Apple could become the only major phone maker without foldable devices. If the rumors are accurate, we may be able to see a foldable iPhone in 2025.
Apple is rarely the pioneer of a product, but it is often the aggregator. From both hardware and software aspects, Apple currently has the foundation and advantages to create folding screen mobile phones.
Netizens imagined the appearance of the folding screen iPhone by changing the Apple system icon to the folding screen phone.
2023 is considered to be a turning year for the folding screen mobile phone market. Huawei made the weight of the folding screen mobile phone light to the level of the straight plate machine, Honor reduced the thickness of the folding screen mobile phone to the "millimeter era", Samsung finally made its own folding screen mobile phone completely closed, Google launched the first folding screen mobile phone in its history. Apple, still has not released a folding screen mobile phone.
In addition to these, Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO and Motorola have all launched folding screen phones, and OnePlus also announced in February this year that it plans to release the first folding screen, if released, Apple will become the only major mobile phone manufacturer without foldable devices.
Is Apple developing folding screen phones?
In January 2021, Mark Gurman, a senior editor at Bloomberg, wrote that Apple has begun development of an iPhone with a foldable screen, but has not yet implemented specific release plans. According to an anonymous person familiar with the matter, the development work has not yet expanded beyond the display, which means that Apple does not yet have a full prototype of the folding screen phone in its lab.
Gulman said that several foldable screen sizes have been discussed internally at Apple, including a similar size to the 6.7-inch screen on the iPhone 12 Pro Max when unfolded.
At the time, people familiar with the matter said that the foldable iPhone being tested was the same as the Samsung foldable phone, with a hinge behind the display.
"For Apple, this would be a complete departure. Its groundbreaking touchable full-screen smartphone is arguably the most successful consumer technology product in history, helping Apple become the most valuable company in the world. However, the foldable iPhone may be years away, or it may never be available in the end. Gurman wrote.
In May of that year, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said: "Apple may launch a foldable iPhone with an 8-inch QHD Plus flexible OLED display in 2023." He revised his prediction in an April tweet that said Apple may not launch a foldable screen device until 2025. Notably, Guo's tweet was posted on April 1, which was April Fool's Day.
Both Gurman and Kuo are authoritative Apple product forecasters, and if the rumors are accurate, we may see a foldable iPhone in 2025.
Imaginary vertical folding screen iPhone.
Hardware challenges are not the main problem
Apple is rarely the pioneer of a product, but it is often the aggregator. It is not the first company to launch music players, smartphones, and tablets, but in all three areas, it has revolutionized and dominated the market.
Folding screen mobile phones are very difficult to make and need to consider physical complexity, and it contains mechanical parts that are more prone to failure or wear than straight plate machines, such as dust-proof hinged parts and special screens. When the world's first widely marketed folding screen phone, the Samsung Galaxy Fold, was released in 2019, testers quickly discovered that the device had hinge and display failures.
Over the years, these initial challenges have been gradually solved. In addition to improved durability, mobile phone manufacturers have begun to be able to compete with the experience of folding screen mobile phones, such as weight, thickness, texture, waterproofness and shooting function.
If a foldable iPhone is in the works, Apple may innovate its design to minimize the parts and mechanisms involved, which should reduce the likelihood of the phone failing due to damage. Apple has a good track record in this regard, such as when it released the iPhone 7, introducing a virtual touch-sensitive home button, which reduced a mechanical part that could be damaged. Apple has also launched AppleCare, a repair and support service, and has a global network that offers such a service that can help ease users' concerns about malfunctions or accidental damage.
Anyone who has used a MacBook knows that Apple is leading the way in hinge design and reliability. In addition, Apple has the most cutting-edge processor and has the ability to provide the multitasking required by folding screen phones. The iPhone 15 Pro series of mobile phones released by Apple on September 12 contains the world's first chip using a 3nm manufacturing process.
Imaginary landscape folding screen iPhone.
Software is in great need of optimization
At present, hardware is gradually not the main factor hindering the promotion of folding screen mobile phones, and software adaptation is the biggest problem.
Due to the fragmentation of the Android system, different brands have their own versions of the customized system, and the degree of adaptation to folding screen mobile phones is also very different. For example, Samsung is recognized as the best in folding screen mobile phone software adaptation, and Xiaomi's MIUI has been criticized by users. One of the reasons Google launched its first folding screen mobile phone Pixel Fold this year is to hope to deploy a better and more unified folding screen Android system.
Huawei, which is working towards the integration of software and hardware, can better optimize the Harmony system. Apple also has such advantages, its developed software development ecosystem, coupled with a large user base, can help third-party software better adapt to folding screen mobile phones.
Since the birth of the iOS system, the iPhone has not performed well in multitasking. Even with the introduction of the app switching function in iOS 4, it did not really optimize too much task processing as the screen got bigger, and this feature is one of the killer features of folding screen phones to defeat straight phones. If Apple wants to launch a folding screen mobile phone in the future, it must transform the existing software system. The new features previewed in the iOS 17 public beta hint that Apple may reorganize multitasking in iOS.
iPadOS's Stage Manager feature makes multitasking easier.
At the same time, iPadOS can achieve true multitasking, especially since Apple introduced the Stage Manager feature last year, which can automatically organize open applications and windows and switch easily. In recent years, iOS and iPadOS have drifted away as Apple has developed more iPad-specific features, and the foldable iPhone requires a recombination of the two operating systems. Alternatively, Apple may develop a new software platform that can switch between tablet and phone modes to help it stand out in foldable phone products.
The last issue remains price. The starting price of an iPhone 15 Pro Max that cannot be folded in half has reached 9999 yuan, so how much will an iPhone that can be folded in half sell?