After Samsung has been setting the tone for the foldable smartphone for years with the Galaxy Z Fold, Google announced a feisty competitor this week. The Pixel Fold makes the game particularly interesting, but where does that leave Apple with its foldable iPhone?
Although we hear little about it officially, the corridors have been flowing with rumors for months. Apple seems to be busy behind the scenes working on an answer to Google and Samsung, but what can you as a consumer expect?
Google and Samsung go hard: where does that leave the foldable iPhone?
When it comes to Apple territory, there are some sources we trust almost blindly. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and DSCC CEO Ross Young are two of those sources. So it’s not surprising that we lean on both men’s information when it comes to the foldable iPhone.
Unfortunately, neither of them have any really great news to share about Apple’s project. At least, if you can’t wait to get started with a foldable iPhone then. Indeed, although the American company is busy testing the special smartphone, we really aren’t going to see it for the time being.
Ming-Chi Kuo, for example, recently revealed that Apple will not launch its foldable iPhone at least until 2025. And they have a snappy good reason for that.
Apple focuses on iPad first
While companies like Samsung and Google are mainly focusing on the foldable smartphone, Apple seems to want to make a difference in the tablet market. Indeed, rumors are circulating that the American company wants to give the iPad a flexible treatment first.
Piece thinner than the one in Star Trek. (Image: Apple)
Exactly what such a device will look like we don’t really know yet, but it may just be the first step in the transition from Mac to iPad. Given the imposing specifications of the Apple tablet, people have actually been waiting ages for the end of the computer and the switch to the tablet.
So by making the iPad foldable, it could offer the best of both worlds. A larger screen can be packaged more compactly, making it excellent to combine the functionalities of a tablet with a laptop. A logical choice, if you ask us.
What does a foldable iPhone look like?
As fun as the theory behind a foldable iPhone can be, of course we would like to know what this would look like. Does Apple approach the concept the same as Samsung or does it do something slightly different?
According to the aforementioned sources, Apple is currently testing several prototypes. On the one hand, it is looking at the concept of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and thus wants to be able to make its iPhone more compact. But on the other hand, it is also researching an iPad that can be folded into an iPhone.
As far as we are concerned, especially given its plans to release the foldable iPad sooner, the latter is a more logical step. Although Apple is not necessarily the company known for logical choices. For example, we can just see it choosing the former option because the iPad/Mac combo might not sell as well in the latter case.
All in all, Apple has a lot of work to do and we as consumers especially need a lot of patience.
