Revolutionary or just a fad? Experts weigh in on Apple's rumored foldable iPhone
Apple is potentially working on a foldable iPhone
In recent years, there has been significant interest and anticipation regarding the development of foldable devices by Apple, especially in the smartphone industry. With the advent of foldable screens on products like the Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Motorola Razr, the concept of foldable devices has become a reality.
Therefore, it is unsurprising that major technology companies such as Apple are actively researching and investing in this technology to create their own foldable devices. Apple has recently been granted several patents that suggest the company is exploring new methods to transform every inch of the device into an input surface, even when it is folded up in a clamshell design.
The development of foldable screen technology possesses the potential to transform the way we engage with our devices, paving the way for new opportunities in design and functionality. However, what is the rationale behind securing a patent for this technology, and how might it be advantageous for a company like Apple?
Acquiring a patent for foldable screen technology provides Apple the means to safeguard their intellectual property and ensure that their competitors cannot infringe upon their particular designs. This, in turn, furnishes Apple with a competitive edge in the marketplace and grants them control over the production and dissemination of their foldable devices.
Moreover, investing in foldable screen technology is in keeping with Apple's strategy of producing innovative and groundbreaking products that capture the attention of consumers. By introducing a revolutionary design, Apple can create hype around their new product and potentially acquire a significant market share. Ultimately, the patent for foldable screen technology is a strategic investment that has the potential to strengthen Apple's competitive position in the marketplace and enable them to develop products that excite and captivate consumers.
Further details about the patent
Apple is a renowned company for its innovation and cutting-edge technology, and its recent patents for a foldable device demonstrate that it is committed to leading the way in this emerging market. By securing a patent for its foldable screen technology, Apple is safeguarding its investment in research and development while giving itself a competitive advantage over other companies that may be considering similar devices.
Apple has a lengthy track record of using patents to protect its intellectual property and dominate the market for its products, and the patent for its foldable screen technology is a prime example of this strategy. The patent outlines how touch sensor layers can be "overlapped" by the outer panels of a device. These sensors can be situated beneath a glass layer along the front, bottom, and curved sidewalls of a device, suggesting that Apple is testing features that allow touch inputs on virtually every surface area of a device.
Related: Apple releases a fix for the latest zero-day hack that’s been exploited
Additionally, the patent alludes to the possibility of "wrapping a display around some or all of device," indicating that Apple has considered rounded sidewalls to enable touch sensor capability.
Could Apple’s foldable be better than the current options?
Apple has been transitioning towards creating iPhones that are large, tactile surfaces that feature minimalistic outer buttons or notches. According to the patent, sidewall touch sensors could be employed to regulate the camera, volume slider, or other sliders for adjusting brightness or contrast.
These sensors located on the backplate could also be utilized in gaming applications and other uses to exhibit the action while not obstructing any portion of the screen.
The potential drawback of having touch inputs covering virtually every surface area of a device would be its vulnerability. It could become fragile, particularly since it would imply that users couldn't utilize a standard phone case without forfeiting some input space. Nevertheless, the patent describes walls constructed of "transparent and opaque materials" such as plastic, metal, or fiber-composite materials, or coatings of clear glass or plastics that could alleviate this concern.
Apple's patent alludes to how "foldable electronic devices" can achieve some degree of touchability using a clamshell design. It entails an "elastomeric material" that enables the device to flex, with transparent touch sensors still activated along the walls of the device. The patent also refers to "an enclosure that permits a device to be folded one or more times along one or more fold axes," although it is unclear if there would be any demand or benefit to folding a device more than once.
Only time will tell
There has been some debate among prominent Apple analysts and industry observers regarding whether Apple could introduce a foldable Mac/iPad hybrid in the coming year. Although patents are not always a reliable predictor of future products, these latest patents suggest that Apple is at least contemplating a more foldable future for its devices. As technology continues to advance, it remains to be seen what Apple will ultimately do with this research.
Really the only thing I dislike about MacOS as a whole is the way Apple updates the OS with huge update file downloads. Actually 700Mb is small compared to some Apple has released which are in the gigabyte size. These large file sizes also translate to long update times as well.
I like Emre, Onur, Shaun and Eray’s articles more, Ashwin and Martin are always complaining about something instead of getting excited and sharing their excitement with the world.
Ever since I started bookmarking their pages my mood has been so much better, I’m glad to be free of the depressing vibe the two of them have. Damn it feels good to just enjoy life and not look for things to complain like I used to while I were under their influence.
Personally I really like @Ashwin and @Martin articles both equally. Please respect the authors.
You realize that none of the authors you like are real people, right? They are AI bots ‘writing’ articles that are basically taken from product advertisements (e.g., “Get Protected the Right Way With Avast Free AntiVirus” Really?) So, yes they are excited, but the excitement comes from advertising copy. No real world negativity from those sources.
