this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2025
526 points (97.1% liked)

Technology

78098 readers
2941 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] wavebeam@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

I really am interested in a folding phone, but i'm not comfortable with paying apple any new money if i can avoid it. I've completed my data migration off of iCloud and into self-hosted solutions, but i'm continuing to pay for iCloud until i'm confident i won't somehow have issues with nextcloud and immich.

When my iPhone 14 Pro eventually fails to meet my needs, I'm planning on getting a Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold, not because Google is any better, I don't want to be giving them money either, but it is compatible with GrapheneOS.

[–] mfed1122@discuss.tchncs.de 58 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Be phone engineer

Finally manufacture one-atom thick phone

The screen is nearly entirely invisible due to its thinness

You can't tap it anywhere or it immediately breaks into a million crumbs like filo dough

The components had to be spread over a 200 square meter sheet to fit all their atoms side by side

Present product to the board, instantly promoted to CEO

Product releases

Everyone buys the waferphone

"It's so thin" say consumers

"Unparalleled convenience and an incredible feat of engineering" say reviewers

Third parties begin selling titanium insulation sheetcases to protect your waferphone

Too big and heavy to take outside, everyone stores their waferphones underground at waferlockers

All phones are now completely inaccessible remotely or physically

Technological nirvana attained at last

[–] RightEdofer@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 days ago

We think you’re gonna love it.

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 37 points 3 days ago (6 children)

I was actually looking at foldable phones a few weeks back, seems like 2 screens isn’t enough to make a difference, but 3 screens are. It’s either I get that or a foldable 1 screen phone (like a flip phone).

On another note, after Tim apple bribed Trump with a gold ball I’ve decided to no longer buy apple products again. And it’s kind of a big deal because I’ve had iPhones since 2008.

[–] swampdownloader@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I’m not disagreeing with you but whose phone do you plan on buying next? Pichai + Brin also bribed trump (they were at the inauguration alongside Tim Apple and others)

[–] aceshigh@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don’t know yet. I’ll get a new phone when this one dies. The point is that I used to buy iPhones as default, and that is no longer the case. I wonder how many customers they lost like me - theoretically I could have been a life long customer.

[–] mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

don't forget to not buy new. buy a used device whenever possible, unless you specifically want to support a particular company

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Was going to say this. Second hand phones don't give money to corporations (except via usage, of course).

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

That gold trophy though really rubbed me the wrong way. And Ihate apple for that. And yes I know they all donated for ballroom paid for inauguration. They're all shit but Apple is the shitiest IMO.

Only issue is gapps there are lots of phones not made by Americans.

[–] PearOfJudes@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Buy secondhand, especially if you still want iphones. Money goes to lower class (something like Facebook marketplace has no tax), no money to "less bad" competing companies, and you'll get a much cheaper product which still has the "appleness" you want.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Lyubo@lemmy.ml 22 points 3 days ago

Two iPhone Airs sticked together for the price of two and a half. Great job 👏

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 126 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (26 children)

Assuming he's right (and boy, being sued by apple is a huge boost to his credibility), they're keeping the stupid camera bump thing from the air???

[–] scratchee@feddit.uk 96 points 4 days ago

The camera bump sure isn’t going away for a folding phone. cameras have fundamental volume requirements to maintain quality, if they don’t think they can justify making the normal iPhone thick enough to enclose the camera then there’s no way in hell they’ll think the folding phones doubled width can include it, if anything you’d expect it to be more prominent on a folding model

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 22 points 4 days ago (6 children)

It does not surprise me that the Air is literally the folding phone without the second screen.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 26 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (9 children)

how do you propose removing it?

there are two options, 1) using a smaller,shittier camera, or 2) making an extremely thick phone. neither option is very “apple”, especially for a flagship model.

considering the vast majority of people use phone cases and will never notice the bump anyway, i think this whole thing is blown way out of proportion.

[–] Warl0k3@lemmy.world 18 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

The marketing about it being an incredibly thin phone was a misstep - it just looked absurd to have such a chunky lump stuck onto it, and it felt very much like they were attempting a have cake / eat cake situation by claiming it had incredible camera stats (which werent very good) to justify the bump on an otherwise amazingly thin phone, and then that giant electronics bump had an external lens on it too.

Had it just been an ugly phone, I doubt it would have met with anywhere near the same criticism, but all the adcopy about how thin it was overtop of photos where you could see it had a giant lump on it felt really dishonest, and if this article is accurate it may count among the biggest apple flops ever.

(The thickness may just need to be accepted at this point. The S25 Ultra is 8.2mm, which is thinner than the Air if you include the bump. It seems like the camera wasnt the issue then, but that they hamstrung their design team with their drive for a thin phone. What elegance might even an extra millimeter of chassis space produced?)

[–] SARGE@startrek.website 17 points 4 days ago (1 children)

What elegance might even an extra millimeter of chassis space produced?

People really don't seem to understand that in the electronics world, one single millimeter can make worlds of difference.

You absolutely can cram so much more stuff in "dumber" electronics, but phones are even more constricted in design, because they need to send and receive signals of different types, so feedback and signal noise are concerns.

Adding in even slightly more space allows for much better design, because you have more tolerances to reduce signal noise. It allows dozens of wires for camera sensors to route better. A 20% longer battery life. Heck, just being slightly more ergonomic and less droppable is a bonus to slightly thicker phones.

