Rumors about a folding-iPhone circulated recently after analyst Ming Chi-Kuo suggested that a device a bit larger than the iPhone 12 Pro Max will go on sale in 2023. However, as 9to5 Mac noted, we still don’t know one crucial bit of information – how it will actually fold.
But there are two different ways of designing a folding iPhone that opens up to reveal an 8-inch display. First, there is a vertical fold, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2. What you get there is a device slim enough to fit into a jacket pocket, which then opens up into a rather wide iPad mini-like display. The alternative is a horizontal fold, like the 2019 Motorola Razr. What that gives you is a super-pocketable device that opens up into an even larger Pro Max – creating more vertical space rather than more horizontal room.
Check It Out: We Still Don’t Know a Key Bit of Information About the Rumored Folding iPhone
“We Still Don’t Know a Key Bit of Information About the Rumored Folding iPhone”
They keyword being rumored until it is confirmed at a keynote.
Charlotte:
If Apple perfects their rumoured foldable iPhone, it’s their competitors who are likely to get bent out of shape.
That said, it remains unclear to me precisely what problem a foldable phone solves. True, one has more screen space, approaching that more akin to an iPad Mini, only less capable courtesy of iOS as opposed to iPadOS. On the other hand, perhaps it will actually be an iPad Mini, only less durable courtesy of stress fractures in the screen over time. There is a reason why machines with fewer moving parts have a survival advantage over those with more. O, the implausibilities!
That said, I think the sci-fi writer, Stephen Baxter, has it right when he features the so-called ‘softscreens’ in his many novels; computer-capable material that can be folded up or rolled up and put away in one’s pocket or purse, and then spread out on a surface or a wall when needed for viewing. When the rumour mill begins to posit that Apple are working on a soft screen, then yours truly will start saving his pennies.
Until then, when it comes to my iPhones, I’m sticking to the straight and narrow.