Apple has long been rumoured to be working on a flexible smartphone that would rival some of the experimental devices we’ve seen from Motorola ” though presumably more refined, one would hope. But today in Apple rumours that make you go “…what the fuck?” the foldable iPhone might have two displays separated by a hinge rather than an actual flexible screen. No thank you.
That’s according to newly prominent (?) Apple leaker and YouTuber Jon Prosser, who tweeted on Sunday some details about the foldable: namely that Apple is working on a prototype that features two screens instead of the flexible plastic ones already on the market.
The memes are funny — but it doesn’t look like they just stuck two phones together.
Even though they’re two separate panels, when the displays are extended, it looks fairly continuous and seamless.
— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) June 15, 2020
Presumably these details come from the same source(s) who’ve leaked legit information to Prosser about recent Apple product launches. But rumours he’s shared about future devices, like Apple’s augmented reality glasses (including an absolutely ridiculous-sounding Steve Jobs special edition) sound a little shakier. It just makes no sense for Apple to make a completely underwhelming phone that’s essentially just two iPhones separated by a hinge.
To be fair, Apple recently filed a patent application covering a concept similar to what Prosser describes ” a Microsoft Surface Duo-like device with two screens that, when flat, work so seamlessly together as to be one. (Although the company patents a ton of concepts that have yet to see the light of day.) And it is highly likely that Apple has a variety of foldable prototypes in various stages of development to see which one sticks. One of them could very well be a phone with two displays.
But after the world watched Samsung and Motorola push flexible displays forward, albeit with failures both large and small, it would be incredibly bizarre for Apple to settle on a foldable phone that is really just…two phones stacked on top of each other. It might look decent, but I’m not convinced that it would surprise or delight anyone ” especially a year or two from now, when smartphone makers will refine the flexible display to eliminate hinge issues and creasing (fingers crossed). Apple might avoid those problems entirely with a Surface Duo-like design, but that doesn’t sound like the Apple approach. It seems more likely that the company is sitting out the first few iterations of foldables to work with its suppliers to perfect the flexible screen.
If you know anything about Apple’s future plans for a foldable iPhone, then drop us a line. You can reach me at cmcgarry@gizmodo.com or contact us securely via SecureDrop.