My approach is to use a UBlock Origin filter to block all the articles except those by Martin and Ashwin. It has made the site readable again for me.
I would like to achieve that as well. Mind sharing some UBlock tricks & tips? :)
@ Anonymous,
Go to this link from yesterday https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4573146 and scroll down to the post by “Anonymous said on September 2, 2023 at 1:33 pm” He (or she) posted instructions on how to skip articles written by users other than Martin and Ashwin.
You might want to consider changing your name before you post to make it easier for users to identify your comments.
@Herman Cost
You can add this to your rules in uBlock Origin:
ghacks.net##.hentry,.home-posts,.home-category-post:not(:has-text(/Martin Brinkmann|Ashwin/))
@John World. Than you dude. So much better.
Why does Martin even allow this garbage to ruin his website. Every single article not written by martin and ashwin reads like sensational clickbait, I don’t care about if I should buy the latest apple product every week, new roblox cock rings that don’t pull your pubic hair, elon musk’s new body spray or whatever bullshit these bots can come up with.
+I like Emre, Onur, Shaun and Eray’s articles more
you’ve made my day
It’s not the EU’s fault that Bing is such a crappy search engine. In any event it’s built into the OS and Microsoft does its best to convince users to adopt it over Google by making it the default search tool. A great Many Windows 11 users are not technically minded and don’t know how to switch to another search engine and just accept their lot.
In any event I hope the EU Commission doesn’t allow Microsoft to pull the wool over their eyes.
Both Google and Bing are now worthless. Nowadays, Yandex is the only search engine that finds anything I’m looking for.
Try https://sear.be.
Yandex is Russian and under Putin’s control. Search results you get may not be accurate and possibly manipulated to give you a false sense of security depending on what you’re looking for.
Bing is absolutely a gatekeeper. Except for countries such as China and Russia that have their own search engines (Baidu and Yandex), most of the world’s searches relies on just two search engines: Google and Bing.
Alternative search engines overwhelmingly get their search results from Bing. DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Qwant, Swisscows, Excite, Lycos, Yahoo, You, etc. all use Bing behind the scenes for their results.
StartPage originally used the Google search engine for it’s results, but have also started using Bing as well recently.
Microsoft also use Bing as the default search engine in Windows (such as the Start menu search, Taskbar search, desktop search bar, Edge sidebar, etc.) and use Bing as the default search engine in Edge – which is the default browser on Windows. Windows has greater than 70% desktop market share and is used by more than two billion people.
Not to mention Microsoft’s anti-consumer efforts when it comes to Bing. They have a history of malicious intent by aggressively trying to trick users who use a different search engine and browser into resetting their default search engine and browser back to Edge and Bing (by displaying unscrupulous popup dialogue boxes and full screen pages prompting the user to change their settings back to the “recommended settings” – which is Edge and Bing).
@ ECJ,
Microsoft’s Bing has managed to sidestep the EU’s Digital Markets Act for now arguing that it doesn’t qualify as a gatekeeper: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3705935/eu-lists-gatekeepers-to-be-regulated-opens-imessage-and-bing-investigations.html
The easiest way to avoid Bing is never to use Edge. It’s not mandatory and you’re free to use which browser you wish. I use Floorp myself which is a Firefox fork with many extra privacy configurations. https://floorp.app/en/download/
“A report claims that Apple is developing an affordable MacBook series”
Its is time to stop posting Rumors as reports.
Apple has already a Chrombook killer. It is called : iPad.
I can see Apple getting concerned about losing sales to Chrome OS devices. Given that K-12 kids have probably been using Chromebooks and would be familiar with that platform going off to college. I remember when Apple ruled K-12 computer rooms and because they simply out priced the educational sector. Google managed to take a huge bite out of educational market especially with COVID. I never thought iPads worked in a K-12 setting, and mac’s are too expensive. I doubt Apple can really make a MacBook below $500 which would compete with Chromebooks.
I managed hundreds of ipads for schools when I worked at an MSP – ipads are certainly OK, and boy are they hundreds of times better than Android tablets. Chromebooks suck so much, their market penetration into school system became real when schools received a bunch from government
Apple has always had great diffculty grasping what “low cost” means. I don’t have much faith in them ever generating anything that can compete with a Chromebook, but I’ll buy it if they do. I don’t want a Google OS, Windows is getting painful, and I’m tired of hearing how great Linux is from people who don’t use it.
I agree with the posters above about the usefulness of using a uBO filter to limit the posts I see on this site to those from Martin and Ashwin.
