A Possible 4th iPhone?

Recently, a friend 3D-printed the latest mockup of what the upcoming foldable iPhone will supposedly be and gave it to me. I love this thing.

Handling stuff in the physical world is SO much better than watching videos and seeing pictures while trying to imagine what Apple is cooking up.

Not everyone is a fan. From friends to Marques Brownlee, a lot of people are tired of expecting anything remotely new from smartphones and pointing out that foldable phones are kind of a solution looking for a problem. Phones today are a consolidated, commoditized product. The cheapest Android does what only the top-of-the-line iPhone could do 10 years ago. And whatever these cheap phones miss is totally fine for most people.

I have been using a Galaxy A01 that is my grandmother's every time I visit her because storage is full and she asks me to fix it. It's not a good phone by a long margin, but it is a competent phone and good enough for her for only ~400 Reais new (that's 75 US Dollars!).

But back to my main point: A foldable book-style iPhone is definitely coming and I think it could be a hit not only for Apple (moneyyy) but for us tech toy-addicted nerds using technology to forget how grim reality is (ok let's reel it back).

Closed, this mockup is just a couple mm taller an iPhone 3GS. 1.5 cm wider.

Opened, it very much resembles a passport, albeit a little smaller than a real one.

Now, opened AND on its side is how I think it shines. This is as tall as an iPhone 17 Pro Max but it's wider. I'm not saying bigger is better (and I oop), what I am saying is this whole package feels right. It's the big screen and format + each half being as thin as an iPhone Air + it feeling like an original iPhone when in ready-for-pocket mode. To me this is VERY exciting.

I didn't really plan on writing about this, my intention with this blog is not to become a tech blogger, but this post is an answer to a previous post I wrote talking about how Apple "struggles" (the whitest of white problems) to have a model that fits this proverbial fourth spot in their lineup. After using this mockup (suspiciously taken offline by its creator) I think it has a shot at fulfilling the job of both selling a lot and feeling like something fresh and new to users.

Watch MacRumors' video on this mockup. They do a very nice job comparing it to existing phones and tablets.

If this is really the form factor Apple has in store, I think they could be onto something. The folded size has a nostalgic appeal to fans (I can already hear the announcement in my head on the September event video and see the beautiful images of this new thing compared to an impossibly immaculate original iPhone). The open size is great for widescreen video and reading documents (while, most importantly for sales, feeling distinct from existing iPhones). The open and upright mode feels like the real seller here, feeling totally new, great for vertical video and perfect for use with a stylus (I swear my right hand screams for a skinny Apple Pencil whenever I hold this thing in that orientation) while the closed mode feels fine for texting and hailing an Uber.

Something else that excites me is what special UX sauce Apple will bring to iOS for this new occasion. Specifically when opening and closing, Samsung and Google just fade the screen in and out between each mode but Apple could bring something cool like an animation of the app sliding between the displays and doing some Magic Move-like growing and shrinking. My fingers are eager to click a Fold/Unfold button on the Xcode 27 simulator 💃

The love of gadgets is what keeps us tech nerds going. Beyond distractions, they are a big part of how we experience the modern world. My hope is that whatever new concoction we get this year or next helps keep the flame alive.