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Apple's Foldable iPhone Display Tech May Set New Industry Standard
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More likely... Apple set the features and performance requirements for the display, with a path to get there (and holds patents protecting the tech). Samsung does the physical manufacturing.
Whatever Apple calls the new display (say liquid magic, or whatever) will be protected by an Apple trademark.
Probably terms of a JDP agreement between Apple and Samsung. Similar to (but not the same as) an employer owning patents of things invented by an employee.
My assumption is that Apple is paying for a lot of the R&D - Samsung isn’t developing this out of the kindness of their heart. Apple’s engineers are working closely with Samsung to ensure steict product requirements are met. End result is that Apple has some kind of guaranteed rights to the name and portions of the tech.
The research and tooling must be very cost prohibitive, otherwise we would have already seen a creaseless screen on the market. Apple has the cash to make it happen. Samsung has the industry expertise. Once it’s on the market, competitors will reverse engineer and improve their designs.
The research and tooling must be very cost prohibitive, otherwise we would have already seen a creaseless screen on the market. Apple has the cash to make it happen. Samsung has the industry expertise. Once it’s on the market, competitors will reverse engineer and improve their designs.
This always seems to get confused by people.
Apple *designs* the product. Apple decides on things like the screen size, the materials used, the technology, the resolution.
Samsung then turns those Apple requirements into millions of actual displays.
So it’s not like these are literally panels Samsung could use in their own phones, they are set and designed by Apple. Samsung just have the ability to produce millions of them.
I'm just hoping that the glass makes a nearly inaudible crunching sound.
This will change how mobile compute perceived, it's won't be an iPhone category device, it's a new category of devices that combines the UI&UX of a Phone & Tablet, this is just the first of many that I can see cannibalizing the iPhone and the iPad in the future.
IMHO, I think it will be apple's top tier ecosystem mobile device ever, the dimensions sounds unbelievable.
IMHO, I think it will be apple's top tier ecosystem mobile device ever, the dimensions sounds unbelievable.
I don’t how you turn “developed by Samsung (…) to meet Apple’s requirements” into “Apple designed the tech.” Presumably Samsung could have developed it to meet its own requirements, but didn’t want to pay to do it (just a guess)
This post is literally a fundamental misunderstanding of Apple, the entire company.
Internally, Apple had been testing OLED iPhones since the iPhone 4. Steve even talked about it during the introduction of the iPhone 4, explaining that Apple found IPS displays at that time to be significantly more reliable and built for longevity in comparison to the OLEDs available at the time.
And it’s true, if you go specification for specification, those early OLEDs had many advantages, but also many disadvantages from apples LCD’s.
When Apple finally introduced an OLED iPad, they waited until they could layer two displays on top of each other to get the same amount of brightness as one regular OLED. As far as I can tell, they are still the only tablet manufacturer to do so, and currently have the highest rated OLED displays on the market.
Meanwhile, OLED laptops and tablets introduced by other companies, even still to this day, have disadvantages like brightness. There are some OLED laptops around that only advertise 300 Nits in 2025. That’s worse than an apple LCD display, from seven years ago.
iPhone / iPad apps can already be inside one binary. It’s been like that since the iPad was released.
Samsung provides Apple better OLED displays for the iPad than it does its own tablets already.
The same was true when the first OLED iPhones were released.
It’s almost like Apple, get this, gives Samsung, get this, money. And Samsung, here’s another jaw dropper, likes money more than status.
They did it also with the 16 Pro's, The iPhone has the thinnest bezel and guess what?? Its a Samsung Display. Apple pays Samsung A LOT of money for the rights to the nest screens.
HazeAndHahmahneez
macrumors regular
I dont get it, If apple's access to cash (resources) is so grand, why not produce the panels themselves....It can't be just me that doesn't like apple working with samsung or google....sony, eh...nintendo, eh...disney, eh....but anything even remotely google related, "gives me the heebee-jeebees".
Yeah I mean, it’s like the guy on Shark Tank pitching an expensive water filter who says “The potential market is anyone who drinks water!” (lol)
They didn’t want to, they didn’t have the funding, or they were going to no matter what it would just take a lot longer.
Either way, Samsung is Apple‘s main OLED display supplier, and Samsung also happens to produce folding displays.
Apple is not a supplier, so of course they are going to go to the best in the business when it comes time for them to make their own foldable.
However, these displays will be *designed* by Apple. Apple chooses the size, apple chooses the resolution, apple chooses which type of material that will be used, Apple actually designs the product through and through.
Samsung just create the millions of display components that will go into the phone once it goes into production.
I don’t know where you’re getting this, the piece doesn’t say it
Because Apple is not a supplier, they are a consumer electronics company.
Samsung is a very different company than Apple.
Apple is first and foremost an experiences company, they design Apple hardware and Apple software with Apple services.
Samsung (or what they are actually called which is “Samsung Group”) is a conglomerate. They do everything.
Their subsidiaries include:
- Cheil Worldwide
- Samsung Asset Management
- Samsung Biologics
- Samsung C&T Corporation
- Samsung Electro-Mechanics
- Samsung Electronics
- Samsung Engineering
- Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance
- Samsung Heavy Industries
- Samsung Life Insurance
- Samsung SDI
- Samsung SDS
- Samsung Securities
This is going to sound corny, but Apple’s main goal (other than making money obviously) is making great consumer electronic products.
Samsung simply doesn’t have a main goal, they have thousands of main goals spanning millions of different consumers, from regular every day average consumers, to professional consumers (like Apple), to governments.
