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- Hacker News
- Wowza... this is the first time in recent years Apple is introducing a mobile product that is a "change" from everything they have done in 10-years...
(I want one... find phone screens too small, but don't want to carry a phone and a tablet - yes, I know there have been other offerings in the Android ecosystem, but I am not in that realm)
by jjkaczor - Remember, it scratches at a level 1, with deeper grooves at a level 2.by Yajirobe
- (On review, I have better camera's on my current model - guess I will wait and see... "Duo Pro Max"... hahahaha)
Of course, the memes are already out about how large a hand you will need to use one of these... Harkens back to the "you're holding it wrong" antenna-gate controversy...
by jjkaczor - The Crease™ is the new Notch™ and actually a selling point.
- Definitely a v1 product but it's an interesting device. Apple is rarely first to market, but they definitely produce the device that indicates the point where there is a market.
You can also see where they are going. In a couple of years, assuming it sells well there will be a Pro model with a 3x fold and better camera system. I'm guessing to make in thinner they will have to drop USB-C and come up with a flat charging/data connector. The EU won't like that.
The final interesting thing is this is the first Apple product that I can think of since the iPod era that they've released a product that will cannibalize another Apple product. If you were looking at getting a high end iPad Mini this replaces both phone and tablet.
- > Apple is rarely first to market, but they definitely produce the device that indicates the point where there is a market.
There's been a proven market for years already, but it's been less obvious in Western markets. In East Asian markets, foldables have had a very sizable market presence, especially in China.
There's other trends that are less obvious to US and western markets, such as phone crossbody straps (which are also very big in East Asia).
by __aru - There’s a standard for paper sizes called the ISO 216 international standard, aka A-series paper sizes. You may be familiar with it outside of the American 8.5”x11” letter size. The simplicity, for example, where an A3 sheet is exactly twice the area of A4. One A3 sheet folded in half becomes two A4 sheets. This is intentional: when you fold or divide an A-series sheet exactly in half, the resulting sheets have the same proportions as the prior. The aspect ratio is preserved across all A-series paper sizes.
The iPhone Duo is designed with this in mind. The aspect ratio any way you view it, folded or open, is preserved. Apple design knows a thing or two.
by hbarka - Take a sheet of A4 paper. Fold it in half. Fold it in half again. That’s about the size of the Duo inner screen (a little larger actually, A6 is about 13% smaller than the Duo screen).by nonfamous
- That's not far off the 4:3 of the Samsung Z fold 8. Around 4.24:3.by kristianp
- It was useful for paper because it helped save time in cutting, folding, printing etc. None of that matters for a phone.
This is such a non issue given that iOS developers already have so many resolutions to test.
by jeswin - I always forget the US doesn't use A4 etc. (or do you?)by mcapodici
- Too wide to fit in anyone's pocket, but the ratio is the sine of 45 degrees! Seems like a very non-Apple thing to do, honestly. My jeans don't care about math.by pkulak
- I really assumed the point of this was going to be to complain about how no phone/phone cases are exactly the same... which is an absolute scourge on society that I assume is continued by Apple here.by xracy
- The way this comment was going I was pleasantly surprised to see that the iPhone Duo adhered to the ISO standard.by julianlam
- But it's not really the same aspect ratio, is it?
Because one is used predominantly vertically, and the other horizontally.
As long as there's this landscape vs portrait difference, how does the aspect ratio similarity actually help?
- Can I buy half of one? The size and aspect ratio of the outer display sounds like it'd be pretty close to my ideal phone.
Maybe that means I want one on a technicality. I suppose the big fold out screen would be useful at time if the device isn't too chunky...
by barnabee - Same! If they came out with a just-the-front-screen-of-the-Duo iPhone, the form factor would be just about perfect, IMO.by infotainment
- Name it the Uno, make it affordable and sell billions of themby Aboutplants
- Genuinely bonkers. I never thought they’d do this. Just seems so like a Xiaomi Xi7 Super Max Fold Z or something. But I have to say that when I used one of those Android folding phones it was quite cool to end up with a big screen in your pocket.
