muthuk_vanalingam

cubeover said:

Asus XenPhone 9 or 10 are small and fast enough for those who don’t mind dipping droid scanners into their life

apple4thewin said:

Isn’t there a new battery material that was supposed to solve the slimming issue? I know some Android phones have it already. I believe it is the silicon-carbon mix.

dewme said:

radarthekat said:

Seems like a lot of years I’ve been waiting for the use cases.  And a lot of years ago I presented my view of how Apple could bring two separate screens together seamlessly, but it would require a complex hinge mechanism with some sort of edge protector for each screen that steps out of the way at the last sub-millimeter as the phone unfolds and the two screen edges come into contact.  That seems the only way to have the same hard surface display as iPhones have today, with no crease showing or forming over time.  But what do I know, maybe there’s some miracle tech coming that will allow a hard surface display to fold exactly flat at the fold, like a piece of paper in the hands of an expert origamist.  But what is the use case?

And here’s something to add to the story.  I had colon cancer last year.  Stage 3, bad stuff.  Two major surgeries, one to remove a segment of my sigmoid colon and install a colostomy bag and another nine months later to take down the bag and reconnect my innards, plus six months of chemotherapy in between.  This had me all day every day laying in bed with one or the other of my two iPhones in hand, watching YouTube or researching investments, etc. admittedly an extreme amount of time with phone in hand, but what if I wanted to lay in bed for just two hours doing a variety of tasks on my iPhone fold, watching video and running spreadsheets, etc, how would I hold this unfolded beast?  I mean, I’d want it unfolded for such uses, wouldn’t I?  Larger screen better for spreadsheet work and for videos, right?  How does one hold an unfolded foldable smartphone for two hours while laying prone?   

Very glad to hear that you've survived such a life changing health challenge and came out the other side still able to fight another day. I'm sure what you've experienced makes a lot of other challenges pale in comparison and realigns your priorities and perspective about life in general. 

I agree with you that the number of use cases ideally suited for a folding phone are limited. I don't know what kind of market share the current crop of taco phones are getting, but from their rarity in public I'd say it's relatively small. This begs the question, why invest all that R&D in a limited market product? We've seen Apple do these kinds of limited/exclusive market products before. I doubt these products have as large of an impact on Apple's bottom line numbers as what they get from the rest of their product line. At some level it's a showcase for Apple to demonstrate that they are capable of pushing the envelope as far as they can. However, in some cases Apple is able to capture some innovations in technology, fabrication, materials, manufacturing, miniaturization, etc., that they can eventually apply to their more affordable but still far from commodity products.

The one thing that seems like a major compromise in most folding phones is the need for a third screen so the phone is usable in some way when folded. To me this makes all folding phones a case of taking two steps forward, by virtue of presenting a larger primary viewing area, and then one step backwards because you need a third auxiliary screen. If someone can come up with a double-sided screen that is set into a clear chassis, with smarts to display on one side when open and the other side when closed, the third screen issue may go away. But I'm sure the cost and complexity of such a screen would make adding a third screen a better option.

It almost sounds like an iPad mini would have been another option for you, or an even larger iPad/iPad Pro mounted on an articulated, movable arm, that is, if you have a solid mounting point.

I hope your future is looking much brighter than what you've already had to contend with over the past couple of years. Good luck on your recovery.

DAalseth said:

muthuk_vanalingam said:

DAalseth said:

If so it will receive the same criticism and fate as the VisionPro.

Nope, it will be different. Do you have any idea IF/WHEN the next AV or AVP will launch? That won't be the situation with foldables. It will have an annual refresh cadence. And that alone would be a game changer. With yearly refresh, the prices would come down steadily and new versions would be more affordable than the initial version. Also, there is not too much to think (in relative terms when compared to AV/AVP) about which direction to take, once the decision to launch foldable is made by Apple. They will have a clear plan for subsequent 5 years on what to launch. Even if any adjustments need to be made mid-cycle, it won't be as daunting/challenging like AVP.

When have iPhone prices come down?

DAalseth said:

If so it will receive the same criticism and fate as the VisionPro.