As a foldable veteran and Apple fanboy, who is the iPhone Fold FOR?
preface: been using foldables since the Surface Duo and have owned pretty much every major iteration up to the current Fold lineup. At the same time, I’m a massive Apple fan. I am fully locked into the ecosystem, use everything daily including the Vision Pro, and love their gear.
Was gonna buy an iPhone Fold until I held the Galaxy Z Fold 8
That said, everything pointing toward the rumored iPhone Fold just feels way off.
Here is why I think this thing is going to struggle:
* The Air/AVP all over again: Look at what happened with the iPhone Air. When a model sits at a Pro price tag but makes big compromises, 99% of people just buy the Pro instead. The buyers dropping top dollar want the best specs, not a Folding design experiment that cuts the 3-camera array, spatial capture, thermal performance, or full MagSafe support.
* iPadOS multitasking still won't be enough: Even if Apple gives us complete iPadOS-level multitasking on that inner screen, it still won't touch what Android can do on a foldable layout. Customization and flexible window management are essential when you have that much display space, and iOS is simply too restrictive to make the most of it. It will cap out at 2 windows FOR SURE.
* First-gen sacrifices vs mature hardware: Samsung and others have spent years dialing in crease visibility, hinges, and screen ratios. A first-gen Apple foldable with asymmetric design quirks, awkward rounded corners, and a thicker body just isn't going to hold up against CHEAPER devices that have had a decade to mature.
* Who is this actually for? The target market feels impossibly small. It seems made for people who are trapped in iMessage/FaceTime, want a massive screen, don't mind a stripped-down camera, don't care about deep functionality, and somehow haven't tried a foldable in the 8 years they've been on the market.
If someone genuinely wants screen real estate and real functionality, current Android options are just lightyears ahead on both hardware and software flexibility. Without a true Pro feature set, the iPhone Fold is asking for huge compromises at an absurd price.
Would you actually trade Pro features for a folding screen in its current state?