Apple's quest for a folding iPhone

Secret prototypes exist, but there's a problem.

Author

Lewis Wallace
February 07, 2024

Aside from the iPhone, my favorite phone of all time is the old Motorola Razr.

A thin slab of aluminum, the Razor folded up and easily slid into my front jeans pocket. It was unobtrusive, and a hardy little sucker, too.

This was the original Razr — circa 2004, which was introduced three years before the iPhone — not the 2019 smartphone relaunch.

Apple is working on something similar, a foldable iPhone that can easily be slipped into a skinny jeans pocket. But as the Razr relaunch shows, there’s a huge problem with folding smartphones: They’re no longer thin, eliminating their main selling point and making the whole thing kinda pointless.

Apple is reportedly aware of this conundrum, and won’t release its folding iPhone until it finds an elegant solution.

Also in today’s newsletter:

  • We have a fascinating post about a Hollywood director who’s been editing his latest big-screen movie in Vision Pro. Trapped at home by California's recent storms, he teleported into the editing studio. The director is a VR headset nerd -- he's tried them all -- but Vision Pro has crossed some indefinable barrier that makes it the first one that's truly usable. Welcome to the future — where you can be in two places at once.

  • If you didn’t set up a Persona for your Vision Pro — or you’re not happy with the results — let us show you how to do it the right way.

  • Need a keyboard for your Mac mini (or any other desktop Mac, really)? We put together a guide to the best Mac keyboards around.

  • Today’s featured setup sports a surprising highlight.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

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One more thing ...

❝

iPhone is a revolutionary and magical product that is literally five years ahead of any other mobile phone.

— Steve Jobs, 2007.

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