Apple’s rumoured foldable iPhone (possibly iPhone Flip) might launch in 2026, but display crease, and design are roadblocks.
Just skip this idea. No one wants this.
Bin this and bring back the mini so we can have a proper small form factor phone
If the foldable is the form factor of a mini, how would that go over?
Either is better than a 7” inch phone like the Pro Max. But I don’t know how reliable the flip form factor is yet.
I had the first gen razer before my current mini and it stopped working after about 6 months of use. It just stopped reading touch input after flipping it shut one day.
I’d buy this in a heartbeat lol
Same. I like the smaller form factor but don’t want to ditch screen space like the SE. And I prefer this style of flip over the giant tablet that folds down to a skinny screen.
But why?
Because I’m a millenial with a nostalgic craving for the satisfaction of a flip phone.
Ditch touch screen and give it physical buttons and we’ll be on to something.
People said the same thing about the notch in iPhone screens, and the removal of the head phone jack. They even said it about larger iPhones. And just like all these other “ideas” that should be skipped, people will buy it.
I still think the removal of the headphone jack was a very anti-customer move. It only benefited them to try to sell more earbuds.
I’ve known people that purchased the foldable android when it came out, they got rid of it.
removal of the head phone jack
I’m still proper pissed about this.
I love my giant iPhone and would never buy a foldable
I have the Samsung foldable (flip 4). It’s a nice gimmic, but does apple really want to force app developers to support yet another form factor? That’s supposedly one of the draws of apple development: you don’t have to support every random screen size made by some third party.
Apple fans will buy whatever Apple makes them want.
Imagine what they’re going to charge? Lmao
$2999 + $499 for a bendable case
Great. Now everyone will be copying Apple’s foldable idea.
They’re like the last ones to the party lol
Yes, but once again, the fanboys will hail it as an Apple invention.
Okay so since we’re going back to flip phones, can we just get a frickin phone with a button keyboard again??
God yes.
I was looking at phones yesterday and thinking: do they make an actual, premium flip phone with keyboard a la the old Motorola Razr? It appears nobody does. All I could find were cheap shitty Chinese plasticky trash or phones made for the elderly.
I want something with a nice metal/titanium case, premium keyboard, decent oled screen, 10+ megapixel camera on it… and something that I can snap shut like it owes me money. Don’t make it too small; I want a week’s battery life at least and swappable battery.
And I would - and I’m not joking here - pay 600-800 euros for that, depending on how premium the experience is.
I think there’s absolutely a market for that.
A weeks battery is insane, 7-10 times as big as the average battery now.
Back in the ‘sweet spot’ of cellphone use, the late ‘90’s, you could get several days of use out of a battery. Some only needed a weekly charge. I also don’t need or want a flip phone to do everything that a smartphone does.
I’m a big proponent of making phones bigger with bigger batteries. I’ve got huge hands and most phones feel dainty and fragile. Give me a house brick with a week long battery and I’d be perfectly happy. Making phones slimmer is just silly.
I don’t mind phones being chonky, I mind them being large in other dimensions. I have small hands and my Pixel 7a is on the edge of what I can use comfortably with one hand.
I get about a weeks battery out of my Punkt, but I don’t use it for much besides the occasional text or call. I suspect if I used it more I’d wager I’d get 4 days out of it.
Look at Kyocera Digno 903KC, Sharp Aquos K3 or Freetel Mode 1 Retro II. Their idea is retro design with somewhat modern OS. It’s still Android but very old one. None the less you can run WhatsApp, Signal and the like.
I’ll look into those. That Sharp looks ancient though? I’m seeing videos on it from 6 years ago, assuming it’s the correct one.
It’s likely my memory is out of date, but at least you have a starting point for search. They make those kinds of phones. I know Samsung has Galaxy Folder. Not to be mistaken with Fold. Only thing am aware of that was released recently is Cat S22 Flip, in 2021.
They wanted to make the IFlip but instead its an IFlop.
I’ll see myself out.
what is the benefit of this i don’t get it?
Larger display but still compact in your pocket. It’s just a competitor to the Samsung flip phone
Yes, but you can rig the screen with a fingernail if you push hard enough. Tested it in store…
You can mess up your screen if you slam your phone on the ground or if you press it with a nail. Your point being? Just don’t do that.
Scratching your phone with a really soft material is a very different situation than smashing it into the ground…
If it’s easily avoidable then it’s not. I have a foldable for years now and haven’t damaged inner screen once. You normally don’t use nails on your regular phone with glass screen, why would you here?
There are other things which might touch your screen like dust, which are much harder than a fingernail and thus will be able to scratch it. Just because it hasn’t happened to you yet doesn’t mean it’s not possible.
At the end of the day a glass screen will always be more scratch resistant than a plastic screen
I’ve had my foldable for a couple of years and even after removing the factory screen protection I’ve had 0 scratches on it.
If you are a careful person with your phone, they are fine. If you are the type to crack your screen after a week of use, then they are even more of a headache.
See, this tells me you are talking out of your ass and just assuming things without actually owning foldable screen. Under normal use conditions devices are perfectly fine. They don’t scratch. If anything they are more protected than a regular phone’s screen because they are closed. Besides you use screen protector like you’d use on any device.
Do those phones sell that well? I held one recently and it doesn’t seem very practical for someone that keeps taking their phone out back into their pocket often.
It has its niche. Those who like it, really like it. My friend is basically only going to go with flip phones from now on because it fits completely inside his pockets and that it can act as its own tripod.
I bet the screen is less prone to scratching from anything in your pockets
It’s a tradeoff game. On one side it’s really practical to have essentially laptop with you all the time. But on the other it’s heavy and bulky. There are no car or motorcycle mounts for it, etc. I still love and use my Fold4, two years now. Fold6 is significantly better designed and made. Samsung is making big strides in this direction.
That’s because you are thinking about it only as a phone. I got Fold4 in attempt to replace my laptop which I have to carry around almost 24/7 due to work. Fold4 has been successful in doing so 95%. It’s still no replacement for laptop, but paired with comfortable bluetooth keyboard it’s more than adequate for a quick fix or slight bit of work.
This is the second year I’ve had it and I am yet to run into problems. I do have original Samsung’s case for it because that was the only way to get a pen for the phone. I played with new Fold6 and I can tell you it’s far more robust and better made, so I’d expect even fewer issues with it. Fold4 without case is a bit slipper and entirely too heavy. Something new version addresses very well.
No. And 2 friends I know that have them are constantly replacing due to damage
this is my thought too. i take my phone out hundreds of times a day and wonder how this would affect me if i had to unfold that much.
I’m the sort of person that takes it out of my pocket and puts it back a lot. It’s not a big deal honestly, it feels good to open and close it.
I’m actually greatful for foldable phones. When they started actually coming out, I was certain that smartphones were feature-complete and my phone would never become obsolete again. If that weren’t true, they would have put a new real feature in the phone instead.
Fuck no.
I don’t want that.
You’ll buy it and you’ll like it, dammit.
Apple always the trail blazer…
Fuck all the way off with this idea
