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WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

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Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#151

Post by hbn »

hatsix wrote: post #23
abirch wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple hasn't "invented" most things, from the personal computer, MP3 Player, or smart phone. They tend to revolutionize the things by making them work extremely well.

if by 'revolutionize', you mean 'let everybody else spend time, effort and money developing the idea, and once they've proven the market they buy an interesting company in the space with tons of patents, shut down everything they'd done before and make their interesting and take credit for the revolution, meanwhile, their new presence in the area mutes actual innovation, because they use all of the oxygen in the room…

Before Apple Silicon, who was making equivalent laptops? Highly competitive performance, great battery life, instant wake from sleep, pristine build quality, etc.

Forget before Apple Silicon, who's making an equivalent laptop now?

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#152

Post by sixothree »

roxolotl wrote: post #128
HumblyTossed wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or not. Some of us are okay with phones the size they are so we are not tempted to stare at them even more.

Some of us wish minis were still be made.

If my eyesight were better, I would 100% want a mini

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#153

Post by Delphiki »

embedding-shape wrote: post #112
cavemandaveman wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple's MO has never been to make junk that breaks. They're as valuable as they are largely because of their reputation for high quality products.

> Apple's MO has never been to make junk that breaks. Have you never used their cables? I don't think I've seen a single Apple cable lasting more than a few years if they're being used daily, the only ones that last are the ones that are kept static for the entire time. Their computing hardware is great otherwise, no disagreement there. But their cables are the polar-opposite of whatever engineering methodologies the…

Anecdotal, but for what it's worth, only two of my Apple charging cables have broken since 2007. I always hear about people having issues with them, so maybe I've been lucky with all of mine, or maybe I just don't treat them like I expect them to be indestructible.

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#154

Post by sixothree »

swiftcoder wrote: post #65
rjh29 wrote: post #10

I've gone all the way around and came back. The Samsung Fold was awesome and convenient. But carrying an ipad mini and a phone is not that big a deal. It's quite nice that the ipad mini does not have whatsapp or SMS plugged into it, so I can use it exclusively for reading books or playing music. The cost of the iPad Mini + my phone was like $600 and the folds - even the 6th gen and above - are super unreliable, so ri…

> But carrying an ipad mini and a phone is not that big a deal I did this way back when the first iPad mini was released, and it's not bad. But these days, the big iPhone is 7 inches to the iPad mini's 8 inches... the phone is big enough for most iPad mini use cases

The thing I like about the iPad Mini is that it's an optional carry. I don't need an 8" device every time I leave the house. And maybe that's going to be the appeal of the foldable.

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#155

Post by 12_throw_away »

> stop thinking about creating software for a specific piece of hardware. Design software to be adaptable across a range of screen sizes and aspect ratios

This is right, of course, and pretty obvious I think. But a part of me also thinks that we're still not good at it (or are not good at it anymore). At the very least, the tradeoff is a huge increase in UI complexity. It was so, so easy to design UIs with Hypercard when you knew it was going to run on a 512×342 display.

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#156

Post by edude03 »

game_the0ry wrote: post #40

Not a fan of foldables, if I am honest. Just a personal opinion. I do not like the it feels in the pocket bc the device needs to double its thickness when folding over. When a mobile device manufacturer (samsung, hauwei, now apple) makes a foldable, I get the impression they're running out of ideas with the "slate" form factor and are trying to stimulate sales. Personally, I would want that R&D spend and innovation t…

I think it's because they're running out of ideas too BUT the current generations of foldables (galaxy fold 7 for example) are essentially indistinguishable from non folding phones when closed. Yes, that means they could have made a thinner phone over all - the Galaxy Fold is the same thickness as the iPhone 17 pro max but both are twice as thick as the air - but I think consumers have gotten use to thick heavy phones - its why the SE and air don't sell as well IMO

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#157

Post by sixothree »

jerf wrote: post #48
rjh29 wrote: post #10

I've gone all the way around and came back. The Samsung Fold was awesome and convenient. But carrying an ipad mini and a phone is not that big a deal. It's quite nice that the ipad mini does not have whatsapp or SMS plugged into it, so I can use it exclusively for reading books or playing music. The cost of the iPad Mini + my phone was like $600 and the folds - even the 6th gen and above - are super unreliable, so ri…

How do you carry your iPad mini? Does it fit in pockets?

It fits in a front pocket if you wear Dockers or equivalent, which have notoriously large pockets. It fits well in the front of a backpack. It's most akin to a slightly wide paperback book.

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#158

Post by rtkwe »

game_the0ry wrote: post #40

Not a fan of foldables, if I am honest. Just a personal opinion. I do not like the it feels in the pocket bc the device needs to double its thickness when folding over. When a mobile device manufacturer (samsung, hauwei, now apple) makes a foldable, I get the impression they're running out of ideas with the "slate" form factor and are trying to stimulate sales. Personally, I would want that R&D spend and innovation t…

The issue with repairability is always the conflict between water resistance, thickness and feel vs the compromises to that needed to make removable batteries or back cases work. There are ways around it but the vast majority of the market prefers solid near glued together phones so that's what companies make.

> I get the impression they're running out of ideas with the "slate" form factor and are trying to stimulate sales.

I think we've just reached the local maximum of the phone design and adding folding gives two different branches to go down: 1) same size screen unfolded but smaller folded size or 2) folded with an external screen roughly the same size as a normal phone today but it expands to a much larger one unfolded. We'd kind of reached the peak size that people can reasonably pocket so option 2 allows for even bigger screens for people willing to pay without having to have a second device (something like a tablet).

The folds do add functionality and I think there's an impulse that leads people to say they don't see the point of something just because they're not interested in it personally.

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#159

Post by rtkwe »

paradox460 wrote: post #97
encom wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>pixel >I do not use a case I have a Pixel 8a, and I have to use a case for it, because it appears to be designed to be as slippery as possible. Every edge is round and there's nothing to grip - it feels like an aluminium/glass bar of wet soap.

Recently went from an 8 to a 10 pro fold The 10 feels like it should be more slippery, but for some reason, it isn't. It stays stuck in your hand like glue, despite the back feeling like another glass screen. Something special in is coating

Interesting. That's been one of my main issues with my normal 8 Pro. Sometimes I'm tempted to go caseless but the damn thing is so slick.

Re: WWDC 2026: Apple is Folding

#160

Post by rtkwe »

roxolotl wrote: post #128
HumblyTossed wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or not. Some of us are okay with phones the size they are so we are not tempted to stare at them even more.

Some of us wish minis were still be made.

What do you mean? iPad Minis are totally still made...
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