned in the leaks. But hey, we're still over a year away from this thing, so who knows.

 

[Smigit]

I don’t think the phone will fold.

I’m not sure they need to ship a 17, 17 Pro and another third model, be it called a slim or whatever. I think the ‘Slim’ could actually be the ‘Pro’ and that along with the typical inclusion of the latest camera and CPU, this time Apple could use a new form factor for the higher cost model. The greater differentiation is what would set it apart from a base model and justify the larger cost gap.

Sort of finding it hard to imagine they keep the Pro models, presumably with the latest chips etc, yet sell another model for even more that’s a bit thinner. Especially will be odd to have a 17 Pro Max with a larger display than the 17 Slim, I think.

 

[LutzRFrank]

Max Tech posted similar rumor on his YouTube channel.
Max Tech hat The Leaked iPhone 17 Slim is NOT what you think it is...

 

[cnnyy20p]

But seriously, a folding phone just seems so gimmicky. What do you get that you don’t get from a standard bar design? Compactness? Sort of. It doubles in thickness when folded. Kind of useless. It’s so far into gimmick territory it may as well be back in the mid-2000s with all the wacky designs. Phones have matured and that sort of makes them boring to people who love “innovation”, but exciting to people like me who love refinement and materials.

I agree, folding phones are very gimmicky. But I think hybrid folding phone/tablet devices like the Galaxy Z Fold series actually have a pretty useful form factor. The technology for the display materials might not be there yet. And I have to agree the tech is very expensive now.

I disagree with your opinion on compactness. You save a lot of device size when folded, for an increase in thickness that barely affects usability. For example, with the Fold 6, you save 6.8 cm on device width with a trade-off of only 0.6 cm increase in thickness when folded. Is that even comparable? It's like being able to fit an iPad mini in your jeans pocket. Like, count me in! A miniaturize tech that could expand is the future.

 

[ab2c4]

I don’t think it’s a folding phone. Why would the Slim cost more money though? That’s easy: a phone that weighs less and is thin, those are both desirable and premium features for a phone for many of us. A lot of us are sick of thick heavy phones that we have been getting lately, even if it means less battery life. As it is now battery life is overkill for a lot of people.

 

[Sami13496]

Perhaps this is genius on Apple's part, though. They are now (supposedly) creating two flagship phones: one that prioritizes form, and one that prioritizes function.

Exactly this And ‘form’ version of iPhone might very well cost more because iPhone more than other Apple products has always been a fashion statement.

 

[VisceralRealist]

On the other hand, I could see a kind of buyer fatigue setting in with the introduction of such a model. There would no longer be a clear option for those who want the "highest-end" model because there are now two highest-end models, both with compromises, and one would be a shameless luxury model intended as a fashion statement, as you said.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Historically, Apple has been much more keen of furthering product segmentation with more and more premium and low-end models, and only rarely does it move to a completely different form-factor, which a foldable would be (for Apple).

I see this product as Apple creating yet another "value step" on its iPhone product ladder, one that sits above the Pros, and giving us something like an an iPhone Ultra(?) that has an extra high-end chassis and, even more premium everything.

And for the first time ever, the Ultra merges slimness with the great battery life we've come to expect in Pro iPhones.

It's quite clear that the average iPhone buyer has now fully accepted the $999+ price tag. So pushing it a little further with something even better and more expensive than Pro Max makes a lot of sense.

More specifically, I think this iPhone Ultra will see the Pro Max leave the line-up for good, so it's then

• SE 4 at some $429-$599
• mid-tier & Plus at $799 and $899
• Pro (but no Pro Max) at $999
• then Ultra, aka "Slim", starting at some $1199-$1499

With just the $999 iPhone Pro as the only Pro in the line-up, Apple would push a lot to jump to this extra pricey iPhone Ultra.

I also expect this Ultra("Slim") to be the first iPhone to go full under-display Face ID, or, at least, offering something that's a lot smaller than the current Dynamic Island.

 

[Tevosn]

I thought folding phones were dead, so I think not.

 

[Cirillo Gherardo]

Opinions aren't necessary here. It is not a folding phone. This is well known.

Apple is too large and too far reaching to keep things a secret anymore. The iPhone Slim is certainly a poorly understood product at this point, but it is not a folding phone.

 

[Zmmyt]

I never use the second lens on my iPhone 13 mini...if the phone has an excellent camera and maybe a few other bells and whistles, this could be an attractive phone. I'm not too much of a fan of the current phones...more slimmed down with outstanding components might be worth considering.

EDIT: everyone seems to be putting more cameras into their phones, but the majority (I believe) don't make use of it.

 

[fw85]

The Flip/Fold 5 series accounted for 20% of Samsungs sales last year, and are selling very well even outperforming sales of the old Note series.

Samsung has sold 226.6M units in 2023. Of those, approximately 10.5M were the foldable models. That isn't even 5% of unit sales.
There's evidence to suggest that foldables do in fact still have garbage sales despite the ad hype.

These may have accounted for more revenue share, being the overpriced pieces of junk they are, though once the novelty factor wears off, things will get a whole lot worse (already so in 2024).

I thought folding phones were dead, so I think not.

They live on in ads only. Give it a bit of time.

 

[JPack]

Samsung has sold 226.6M units in 2023. Of those, approximately 10.5M were the foldable models. That isn't even 5% of unit sales.
There's evidence to suggest that foldables do in fact still have garbage sales despite the ad hype.

If you put those numbers into perspective, the foldables are selling quite well. The 230 million phones Samsung sells globally includes a lot of ultra low cost devices to Latin America and Africa.

In 2023, over 8 months, Samsung sold about 10 million S23 Ultra devices.
In 2023, over 6 months, Apple sold 26 million 14 Pro Max devices.

Foldables represent the ultra premium tier, so Samsung selling 10 million units ain't bad. It shows people want them, but whether Samsung has the right design and price is another question.

 

[ttyRazor]

No, but it’s probably a step towards one. If they get a couple years’ practice building phones that thin, they’ll be better prepared once they do make a folding phone

 

[Marty80]

My thoughts are it’s a candy bar much like its brothers & sisters. To make the phone slimmer I believe the Slim we do away with the glass back housing, and go entirely with an aluminum case much like the iPhone 5 & 6.

 

[snipr125]

Max Tech posted similar rumor on his YouTube channel.
Max Tech hat The Leaked iPhone 17 Slim is NOT what you think it is...

Also mkbhd/waveform stating the same as max tech, that the 17 Slim/Apple flip are the same device.

 

[iphoneMiniWanter]

Agree with other posters pointing out the price point rumor is probably just wrong. I could see the new lineup being

- iPhone (Slim)
- Pro
- Pro Max

Just introduced some minor advantage to choosing the lower end device.

 

[bhall110]

This could be the portless phone we had rumored a few years back. This could be apples way of testing the waters to see if it is a viable product. If it is received well then they know we are ready to go portless.