The co-founder of Apple, and its original tech guru, can’t wait to get his hands on a folding iPhone. The first generation of folding devices from Samsung, Huawei, and others have met with skepticism from some quarters, but not Steve Wozniak.
He thinks Apple should get a handset with a folding display on the market soon.
Listen to The Woz
“Apple has been the leader for quite a long time in few areas such as Touch ID, facial ID and easy payment with the phone. They were the leader and everyone else had to follow,” Wozniak told Bloomberg. “But they’re not the leader in things like the folding phone and that worries me because I really do want a folding phone. You know, it’s one of those new technologies that does catch my attention.”
For anyone too young to remember, Wozniak designed the Apple I and Apple II, and had a major influence over the design of the first Macintosh computers. He left Apple in 1985.
The Woz, and the rest of us, mill apparently have a long wait. Unconfirmed reports indicate Apple might introduce a folding iPhone in 2020.
Early days for the folding phone
Several companies recently unveiled, but have not yet released, folding phones. The Samsung Galaxy Fold and the Huawei Mate X are the best known of these.
Whether there’ll be a widespread market for these cutting-edge handsets is still anyone’s guess. But their prices won‘t help their broad appeal: Samsung is asking $1,980 and Huawei about $2,600.
That said, these are likely to be just the first of a succession of phones with flexible screens. And lower prices will come if the tech goes mainstream. If they do catch on, Apple will be essentially forced to make its own version.
But maybe the company should be designing a folding iPad instead.
