It's not easy launching a foldable phone in 2019, as Samsung is quickly finding out: the latest reports from Asia suggest that its innovative Galaxy Fold handset won't be going on sale until August.
That means the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 might be out and available to buy before the folding handset that we first saw demoed back in February.
The bad news for folding phone fans comes from the Korea Herald, which says Samsung itself has denied the handset is going to be appearing in July (that was a prediction based on comments from a Samsung Electronics official).
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Apparently "little progress" seems to have been made on sorting out the folding hinge on the device, which has been the cause of numerous breakdowns in early review units.
The waiting game
The launch date in the US had been set for April 24, but that came and went after the first units to get into people's hands started suffering some durability problems.
Samsung then postponed the official on-sale date until a specified date in the future – we're still waiting to hear when that might be. Pre-orders for the phone have been canceled in the meantime.
The Galaxy Fold isn't the only foldable handset having problems either: Huawei has decided to delay the launch of its Mate X foldable, citing concerns over the longevity of the handset.
Getting the technology right is obviously a massive engineering challenge, but let's hope we see the Galaxy Fold and the Mate X made available to consumers before too long.
If the tale of the tortoise and the hare applies to foldable phones, Samsung and Huawei are learning the hard way that being first still won't guarantee the prize. The phone-makers wanted their Galaxy Fold and Mate X to prove how exciting and successful a foldable phone could be. Instead, we got a lot of flash and -- so far -- little substance.
These snafus threaten to derail what was once heralded as one of the biggest leaps for mobile phones. Foldable phones promised to double the screen size and revolutionize design at a time when phone sales have waned amid lackluster annual aesthetic upgrades.
But major hiccups are dampening enthusiasm for the bendable devices before they even come out. A foldable phone has to employ flexible plastic, which make them especially vulnerable to nicks and gouges, pressure damage and bulges formed by debris tunneling under the display. These delays cast doubt on how well the radically expensive devices hold up to constant use.
The delays don't come as a total surprise. The phone brands only showed off their foldable phones briefly, unlike other phones that see much more time in reviewers' hands before the final review unit appears. We used the Mate X for about five minutes in March and first touched the Galaxy Fold moments before we received our review unit in April. The phone-makers' elusive attitude was a strong tip-off that the foldable devices weren't ready for prime time.
The Fold was announced February 20 and was supposed to sell 50 days ago on April 26. Huawei unveiled the Mate X a few days later and was slated to sell in June. Samsung declined to comment. Huawei did not respond to a request for comment.
The Mate X's screen bends outward, which means the plastic display covers the exterior of the phone frame.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Plastic is a problem, but bendable glass is years away
From the very beginning, phone-watchers remarked that the Galaxy Fold and Mate X's foldable plastic screens could be their very undoing. Because who wants to spend $2,000 or more on a scratch-prone phone?
Observers were mostly concerned about the "ugly" crease you see when you unbend a foldable phone into its full-screen mode, and if this could lead to wear and tear over hundreds of thousands of bends. The crease either appears as a ridge or a valley depending on if the larger screen unfolds on the inside or outside of the device. For example, the Galaxy Fold opens like a book to reveal an interior 7.3-inch display, where the Mate X's 8-inch screen acts more like the book cover that wraps around the outside of the frame.
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A plastic screen prone to scratches on its softer surface was another issue, especially for outward-bending models like the Mate X, where more of the delicate screen is exposed.
In the Galaxy Fold's case, where Gorilla Glass protects the interior screen when the phone is closed, I still noticed indentations and scratches on the plastic cover material after just seven days. Some of the Fold's issues arose because reviewers peeled off a protective layer that wasn't intended to come off, which made the phone immediately stop working. Samsung has reportedly fixed these problems, but hasn't shared when it plans to put the Galaxy Fold on sale.
The key to making phones stronger is bendable glass, which won't be ready for a few years. CNET got an exclusive look at Corning's bendable glass, which, even if fragile, is still expected to offer a degree of protection over the Galaxy Fold and Mate X's plastic screens.
