charlesn

bobonet said:

Wesley_Hilliard said:

Stabitha_Christie said:

I love a good rumor as much as the next person but can we not normalize this kind of behavior? While it isn't illegal to take someone's photo in public is still an invasion of privacy and promoting this kind of thing will only lead to more instances of this kind of thing. 

Sorry to say, but the law is quite clear, when in public, it is fair game. While I can't take a photo of someone and use it commercially, there's nothing stopping anyone from taking photos, recording video, or capturing audio of anyone in public.

Would this article count as commercial use?

Nope. This is an Apple news site and this is news. 

liuping said:

charlesn said:

HIGHLY unlikely bordering on impossible that we'll get the zoom that's described. There's just nothing to indicate that Apple or anyone else is at the point where a zoom lens with moving optical elements to provide true optical zoom is possible within the confines of a smartphone

Sony already has a phone with a moving optical zoom and other are coming. There is also the Liquid lens focusing system that allows for a variable optical zoom.

https://www.digit.in/features/mobile-phones/8-best-periscope-telephoto-camera-phones-for-optical-zoom-in-2024.html

There were rumors the iPhone 12 Max Pro would have one of these, but it did not make the cut. It's been 2 year since then, so it's not unreasonable that it's finally coming

Thanks for this! I didn't know Sony was already there with its 3.5-5.2 true optical zoom. That is a fantastically useful zoom range, as well: assuming Apple's usual 24mm main lens, that's would work out to an 84-125mm telephoto zoom. Now I want to do more reading about that lens to see how it actually performs. Anecdotally speaking, I feel like all the buzz has been about periscope telephoto lenses, while Sony's lens, at least in theory, is a much bigger achievement that seems to be under the radar. (I can't say that I think of Sony being among the major handset makers, either.) Liquid Lens also sounds very exciting, and that would be an entirely new technological approach to achieving true optical zoom. 

melgross said:

I don’t remember the 12-24 lens on any of my iPhones. When was it?

Exactly right. Apple has never had a true optical zoom--i.e., moving optical elements to achieve different focal lengths. Apple lenses have always been fixed focal lengths and any zooming from the specific focal length of a lens has been achieved digitally. This is still true for all the latest 16 models. 

HIGHLY unlikely bordering on impossible that we'll get the zoom that's described. There's just nothing to indicate that Apple or anyone else is at the point where a zoom lens with moving optical elements to provide true optical zoom is possible within the confines of a smartphone and... oh, yeah, it would have to be able to sustain repeated drops and not go out of alignment. Sure, we'll get there eventutally, but how many years did it take Apple just to go from 3x to 5x? And that's only a fixed focal length. Plus, when it did, the 5x would only fit in the Pro Max for the 15 Pro models. No way I'm convinced that in the one year since the 5x could fit into both Pro models, we're going to get a true optical 8X zoom. Sure, I absolutely wish this rumor was true, but I also don't see how this kind of tremendous advancement in smartphone lens technology could have flown under the radar until now. 

AppleZulu said:

That's a great review, but it failed to answer the biggest question: What is the use for this, beyond, "hey look, it folds"? Despite how nifty that might be, folding phones are apparently only 3% of the Chinese market, 

I don't think the use case is all that hard to discern: it's a mobile phone and a tablet in a package that's just a tiny fraction thicker than a Pro Max and about the same weight. That's pretty compelling. There's certainly a market for it. I also think having an exterior screen that's the equal of a Pro Max eliminates the need to open the phone when you just want to use it as a smartphone. And not mentioned in this review is that the camera system was developed with Hasselblad, one of the most storied names in photography. What makes this all a whole lot less compelling is this: $2500. And that's how you end up with 3% market share. The best of the folding phones are priced for a very small high end niche. 

I do think the main point of this review, vis a vis Apple, is very well taken. Apple arriving late to the party for a given product is not unusual, but when it does arrive, it's often with a highly innovative, best-in-class piece of hardware. Well, let's pretend the Chinese phones don't exist for a moment and consider this: if Apple had released something like this Oppo in response to the current Samsung and Google folding phone options, this would have been that highly innovative, best-in-class product that blew past the competition and set the bar much higher. Problem is, the Oppo does exist, and a year earlier (at the very least) from when Apple is supposedly launching the iPhone Fold. I have no idea what Apple might be planning for an iPhone Fold--and that's IF there is an iPhone Fold--but it would have to be absolutely astounding in ways we haven't yet seen to significantly top what Oppo is offering today. 

command_f said:

However, I didn't get a clear idea of why I might want to fold my phone.
My dishwasher is WiFi-enabled, which is jolly clever, but it prompts the same question of why you would want a WiFi-enabled dishwasher.

I'm with you on the dishwasher! As for the folding phone, it's a simple proposition, especially with this Oppo: it's a phone and a tablet in a package that's roughly the same size and weight as a Pro Max. Plus, it has an exterior screen that's the equal of a Pro Max, so you only need to unfold it when you want that tablet-sized screen. If you don't have a need for that larger screen capability, then there's little to recommend a folding phone for your use cases. And even if you did find that phone/tablet combo appealing, it comes at a VERY steep price--at which point you may decide that carrying a Pro Max and an iPad Mini really ain't so bad after all. 

Blackwhitepanda said: I am pretty sure that Apple will find a compromise with the rest of OEMs.

Premium brands like BMW or Mercedes will limit or will not support Apple Car, but there are tons of others like Stellantis, Dacia etc., which have no capability of developing their own eco-system.

They don't need the capability to develop their own system--GM didn't have it either and just partnered with Google to develop their own system that ended support for CarPlay and Android Auto. And the success of that system, with its abilities to collect all kinds of customer data to be sold to the highest bidders, plus a subscription model for its most desirable features, achieved a kind of holy grail for a car manufacturer: a steady stream of continuing income from every car sold after it leaves the dealership. Prior to his, there was nothing, unless you count money made on OEM parts for repairs. Trust me: nobody in the auto industry hasn't taken notice of this and it's the death knell for the adoption of CarPlay Ultra. Why turn over your screens to Apple when you can turn them into an all-new profit center? Of course, Apple isn't going to partner with any company on a system that profits from abusing customer privacy while setting up subscription paywalls to use desirable features--Google has no such consumer concerns. The company motto long ago became, "Dont be evil. Unless it pays well."