It also depends on the lifestyle a lot. For many people ruggedness is a high priority. That’s why today's phones tend to have a metal chassis all around and protruding curved edge screens have basically gone away.
Typical current smartphone form factor can be used in any conditions without worrying too much about it. Foldables of today can only be used worry free by non-outdoorsy urban people doing white collar jobs (I don’t mean any offense here, the same applies to eg a Porsche 911).
I think we will get trifold iPhone -> iPad form factor, just like this Huawei, first. It’s what Apple has been building towards with their UI frameworks and it has the biggest value add.
I wouldn’t bet on iPhone that folds to even smaller form factor, that’s quite unApple like. iPad that folds like a MacBook has been rumored tho.
Anyway, we have to wait for the tech to become mature enough for Apple standards first.
A bit off topic, but this is something HN might enjoy. It’s a video by a mechanical engineer that worked for Tesla, Apple and a NASCAR team about Tesla door handles over time.
I see content like this, and it inspires me for what I want my retirement to be like. Just some crazy old eccentric puttering about, tinkering in his workshop. I want my back yard to look like a solar punk world's fair.
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