The arrival of a folding iPhone is only a matter of time. Apple cannot let Samsung monopolize the new folding screen or double screen formats that – without yet obtaining massive sales due to their high cost – are followed by a greater number of consumers with each new generation that arrives on the market.
And it is that Apple does not escape the trends of the industry. It has innovated like few others in the smartphone sector, but it has also been “inspired” like the rest when a trend has appeared on the horizon in the search for novelties that encourage sales. We have seen it when it comes to increasing the screen size of its terminals, accelerating the arrival of 5G or marketing “mini” versions to lower prices.
Foldable iPhone with E Ink display
Existing foldable phones often include secondary screens with OLED or LCD panels. While these solutions offer as high a resolution and responsiveness as the primary display, they make the product more expensive and use up a lot of battery.
Apple may have a fix and renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says the company is testing electronic ink screensmuch more efficient due to its low consumption. In a recent tweetKuo says that Apple is testing E Ink EPD panels with the aim of using them for the cover/secondary screen of its foldable devices.
Apple is testing E Ink’s Electronic Paper Display (EPD) for future foldable device’s cover screen & tablet-like applications. The color EPD has the potential to become a mainstream solution for foldable devices’ must-have cover/second screen thanks to its excellent power-saving.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) May 17, 2022
These types of screens are commonly used in eBook readers, but also in other devices for non-mission critical functions such as displaying the time, notification alerts, and other secondary functions. Its true virtue is what Apple is looking for: great energy efficiency.
Last month, E Ink announced a new color e-ink display called the Gallery 3 with an improved refresh rate fast enough to allow input from styluses. It’s not clear if Kuo is referring to this panel when he talks about Apple’s testing, but it’s not unlikely.
It must be said that the Rumors of the folding iPhone began to emerge in 2017 and shortly after the existence of an Apple patent for this market segment became known. Apple hadn’t selected the final design, but it pretty much covered all the form factor possibilities: clamshell; with two or three screens; with folded inwards or outwards, and with both internal and external screens of the device.
However, everything indicates that Apple will bet on a flip-type design for its first foldable iPhone. No one outside of Apple knows its release date. What is certain is that it will be a boost for this type of format. Meanwhile, Samsung, a great leader in the sector, continues to work and the Galaxy Z Fold4 is expected as the next version of the best folding mobile on the market.
