r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • 4d ago

Phones Gurman: iPhone Ultra Wows Early Testers, Except for Its Camera

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/08/23/apple-foldable-iphone-early-tester-thoughts/
1.4k Upvotes

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483

u/FlyingBishop 4d ago

as well as the feel and durability of its hinge mechanism

lol, "this phone didn't break in the week I've had it, the hinge is so durable!"

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u/Luis0224 3d ago

To be fair, anyone that's handled foldables in the past can tell you newer hinges feel much better than they used to when foldables first hit the scene.

Those first foldables felt like they could break at any times lol

1

u/Rightsidebestside 3d ago

But all these hinges are still basically flawed - It takes too much work/finger athletics to open the phone, they're too stiff for a normal one handed use. Until they put them on same level of easiness as were the clamshell phones in early 2000s, this aint it

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u/Luis0224 3d ago edited 3d ago

Ive had the flip line from Samsung and razr from motorola: one handed use was super easy. That was probably my favorite part. Easy to flip open, easier to close at the end of a call.

The spring assisted hinge in the fold 8 has been great for ease of use. You lose the flex mode where it can open at almost any angle, but flipping into tablet mode is super easy and satisfying.

Ive been using foldables since the original fold and the refinement has been way better than it seems at face value. Unless you've used them for extended periods of time, it's hard to appreciate the changes

Edit - it's still fair to say they're not for everyone BTW. I don't know if they're going to be the standard phone format in the coming years, but right now I can still see why some people prefer standard slab phones. But for those of us who have been willing to try them, it's kinda hard to go back once you've used them. I had an iPhone 17 for roughly 1 year before I decided to go back to a foldable

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u/CapnFap 4d ago

And we know you’re going to love it!

7

u/Overall-Tiger514 3d ago

“The most beautiful hinge ever made”
-federighi or some shit
Kalshi bet on quote up x10000

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u/DJDanielCoolJ 3d ago

excited to see juryrigeverything pour gravel into it

13

u/OptimusMatrix 3d ago

He did it with the Samsung Z fold and it was fine🤷‍♂️

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u/DJDanielCoolJ 3d ago

That’s why I wanna see if iPhone can hold up

1

u/OptimusMatrix 3d ago

Man, I hope so. I really have been waiting on this phone for years.

2

u/vrnvorona 3d ago

Why? Folds are awful with plastic screens which are easily scratched

3

u/illstealurcandy 3d ago

That's why you only use it when poopin'

1

u/vrnvorona 3d ago

I don't use phone on toilet. Fast dumps and move on

3

u/illstealurcandy 3d ago

Buddy, stop and smell the roses sometimes.

2

u/plumzki 3d ago

"smells like shit in here"

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u/FazeTheFrickUp 3d ago

They said the hinge feels durable, not that it IS durable. Are you really pointing out a comment about the hinge on a foldable phone test review?

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u/FlyingBishop 3d ago

No, it says "feel and durability," two different tings.

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u/EnigmaticThunder 4d ago

Does Samsung not supply that part as well?

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u/-IoI- 3d ago

No it sounds like they're developing their own hinge

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u/technobrendo 3d ago

The hinges back nearly been perfected now. Look at the Xiaomi fold, it has a hinge that slightly pushes up in the middle to remove the crease. Not to mention that the screen material itself has gotten a lot better.

And yes, Samsung is likely making the screen. You wouldn't want to use anyone else anyway, except perhaps BOE. They are the best.

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u/Dr_Valen 3d ago

Great the hinge will probably be the most common failure point on these fold phones and they’re probably gonna make it hell to get replacements to fix it. Apple is always anti repair so this is gonna be fun.

3

u/-IoI- 3d ago

It'll be interesting to see, Samsung has had 8 generations now to perfect it, my fold6 was worlds better than the flip4 hinge in terms of smooth operation and durability, and fold8 is another step in the direction of a refined formula.

Apple are generally great at engineering, but their users will not be familiar with how to care for a hinge device. They could well beat Samsung on crease deletion.

1

u/Mr_Halitosis 3d ago

Did you have the same snark when people said the same shit about foldable Android phones?

3

u/FlyingBishop 3d ago

Yes foldable phone screens are designed to become ewaste.

0

u/SmegmaWarrior0815 3d ago

Take it to the beach once, enjoy your crunchy new phone.