Vision Pro engineers moved to folding iPhone; delayed to 2027

I’ve no interest in a phone that folds. It’s just going to be thicker, and more fragile. Give me an external swappble battery and hardware cutoff switches for wireless and camera. A microSD slot. And ffs, the ability to have both my owned music files and Apple Music files on my phone at the same time (seriously, wtf, not everything is on Apple Music—is there a way?!)

If the foldable screen could be more robust, and the fold could be truly invisible when unfolded, I could see it being useful for some people as a phone-tablet hybrid.

Unfortunately features like hardware kill switches will probably always be too niche for a mainstream flagship.
- I don't understand why there's a lot of hate here for a product people don't have to buy lol. I think foldable phones are neat.
- I have a friend with a foldable phone and it works wrt screen. The thing I can’t get over is the thickness because it seems too thick for a back pocket.
- I agree, I think someone that's into minimalism and sees the appeal of an iPad or an iPhone, would be happier to choose this, especially if it shares features like apple pencil support. If there isn't apple pencil support then I'll be upset.
Also you're clearly not apple's target market so you being frustrated by their choices is negligible to them.
I haven't tried for a while but I'm pretty sure you can store your own music files on all Apple devices and listen to them via Apple Music.
Agreed. Being able to fold the device is popular because of the novelty but I argue they're overall objectively worse devices than non-folding one with the same price and form factor would be. I'll much rather have a flat slab in my pocket than a compact cube. There's not a chance a folding device will withstand daily use for 6+ years.
- The one I have has really come a long way. I'm using it without a case. I've dropped it several times from a decent height. I was using it's light at work to show a hole in a wall to my coworker and he jammed a blunt piece of steel into its exterior screen with serious force. Not a scratch.
Then you're not looking for an iPhone. They don't care about you, they are after the common denominator.
The only way flagship phones will ever get swappable batteries is if the EU mandates that.
- Sad, but true.
https://support.apple.com/en-ca/108935
- Lol, why is that another paid service?

I wonder what they're actually developing since we all know they're going to get the screen from Samsung.

"A new and revolutionary way of having a multi dimensional phone, the first ever of it's kind, it doesn't fold, it creases at the right points to give you more space than ever."
- I kind of want to rolling phone. That would get rid of the crease problem. If you put a sensor in the roller you could have the software automatically adapt the screen size to how much of the screen is out.
- Twice as many screens that any iphone. The most screen space ever on an iphone. The first iphone that folds. Apple never compares the iphone to other companies, perhaps with the exception of the very first presentation.
The hinge and everything else involved in the folding process probably. Like every other foldable.
- These are software developers. So they're not going to design hardware.
  
  The hardware designers are probably aren't going to design the hinge either since that's a mechanical problem.
One that doesn’t suck?

Apple will do what it always does, and launch any new product as and when it feels it has solved the problems raised by new product categories, and has something it believes is better than existing products.

Hahah. As long as you don't hold your phone wrong or put it in your jeans pocket.

Apple will do what it always does, and launch any new product as and when it feels it ~~has solved the problems raised by new product categories, and has something it believes is better than existing products.~~ can extract the maximum margins while offering the minimum necessary to be viewed as premium by their customer base.

There, fixed it.
- That's why they abandoned the Apple car. Too many regulations and safety requirements for them to be able to make a reasonable profit.

We surpassed peak Apple years ago.

I’m hoping after Tim retires that actual innovation returns.
- Capitalism can only innovate in making more money
Apple's stock price would disagree with you there
- That is why we should have abandoned money as the single measurement for success years ago as well.
- That is why we should have abandoned money as the single measurement for success years ago as well.

I wouldn't mind foldable phones having two separate screens with a minor gap between them - you'd avoid getting an ugly growing crease over time like with the current screens, and with a proper hinge design you could make them thinner too probably

Like the Microsoft Duo?

There are already a few folding things like that on the market but they're not as popular. People seem to put up with the crease more than they're prepared to put up with a gap. Mostly because with a crease you can still have a full tablet like experience.

But it's always nice to have options.
- I was thinking about phones, having a "flip phone" without a crease which is "normal size" when opened would be cool. For tablet use the gap admittedly sucks
This bothers me a bit because I absolutely love my current gen horizontal fold phone. The crease isn't ugly or growing in the year or so I've had it. You can feel it, but I got used to that in days.
- But it's quite thick for a phone, isn't it? How do you pocket a 5cm/2 inch thick phone? It's more bulky than any regular phone

Foldables are shit when your sweat is so aggressive it destroys the plastic

They're also shit if you throw up acid on them.

That feels very much like a "you" problem.
Uh, maybe be less sweaty? Wash your hands?

Really doesn't seem like a flaw with the phones if you're sweating enough to soak it.
- Uh, maybe be less sweaty?
  
  Good idea. I will just alter my biology.

can't wait for apple fans to treat this as a huge innovation in 2027

Can I just get a phone with serviceable battery, analog audio jack, and support of the stupid apps I am required to use in society for more than 3 years?

Haha. No. But you can get an ever increasing phone where everything is soldered and glued. Also we removes the charging port.
- Just remove the battery entirely while you’re at it. The whole thing becomes lighter and slimmer, which should boost sales.

Great, because phones aren't expensive or fragile enough.

I suppose it might actually be a more sturdy iPhone. The biggest problem iPhones have is that Apple insist on making the screen out of tempered glass, rather than something a bit more hard wearing. So when you sneeze on it, it cracks.

Folding displays have to be made out of plastic which is actually more durable if more prone to scratching. So you'd end up with a slightly more scratched phone but a less broken one. Plus the delicate plastic screen is always going to be folded up in on itself, so it's protected from scratches as well.

Of course Apple will probably make it without any bezels thus negating everything I just said. All for aesthetics.
- The biggest problem iPhones have is that Apple insist on making the screen out of tempered glass, rather than something a bit more hard wearing.
  
  Like what? Plastic?

“Some” Vision Pro engineers. Sounds like they’re all going from that headline.

I bet they artificially kneecap the slabphones to push people towards overpriced foldables once they are on store shelfs. Just like they did with the Plus and Pro phones.

Continuing the trend of not being innovative ever since Jobs' passing.

Apple Watch was not innovative? Apple Silicon was not innovative? Vision Pro was not innovative?

Look at you, all entitled to Apple’s innovation.
- People have a tendency to only equate the word “innovation” with “woooaahh, completely new in my face never before seen tech that seemingly came out of nowhere!”. When in reality innovation is almost always slow, small, incremental steps.
  
  So when Apple introduces something to their lineup, many deride it as not being innovative, even though it is often the first version of something that is fairly solid, reliable, and useable.
  
  People think they want mind-blowing technological jumps, but in practice they rarely accept/adopt new technology (or really, anything too outside of the norm, tech or not).
- Pretty sure Apple Watch was already in progress when Steve was alive.
- Apple just wait until something already exists and then make a more expensive version of it that's not innovation. I'm not saying that something like the vision pro isn't a good product but it's not groundbreaking in any way.
  
  As demonstrated by the fact that Apple made it without any real idea of what it was actually for. It's a VR AR headset that no one wants. Actually no one wants a VR AR hybrid headset they want to be able to play games, the one thing that's terrible at because it doesn't have a controller.

I doubt these engineers have been moved to this project unless there’s some technology overlap. Apple Vision is still in development and there’s a reduced complexity/reduced cost version to be worked on.

Nah fuck that.

Please no.