Arguing that Apple should dump Samsung as a supplier is a ridiculous statement, like arguing they should drop TSMC for their chip manufacturing or dump Corning who manufacture the Glass for the iPhone.
All of apple’s products are designed by Apple, but manufactured by dozens of companies including tons of apples competitors.
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Hmm, Apple produces thinner thing? A thinner bendable thing? Didn't we have bendable iPhones before? Okay, they weren't meant to bend but I guess we can now call them the "prototype" and move on to the real thing? Not sure that foldable/bendable phones are my thing but never say never...until I say never...then it's too late.
Probably for the same reason Apple doesn't spend a ton of money building a semiconductor fab ($10 to $20+ Billion), hiring more employees to run it, and manufacturing their M/A series of chips used in their computers and phones - its a poor use of capital.
It's been a while since Apple came out with a "game changer" that shook up this segment of the market. Possibly even redefining the segment, or creating a new one entirely.
I've been the biggest "POO POO"-er of foldable phones since go. I recall I did the same thing with the iPad when it came out and boy, was I WRONG about that. Just my opinion on what would get me through the door on one of these.
First off. The elephant in the room. COST. I totally expect something like this to cost significantly more than the PM I typically upgrade to. It's just a different animal. However, it has to be at a price point that doesn't make your eyes water like the Vision Pro. I understand this is a premium product. I expect to pay more for it. I'm good with that. Just don't rake me over the coals, OK?
Second. EXECUTION. To be blunt, Apple can't afford another "swing an a miss" with this product. There's just been too many whiffs lately and Apple needs to get it's MOJO back. This product can do that. The screen has to be FLAWLESS. No "almost can't see it" nonsense. The crease has to be totally invisible when the phone is open. No half measures here. It has to be perfect. The device has to have a high quality build. The look, feal, and durability have to be in line. When they open it people have to say "holy crap" (but another word for crap) in the back of their head. Everything about it has to be stunning.
Finally. Weight and thickness. Everyone expects a folding phone to be thicker and heavier. By how much is the big question. The rumor cited above (Hey, this IS MacRUMORS) says 9-9.5 MM thick. That .5 MM is going to make a big difference to a lot of people when they carry it, hold it, and use it. The 16 PM is 8.25 MM so .75MM thicker is totally WOW factor for the difference in these devices. 1.25mm thicker is going to turn a lot of people off to it. I'm a 6'+ tall sasquatch, so the thickness isn't a big deal to me. To smaller in stature people, it's gonna be a non starter.
The thickness and the crease are gonna be what makes or breaks this phone. If the crease is INVISIBLE and I mean no one could look at it and say they sort of see it, and Apple keeps the thickness at 9MM or somewhere close? It's a totally new day for Apple. The tech press and people will eat it up. Provided the price point is somewhere south of insane.
A 15PM 512 GB is running what, $1399 retail right now? I think you could add $500 to that for this product. Price it at $1899 and they will sell like hotcakes. Heck, I would buy one at that price.
Lots of upside potential here. And lots of opportunity for it to be a flop. I hope Apple gets it right.
I've been the biggest "POO POO"-er of foldable phones since go. I recall I did the same thing with the iPad when it came out and boy, was I WRONG about that. Just my opinion on what would get me through the door on one of these.
First off. The elephant in the room. COST. I totally expect something like this to cost significantly more than the PM I typically upgrade to. It's just a different animal. However, it has to be at a price point that doesn't make your eyes water like the Vision Pro. I understand this is a premium product. I expect to pay more for it. I'm good with that. Just don't rake me over the coals, OK?
Second. EXECUTION. To be blunt, Apple can't afford another "swing an a miss" with this product. There's just been too many whiffs lately and Apple needs to get it's MOJO back. This product can do that. The screen has to be FLAWLESS. No "almost can't see it" nonsense. The crease has to be totally invisible when the phone is open. No half measures here. It has to be perfect. The device has to have a high quality build. The look, feal, and durability have to be in line. When they open it people have to say "holy crap" (but another word for crap) in the back of their head. Everything about it has to be stunning.
Finally. Weight and thickness. Everyone expects a folding phone to be thicker and heavier. By how much is the big question. The rumor cited above (Hey, this IS MacRUMORS) says 9-9.5 MM thick. That .5 MM is going to make a big difference to a lot of people when they carry it, hold it, and use it. The 16 PM is 8.25 MM so .75MM thicker is totally WOW factor for the difference in these devices. 1.25mm thicker is going to turn a lot of people off to it. I'm a 6'+ tall sasquatch, so the thickness isn't a big deal to me. To smaller in stature people, it's gonna be a non starter.
The thickness and the crease are gonna be what makes or breaks this phone. If the crease is INVISIBLE and I mean no one could look at it and say they sort of see it, and Apple keeps the thickness at 9MM or somewhere close? It's a totally new day for Apple. The tech press and people will eat it up. Provided the price point is somewhere south of insane.
A 15PM 512 GB is running what, $1399 retail right now? I think you could add $500 to that for this product. Price it at $1899 and they will sell like hotcakes. Heck, I would buy one at that price.
Lots of upside potential here. And lots of opportunity for it to be a flop. I hope Apple gets it right.
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Yes, designed and invented by Apple and further developed by Samsung after testing as they are partners and Samsung is Apple's primal supplier is multitude of parts.
Apple - Architect
Samsung - General Contractor
Apple designs or gives samsung money to build this and guides them on how the end result should be. Samsung worts with Apple's teams and develops this tech per their instruction.
Samsung can use their own Knowledge bases to circumvent certain issues and problems and can claim the end result is their development as much as Apples.
The tech however as the article reads it, belongs to Apple.
