Written by
Jason Cipriani, Contributing Writer
Jason Cipriani
Contributing Writer
Jason Cipriani is based out of beautiful Colorado and has been covering technology news and reviewing the latest gadgets as a freelance journalist for the past 13 years. His work can be found all across the Internet and in print.
Full Bio
on December 27, 2021
| Topic: Mobility
Smartphones are boring. But a foldable iPhone could change that
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I do not doubt that a team within Apple is already testing the technology the company would need to make an iPhone with a foldable display. Whether or not the device is ever released is anyone’s guess, but for the sake of competition, at the very least, I hope it happens. The sooner, the better.
Allow me to put on my Apple engineering hat for a moment and posit what a foldable iPhone would look like.
I’d make the front display, and thus the phone’s size when it’s closed, roughly the same size as the iPhone 13 Pro. Unlike the Z Fold 3, which has a far too narrow front screen, I’d want the foldable iPhone’s front screen to have minimal bezels. The downside of the Z Fold 3’s narrow display is that some apps don’t display properly, with text on the right side of the screen cut off. Also, the keyboard feels way too cramped to type long messages on comfortably.
When I place an iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro (they have identical dimensions and screen size) next to each other, the overall size is slightly bigger than the Z Fold 3 when it’s opened.
I think if Apple were to use the iPhone 13 Pro Max as the basis for dimensions, the size would be too wide for most to type on and navigate the interface comfortably.
Apple could use Face ID on the front screen to secure the iPhone and enable Apple Pay payments while also including a Touch ID fingerprint reader in the side button, just like the iPad Air and iPad Mini currently have. The side button could be used to unlock the device when it’s open, eliminating the need for a notch on both displays.
Speaking of the
iPad Mini
, I envision a foldable iPhone looking a lot like the smallest tablet in Apple’s lineup, only slightly smaller.
As far as software is concerned, most of the groundwork is already there in iOS and iPadOS. Ideally, a foldable iPhone would run some sort of hybrid OS, utilizing iOS on the front screen and then iPadOS on the internal display.
With iPadOS powering the larger display experience, you’re still going to have access to the split-screen and slide over multitasking features that iPad users currently have access to.
Of course, the front screen would look and work just like the iPhone does right now. A single column view with a single app on the screen at any given time.
The Z Fold 3’s front display is far too narrow.
Jason Cipriani/ZDNet
It’s hard to imagine a foldable iPhone without Apple Pencil support, but that also means Apple will need to shrink down the
Apple Pencil
in order for it to match the height of the iPhone so it can be attached to the side and wirelessly charge via magnets, just like the second-generation Apple Pencil does right now.
A lot of the groundwork is there for Apple’s foldable phone, it now comes down to whether or not the technology for a folding display and, I’d wager, battery life can meet Apple’s standards.
As I said earlier, I’ve really enjoyed using the Z Fold 3 and Duo 2 over the last few months. In fact, I’ve enjoyed using Samsung’s foldable so much that I bought one of my own after returning a review sample to AT&T.
(Side note: For what it’s worth, I wasn’t willing to pay $1,800 for the Z Fold 3. Instead, I patiently and obsessively monitored Swappa for a good deal. I ended up buying a new-in-box Z Fold 3 for $1,075. Not bad, right?)
I still have the Duo 2 review sample Microsoft sent me, and I plan on to routinely go back to using it just to keep the feel of the experience that two separate displays brings.
So, thanks, Microsoft and Samsung, for giving me something to get excited about again. Hopefully, I’ll be able to say the same about Apple in the near future.
What do you think? Should Apple release a foldable phone? If so, what do you envision it looking like? Let me know in the comments below.
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