Why a folding iPhone might be coming soon

September 04, 2021

You might be fondling a folding iPhone sooner than you think.

Waiting until a nascent technology becomes viable, then weaving it into a breakthrough iPhone model, is a time-tested Apple move. And in this week's top story, Ed Hardy runs down the clues that indicate a folding iPhone could arrive in the near future.

An 8-inch iPhone that folds down small enough to fit in your pocket? That sounds like something that would make phablet fans totally flip out.

Enjoy your weekend (and happy Labor Day to our U.S. readers).

— Lewis Wallace, managing editor

News and opinion

There’s plenty of proof that Apple has had a folding iPhone on the drawing board for years. But the company held off until flexible displays are past the prototype phase. The latest foldables from Samsung show that the technology has finally matured to the point where an iPhone Fold could become a mass-market success.

Apple Watch Series 7 is expected to be the biggest yet, with new screens that measure 41mm and 45mm. It’s rumored Apple will increase case sizes to accommodate those larger panels — and that could be bad news for your Apple Watch band collection.

The controversial feature was originally scheduled to roll out later this year. Apple now says it will take time to “collect input and make improvements” before deploying the changes.

Residents of Arizona and Georgia will be able to take advantage of the feature first, with six other states to follow.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: It looks like iPhone 13 will come with a satellite comms capability that will give you signal anywhere on Earth! It sounds like a lifesaver.

How-tos

If you find yourself in a situation where a police officer or federal agent — like a TSA person at the airport — requests or demands your iPhone, should you comply? Many folks say no, never. But if you do, you should at least know how to quickly hard-lock your device before you hand it over.

Deals

The Cult of Mac Store just kicked off its sweet Labor Day sale, offering up to 51% off awesome Apple Watch bands, stylish charging stands, and great cases for AirPods, iPhone, iPad and more.

It’s 2021: You don’t have to carry a different charging cable for every device anymore. This inexpensive cable packs two Lightning connectors, plus an Apple Watch charger.

Plus, more deals to get charged up about:

Have you ever been absolutely exhausted, then finally made it to bed, only to be wide awake after just a few minutes on your iPhone? Blue light could be the culprit.

Just like the old-school MagSafe power adapter for MacBooks, this breakaway cable can save you from bad trips.

Reviews

You may not be into overstuffed leather sofas, leather car seats and jackets worthy of the wardrobe department of The Sopranos. But it’s hard to deny the sense of class and luxury that leather accessories can add to a computer workstation.

Can true-crime podcaster Poppy Parnell keep her life together long enough to help anyone else?

The days of struggling along with too few ports are over — you can finally connect as many accessories to your computer as you need with this hub.

Setups

We last saw Redditor 17parkc after they took delivery of their lovely new blue 24-inch iMac in May. Now it looks like they moved to a new studio apartment with a few new toys. Actually, in one case, an old toy — an iBook from back in the day.

The clean look of this rig comes courtesy of some cable-concealing components.

Redditor NotDeadYet7917 dragged himself out of bed Monday and photographed his M1 MacBook Air computer setup exactly as it appears in real life. It’s not staged like some of those fancy-schmancy setups you see.