The legacy of Steve Jobs: Apple gives big power inside the company to the Human Interface(interaction) Team. Marketing holds the extreme power in other companies but at Apple, that HI team holds uniquely big power. Design & Development may be clamoring about a new feature/design, Marketing may be screaming this will be a great selling point to move millions of units in sales. But if the HI team doesn’t think it is an upgraded benefit or sufficiently easy for the user? Well maybe next year’s iPhone model. I’d bet the mortgage payment a foldable iPhone has been at Apple R&D (and been sent to the HI team) for years. I’d also bet it is the HI team that has been saying “this is not an upgrade for the user experience, while it downgrades elements of the existing user experience”. I’d also bet Apple has many charts showing a foldable just won’t sell enough.
Imho a foldable is providing a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, while adding some negative trade offs to achieve the solution. Seriously, add more time/steps to use your phone (think about the many thousands of times you pull out/pick up your phone and instantly start doing it. Now add a flip step to nearly every one of the thousands of times you do this). Then, due to it being a 50/50 type design, it has to be built with certain lesser features while at a higher price. All of that so you have half as tall a device in your pocket but it’s twice as thick. I sometimes have a bit of trouble getting my regular 11 out of my Jean pockets. Imagine making it twice as thick, imagine twice as thick in your pocket while sitting down. Lol, seriously? All of that to give you a middle folded screen that yes is in fact a significantly taller screen size for certain models but it is at an odd aspect ratio, or on other models it’s a regular phone. Solution chasing a problem that doesn’t really exist.
It’s been fun watching the YT tech channels slobber over the latest foldable (very similarly to last year’s foldable slobber fest). And this has been a nearly 100% slobber fest. Samsung marketing has been working overtime. Because to the tech channels, again,this year’s foldable is the greatest thing eva! I’m taking bets that in 12 months that model will be the greatest thing eva!