Just didn’t feel it was an Appleish product.
by arjie - I've had two folding phones and I am not going back until the issues are resolved. Here were my problems:
1. After a while, I think dust would inevitably get in the hinges and wouldn't fold flat. I've seen demos in stores of newer gen Samsung foldable phones and it looks like those wouldn't fold flat
2. The inner screen protector eventually lifted off the screen, causing catastrophic damage, and requiring repair (under warranty thankfully)
3. The aspect ratios were weird. I ended up using native app sizes, making the extra space kind of a waste
One thing I did like about the Samsung foldables was that when they were folded and using the front screen, I finally had a phone that fit my smaller hands! It was nice being able to use my thumb to reach the other side of the screen. Will be interesting to see how this works out because it looks decidedly wider.
by Yhippa - I trust Apple to do better here; for example, after about ten years, no one has caught up to Face ID yet.by cesarvarela
- > 3. The aspect ratios were weird. I ended up using native app sizes, making the extra space kind of a waste
Ternus opened the Duo segment of the presentation talking about aspect ratio. Having the "right" aspect ratio drove the design for this more than anything else. It's something Apple really cares about (c.f. iPads and MacBooks)
by internet2000 - From a Samsung Fold 6 user of 2 years...
1) mine folds a few degree short of flat. Not sure if it gotten worse over the years but never noticed not folding flat cause any less enjoyment of the large screen.
2. My screen protector started peeling near the top on the crease close to the 2 year mark. It's growing. Haven't decided what to do about it yet but I'm not against just ripping it and going naked on the inside.
3. 50/50 if an app looks good or not in wide. My usual use case that works great on full screen is web browsing, reading docs/ebooks, zoom calls when someone is sharing code/docs that's normally too hard to read on regular devices, youtube doom scrolling videos with comment/ai summary on 1 view. For those experiences that account for 90% of my reason to unfold it works great.
by bytemut - > After a while, I think dust would inevitably get in the hinges and wouldn't fold flat. I've seen demos in stores of newer gen Samsung foldable phones and it looks like those wouldn't fold flat
For your first point, the iPhone duo is rated IP 68 Dust and Water protection. Literally none of Samsung's book foldables so far have achieved this IP rating.
by __aru - I think the Duo looks great. And from the few hands on video I have seen I think the Apple presentation actually doesn't do it justice. There is no crease at all! [1]
On the note on this year's keynote. I can't be the only one who feels the whole vibe of the keynote changed. This isn't Tim Cook style keynote and John Ternus wasted no time to try and changed a few things already. I can't wait for John to further shake things up at Apple. But everything so far, all the small minor details suggest they are in the right direction.
by ksec - Of course there is a crease
https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1wbx1wo/there_is_a_cr...
by toasty228 - It was even more American over the top Marketing which really doesn't work well in the rest of world.
We laughed out loud when they claimed "the controls on the side let you celebrate your pictures on your lockscreen more"
Yea it's nice we can put whatever picture on a phone's lockscreen. It really is. Every phone does that.
Not once have I CELEBRATED my picture tho.
Open a bottle of champagne anyone?
by ulfw - Disagree on it looking great. It doesn't look like an Apple product. It looks geeky and clumsy. Which I personally don't mind, but absolutely not the sleek one is used to from Apple.by matsemann
- I don't think the vibe significantly shifted in a positive way. It seemed like it was going to with Ternus' opening statements, but then it was back to the same vibe. Hard to put into words, but kind of a droning boring safe microsoft-y vibe. Craig Federighi brought more energy for his segment but he sounded almost sarcastic at times. John Srouji is a breath of fresh air. I liked Dr. Desai's vibe in the health section more than the average segment.
A real vibe shift might not even be possible if they don't bring back in-person live presentations. Can't believe they flew all these people in to play them a video. Though seeing how John Ternus' hands were shaking during his demo with ishowspeed, I don't know if they have it in them to go back to live presentations.
And what was the surprise in "surprise and shine" anyway? The name of it?
by pazimzadeh - At $2000, I'm not going to be an early adopter this time around. I'm concerned about screen crease/debris ingress, and I'll want to see user reports on how useful it ends up being.
That said, I'm much more intrigued than I expected to be, to the point that I found myself thinking "maybe ...". Kudos to the team. The fold/unfold transitions are really slick, and I like what they've done with the extra side space.
by tiltowait