For years, I’ve been snickering at foldable phones, the perpetual “next big thing” that never quite gets here. And while I still think Samsung is mostly winning in this market by walkover, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 might have just made Apple’s case for what a foldable iPhone could look like. And I like it.
The double-stacked tradeoff was always a dealbreaker
Ever since its first edition, Samsung’s flagship foldable has looked to me like a bulky prototype that somehow escaped the lab. Sure, the company has iterated on the design and internal mechanics. Still, I never quite got past the fact that the Galaxy Z Fold felt like two phones stacked on top of each other for the benefit of a second, larger screen that, in turn, was a 7-inch solution in search of a problem.
Which is not to say the Z Fold line hasn’t evolved. It has, especially in the last few years, as it has managed to make the most of its closed and open footprints (proper app support notwithstanding).
Still, one gets the sense that the entire category always banked on the cool factor of having a phone that unfolds to a bigger screen, hoping that users would trick themselves into believing that the thick, double-stacked tradeoff was worth the hassle and the price tag.
Meanwhile, the last few years have had no shortage of rumors about Apple’s intention to release its own foldable iPhone. And while with every Galaxy Z Fold generation, my first reaction would always be “I don’t want the iPhone version of that”, this week’s announcement finally got me thinking “Oh! I could go for the iPhone version of that!”
Inconspicuosly thin enough
To each their own, of course. But with the Galaxy Z Fold 7, Samsung has finally cracked what I think is the one thing that’s kept this category from feeling truly mainstream: thickness. This is the first foldable that actually looks inconspicuously like a regular phone when it’s closed, and trade-offlessly unfolds into a bigger screen.
The Fold 7 is just 8.9mm thin when closed, down from 12.1mm of last year’s device. Open it up, and it’s a ridiculously slim 4.2mm. For reference, the iPhone 16 Pro is 8.2mm thin, and the iPhone 17 Air is rumored to be 5.5mm. Yes, the Fold has plenty more internal space to spread components and battery around, but still.
Of course, the price still feels absurd, even for “tomorrow’s tech, today!” territory. At $1,999.99 for the base model, which is $100 bump from last year, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is closer than ever to the $2100–$2300 rumored price range of the foldable iPhone.
Would I pay two grand-plus for one? Probably not. Am I saying Apple should just copy Samsung outright? Nope. But for the first time, it feels like the tech is actually here to allow for a phone-looking foldable phone, rather than a hinged gadget that was over-engineered into existence.
Are you interested in the reportedly upcoming foldable iPhone? Let us know in the comments.
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