JAKARTA Until now, Apple has not produced folding phones. Unlike some of its competitors such as Samsung and Huawei, which have issued folding models. But reportedly the iPhone manufacturer is working on it.
Of the top seven smartphone manufacturers in the world, six of them have introduced folding screens of Samsung, Motorola, Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo, but the seventh, Apple, hasn't.
Although it hasn't come out yet, a YouTuber in China has made an impressive prototype showing a foldable iPhone that seems to have a middle hinge on the screen.
The prototype, called the iPhone V, was created by engineers using the iPhone X and the folding mechanism of the Motorola Razr.
The iPhone V product, it takes more than 200 days of production and the cost of making thousands of US dollars. This phone also has silver iPhone writing on its hinge and iconic Apple icon on the back.
China's Technological Aesthetics YouTube channel posted the video, detailing a tiring months-long mission to make the device.
"It takes more than 200 business days, and at a huge cost," said Na Yan of Technological Aesthetics, quoted by the Daily Mail. "In the future we want to continue to perfect the foldable iPhone."
Overall, the iPhone V looks similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, which opens like a 90s retro phone thanks to the horizontal hinge in the middle of the screen. But the team used the iPhone X, a five-year-old iPhone model, to turn it into a modern flip phone running iOS 16.
Engineers use the phone's OLED screen, which is flexible, even though the iPhone is covered in hard outer glass.
The team also reset the components in the iPhone X to fold and borrow the folding axis structure of the Motorola Razr, although they are still considering using the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip mechanism.
Engineers admit that the result is a beautiful 'basic prototype', as it has some issues that become apparent after use in a limited period of time.
For example, there is a gap when folded, and after a few days of use there are folds and horizontal bubbles under the screen that are 'irreversible'. What's more, if the entire screen is fully covered, the entire screen is permanently damaged.
This product also uses a 1.000mAh battery compared to the 4.352mAh battery on the iPhone 13 Pro Max, so it can hardly last a day in use.
However, overall, the team claims it has technically created the world's 'first foldable iPhone', which could be years before Apple officially released it.
Apple appears to have registered a patent for foldable phones, similar to a flip phone, with horizontal hinges in the middle. But this was filed years ago, and Apple's iPhone model recently does not have a design feature that suggests it will descend to a foldable route in the near future.
Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight, previously said that Apple was "unnecessarily unnecessary" moving in the current foldable direction.
"You believe that it has flexible display technology in its lab over the last decade," he told MailOnline. "But now there is no commercial obligation for Apple to take the risk of getting into the market niche when the iPhone is a huge success."
Rival Samsung released the latest generation foldable phones, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Galaxy Z Flip 4, in August. Meanwhile, Motorola released its second generation Motorola Razr in China this year and is in the process of launching it across Europe.
Motorola took inspiration from its original Razr 'clamshell' flip to make pocket-sized flip phones foldable under horizontal folds.
Meanwhile, the newly released Huawei Mate X2 has a double screen design that is very similar to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2.
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