I didn't even consider signal noise until I got into fpv drones and rc stuff, it can mame a ton of difference if you have a single wire 2mm out of place. (and crash your drone because the motor interfered with your antenna)

Thiner≠better.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
[–] 0x0@infosec.pub 11 points 4 days ago (2 children)

making an extremely thick phone

lol how is 11mm extremely thick

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments (23 replies)
[–] goatinspace@feddit.org 55 points 3 days ago (4 children)

I would like a feature where you fold an iphone into a linux phone.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] H1AA6329S@lemmy.world 65 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

Breakthrough technology, never seen before in the mobile market. Apple, like always, surprises the word with the latest never seen before tech that will become mainstream in the near future, thanks to apple and its affordable pricing for everyday customers.

Now just slap that 2,5-3k RRP on the device and let it sell out in.

[–] fartsparkles@lemmy.world 60 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (12 children)

Apple’s entire history as an org has been as a fast follower, not a first mover.

The Apple Newton is a great example of why they avoid being a first mover.

[–] SOULFLY98@slrpnk.net 37 points 4 days ago (3 children)

They've also become really, really good at outsourcing R&D to other companies. This lets them outsource the expense of trial and error, and swoop down with a mature product once everyone else has paid for it.

15 years ago they famously patented, and then leaked that they were working on a fingerprint reader authentication method, and then they watched the Android manufacturers bend over backwards to implement it so they could say they did it "first." In those early days of smartphones, being first to implement something and then claiming Apple copied it was a big deal for people who wanted to be first movers (today they are called "techbros"). Motorola Mobility ate the cost of R&D, was never able to recoup the costs, and ended up being sold to Google for their patent portfolio. By the time Apple released Touch ID two and a half years later, Motorola Mobility was a shell of itself, and ended up being sold a second time to Lenovo.

Foldable phones have been a thing for a while, and Apple just sat back and took notes on what everyone else was doing. Surface Duo killed Microsoft's last attempt at a mobile device. Now it's a relatively mature market (we have tri-fold phones for two years now and tablets that fold into a laptop with a bluetooth keyboard) and now Apple will swoop in and bring the rest of the market.

The money isn't in being a first mover; it's in making a reliable product that everyone can use. It shouldn't be lost on anyone that Apple made a trillion dollars while OpenBSD (upstream for a lot of Apple's ecosystem) struggled to pay its light bills.

[–] ReginaPhalange@lemmy.world 11 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Generally true - but multitouch was a real innovation. I'm not familiar with other manufacturers perfecting touch interfaces AND design paradigms optimized for it.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (11 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] QuarterSwede@lemmy.world 41 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

There are a few people that Apple would love to delete from the face of the planet.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who’s consistently divulging Apple’s plans, is one. TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is always sharing information based on his supply chain checks, is high up on the list, too.

Apple uses Gurman for controlled leaks to build hype. He hasn’t been sued yet.

But YouTuber Jon Prosser is public enemy number one that Apple is trying to truly silence. And for good reason: the man who Apple sued in July for leaking iOS 26 and Liquid Glass keeps spoiling Apple’s unreleased products with high-quality 3D renders in his videos

Now Prosser, Apple definitely doesn’t use him for leaks since he is being sued. He’s just an idiot.

[–] DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 46 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

I mean, do they even have a case against them? It's not like they stole the information, or signed a contract with Apple.

Also, fuck Apple, and Google, and the rest of them. If they can't keep a lid on their "secrets", that's on them.

I'm focusing on the lawsuit part, because IDGAF about new phones.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] selokichtli@lemmy.ml 33 points 3 days ago

As if a foldable mobile was some kind of industry super secret anyway. Apple is a joke.

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 26 points 3 days ago (18 children)

I like the idea of a foldable phone but what I really want is a phone that folds enough to fit in my women’s pants pockets.

[–] Typhoon@lemmy.ca 33 points 3 days ago (7 children)

The other solution is to make women's pants with pockets that can actually hold things.

[–] funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works 12 points 3 days ago

inconceivable!

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] Mellibird@lemmy.myserv.one 10 points 3 days ago

This is actually why I adore my Motorola razr. First phone I've had in I don't know how many years that fits easily into the front pocket of my jeans and is relatively unnoticeable. Love the folding form factor.

load more comments (16 replies)
[–] muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 days ago (2 children)

It too late for this product to succeed. If it isn’t absolutely perfect, it won’t matter that it’s great. It took so long to get here the public has unrealistic expectations now.

Meanwhile, the techbros and pretty much poisoned consumer electronics and everyone is looking for a way to jump ship.

I think we are going to see Linux phones get sales like the iPhone air did this year, which weren’t great for Apple but mean something very different for competition.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] lian_drake@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago (2 children)

That is literally a Pixel Fold

[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

Watched the video on mine. I was thinking the same thing lol. Only difference is the alleged no center dent, which, tbh, people make too big of a deal out of. Once you use it for a bit you don't even notice it anymore. Meh.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Horsey@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

A 5.5” screen is way too small to be worth it. If this costs more than an an iPad + iPhone Pro, this thing is gonna flop more than the Vision Pro did.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Tbh, I think that Apple makes stuff like the Vision Pro not to make money but to appear as if they have some kind of technological leadership.

They can claim that they have the best headset on the market. No need to actually sell any units.

(And of course other manufacturers could make just as nice headsets for that price point, but most other manufacturers actually need to sell units and thus they build them with realistic hardware.)

[–] network_switch@lemmy.ml 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

iPhones are too locked down for the hardware they have. I’m writing this on an iPhone 15 …

The foldable I like the most I’ve seen are the Motorola razrs. That’s vertical. The best fat foldables are going to be Android because of all the video game emulators for Android

[–] adespoton@lemmy.ca 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I don’t understand the last sentence. All the video game emulators for Android compared to what OS? Because at this point, RetroArch emulates pretty much everything, and is available for Android and iOS. Running anything that needs hardware caching on iOS needs sideloading of course.

So what is it that makes the Android foldable experience better for emulators than, say, an iPad?

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›