While Apple has patched iOS 16 for this, they haven’t yet indicated if they’re going to for supposedly-still-getting-security-updates iOS 12 (the latest OS option for the millions of still-in-use iPhone 6) and iOS 15 (still in use on millions of iPhone 6s to 8, which can’t be upgraded to 16).
I hope they do. Long-term support is one area where Apple phones crush Android, and it’s the #2 reason I use them (#1 is because not a privacy nightmare).
Apple has now released security updates for iOS 12 and 15 to address this issue. This is how you keep loyal customers.
Released an update for iOS 15, yes; for iOS 12, no. It’s not clear from reading their release notes if this means iOS 12 is not affected, or if they’re just not bothering.
M3 won’t move the needle much on performance. Honestly, Apple has put itself in a bind making the M1 really good. Probably the first time when Mac users can have some real lasting performance. But that also means that many won’t be persuaded to upgrade as often either. I am using a M1 MacBook Air and a M1 Mac mini and have yet to even entertain upgrading to a M2 or even a future M3 model of either because I am very satisfied with the M1 performance.
I like iPhone in general have owned iPhones for many years. But I don’t see these Apple events inspiring me to want to upgrade and spend hundreds to get what few improvements offered up.
People still watch this nonsense? As I get older technology no longer excite me.
I love it – Apple took an objectively bad thing and turned it into something people don’t hate. “It’s not that our front camera/sensors cover up screen real estate, this is uhh, a dynamic island… Yeah! It’s a feature actually, you’re lucky to have it”.
@ bruh,
I like iPhone too, but you have to be a virtual millionaire these days to own one and I don’t have the kind of money required to purchase one I’m afraid.
2015??
“Sorry Series 8, Apple Watch Series 9 is as powerful as it is handsome”
“Apple to release iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 on September 18, and macOS Sonoma on October 26”
“Apple unveils the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2”
“Apple Watch Ultra 2 packs a punch to the older generation”
“Does it make sense to upgrade to iPhone 15?”
“iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max with Ray Tracing, Action Button announced”
“Apple announces iPhone 15 series with USB-C port, Dynamic Island”
Seven Applespams, all pushed out within a few hours. You should rename this site “AppleHack”.
I can’t believe people waste their money on smartwatches. The world has truly gone insane.
A total waste of money. Thats why people can’t afford basic necessities anymore. They just keep falling for Apple’s BS every year.
That is, if you don’t mind paying for Apple and their US Gestapo friends reading your most intimate data to use it against you.
> Apple also updated the macOS Sonoma 14 web page to reveal the release date of its desktop operating system. Sonoma will be released on October 26.
This is not true. The website says September 29. I have no idea where your October 26 comes from.
> Rumors suggest that Apple could announce the first M3 Mac in October, though another reliable leaker quashed hopes for any new MacBooks.
I am not aware of any _current_ rumor that suggests that there will be a M3 Mac before 2024.
Is this again an AI written article?
Just an FYI on the USB C situation.
The iPhone 15 and 15 Plus only use the USB-C end-connector. The actual cable attached to it transfers data at the many years old Lightning cable speed, which is USB 2.0 based. (Max 480 Mbits/s in ideal lab conditions.)
If you want iPhone USB data transfer at true USB 3.0 speed, then you have to pay more to buy the iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Plus, which transfers data at actual USB 3.0 speed (5 Gbit/s in ideal lab conditions).
Just another example of Apple using absurd (and very mean-spirited, IMO) down-grading of their lower-priced phone hardware. I mean, who else would sell an $799+ phone in 2023, using a data port that transfers at USB 2.0 speed?
The USB 2.0 spec was published in year 2000, 23 years ago.
The USB 3.0 spec was published in 2008 and the USB C connector spec was published in 2014, tho not widely adopted til paird with USB 3.2 in 2017, fyi.
Man, I find this stuff so cringy – but obviously, it appeals to a certain type of person. I have no issue with Apple, my only issue is that every other hardware and software manufacturer seem to just be trying to copy Apple, instead of coming up with original ideas & visions. I don’t blame Apple for “innovating” in whatever direction they feel necessary, I’m just annoyed that nobody else is,,,
Android is looking more like iOS, Windows 11 is looking more like MacOS, I had to set up a “premium” high-spec Dell laptop recently at work which just looked like a knock-off Macbook. It’s just sad.
People aren’t going to buy stuff that strays too far from the norm. Take for example foldables. I haven’t seen anyone personally that has one, nor are they “taking the market by storm”.
RE: Android looking more like IOS:
That ‘Material You’ garbage is thankfully nowhere near iOS. I think you might be referring to Samsung’s UI though. They try to keep things like Apple to win over Apple users (I think anyways). If it weren’t for Samsung’s UI though, Android would be totally a non-option for me, as Material You is just plain ugly.