In a report by ChosunBiz in South Korea, Samsung Display president Lee Cheong announced that it is making “preparations for mass production of OLED for foldable phones to be supplied to a North American client.” Later on in the article, the reporter claims that “Samsung Display is known to be the exclusive supplier of OLED to be installed in Apple’s foldable phone to be released next year.”
Cheong also said that “The second half (of the year) is when key clients release flagship new products,” which aligns with Apple’s annual iPhone event in September.
I live in a city of approximately 170,000 people and I can’t recall ever seeing anyone with a folding phone. So it will be interesting to see how popular a $2000 plus phone will be.
And how men will carry these devices. I’m sure Apple already has some accessories on the drawing board.
Yes, this will be interesting. If the first folding phone is the equivalent of two Airs stuck together, that is not something I’m going to carry around. And, I’m not willing to pay $2K for a phone. At this point, my inclination is to stay with a standard phone and use iPads when I need a larger portable screen (13” for producing and either the 11” or mini for reading).
I live in a much larger city and have been traveling to even larger cities and I’ve yet to see a folding phone in use. On a tangentially related note, when I was at the Apple Store to pick up my new 17, all the tables were packed with people—except for the Apple Vision Pro—that station was completely empty.
Being of advanced age (I first started in the computer industry when the memory was literally iron cores with a wire threaded through for the bootstrap), I tend to be an early adopter - I don’t want to miss new technology. So I purchased a Samsung Fold 7 when it came out a couple of months ago. So here are my biased (towards Apple) thoughts.
I love the form factor. It’s wonderful having one device which can be used as a phone yet opens up to be an (almost) mini iPad. I’ve chosen apps Spark mail, Obsidian, Kindle, Snipd, Readwise Reader, etc. which integrate into the Apple world.
I walk to a coffee shop, flip the Fold open and have a much better experience than when I’m using an iPhone.
I hate Android, maybe because I’m unfamiliar with it, and have had Apple devices since 1983. Android has so many settings and options, that you must change to get something useful. My iPhone settings are out-of-the-box. So I stick to the afore mentioned apps, and get along.
that Samsung screens is lovely, you can’t see a crease when using it.
Bottom line - I’ll be lining up to order an Apple fold iPhone (and hoping I can sell the Samsung somewhere!
I know how you feel, I was a university freshman during the “summer of love”.
When IBM XT PCs started arriving at my company, around the time Apple released the first Mac, my boss handed me a list of things he wanted me to “teach” the computer to do. I told him I had never touched a PC and didn’t know anything about them. He said “learn”.
Long story short I became the computer guy and eventually it became my full time job. I still enjoy technology but my iPhones, and computers in general, have always been tools. I’ve never installed any games or social media apps on my phones, and I might watch two or three YouTube videos every year. Music & podcasts are my only entertainment apps. But I have, until recently, really enjoyed using iPads.
My 16 Pro is larger and heavier that I would like. I much prefer the size and weight of my old iPhone 11. So I have no interest in a folding phone.
I’ve never owned an android device but I helped others with their phones. Like Windows, android is just another operating system to me. They all do basically the same thing. And I don’t want to miss new technology either. Which is why I will probably switch to android if Apple doesn’t deliver a competitive AI assistant by next summer.
I hope the Apple “Fold” is everything you want it will be.
“Apple Inc. has hit pause on a planned overhaul to its Vision Pro headset to redirect resources toward a more urgent effort: developing smart glasses that can rival products from Meta Platforms Inc.
The company had been preparing a cheaper, lighter variant of its headset — code-named N100 — for release in 2027. But Apple announced internally last week that it’s moving staff from that project to accelerate work on glasses, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”