Although the ban received a temporary reprieve that allows Huawei to support current products, it's uncertain if the Mate X falls into that category. The Mate X was announced before President Trump signed the executive order against Huawei, but not yet released.
If Huawei needs Google's support for foldable phones and Android apps to sell the Mate X outside of China, that could certainly influence its decision to wait. The Wall Street Journal reported that sourcing parts wasn't an issue, according to Huawei SVP Vincent Peng, but that Huawei and Google are still discussing the license over Android apps.
Android Q supports foldable phones.
Google
Don't give up on foldable phones yet
It's too soon to declare foldable phones dead. Samsung and Huawei still plan to launch an improved Galaxy Fold and the Mate X, respectively, and Google declared support for foldable designs in May at its annual Google I/O conference for developers. That means app-makers are already optimizing their software to work on foldable phones.
While off to a stuttering start, these companies have invested millions into foldable designs. It's a gamble that they're counting on to pay off in the long run.
Apple often waits years after a category is established -- think smartphone or smartwatch -- before coming in with a fully polished product.
The very first foldable phone models were always going to be niche, beta-style devices for bleeding-edge adopters, models that reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a brand-new design ethos that their makers could then fine-tune down the line.
Samsung and Huawei aimed to score the first points and force rivals to follow suit. But if competitors are learning any lesson, it's to slow down and get their foldable designs right. Hopefully Samsung and Huawei are taking note, too.
The iOS 13 developer's beta may have revealed a major clue about a new feature coming to the 2019 iPhones, and another long-time iPhone feature could be on the chopping block. In this week's Apple Core roundup, we're looking at what the latest rumors are speculating about the next iPhone and Apple's slip-up with the MacPro release date on its website.
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2019 iPhone lineup may switch to USB-C
WWDC 2019 may be over, but it's left behind a trail of clues that hint at what Apple is planning for its next batch of product announcements. The latest clue could suggest a USB-C on the 2019 iPhones. This week Apple user Raphaël Mouton published a picture on his Twitter account of the recovery screen on an iPhone running the developer's beta of iOS 13. At first glance it just looks like an image of a Mac and the top end of a cable -- but that's no Lightning cable.
The existing iPhone recovery mode image clearly shows a Lightning cable tip, while the one in the beta looks more like a USB-C tip as pointed out by Forbes. This could be a sign that Apple is planning to swap out the Lightning port for the more widely used USB-C port in its 2019 iPhone lineup, a rumor that's been making the rounds since before the 2018 iPhone launch cycle. Also, it wouldn't come as too much of a shock considering Apple has already made the change from Lightning to USB-C on its 2018 iPad Pros and MacBooks.
The more likely possibility is that the image refers to the USB-C end of a USB-C-to-Llightning cable going in to the Mac. Which hopefully means Apple is planning to include this type of cable as well as a 18W fast-charging USB‑C Power Adapter in the box with its new phones.
3D Touch may get the axe
The new features on the next batch of iPhones could come at a price though, as rumors about Apple eliminating 3D Touch continue to gain steam. After a visit with Apple suppliers in Asia, Barclay analysts, cited in MacRumors, seemed certain that Apple will eliminate this feature in the 2019 iPhone lineup.
This pressure-sensitive technology allows users to access more control options by pressing harder on the phone's screen. Apple first debuted 3D Touch in its iPhone 6S. It was meant to help with navigation once Apple decided to get rid of the home button with the iPhone X, but it hasn't proven to be critical. Apple replaced 3D Touch in last year's iPhone XR with Haptic Touch (its fancy term for a long-press with a slight vibration) to make room for a larger, nearly bezel-less LCD display. And though it doesn't have as much functionality as 3D Touch, it's proved to be a good compromise for users.
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We won't know for certain whether or not Apple will eliminate 3D Touch until the iPhone 11 launch in September, but we can rest assured that the functionality will remain, at least to some degree (whether via Haptic Touch or otherwise). The developer's beta of iOS 13 includes even more use-cases for it, and it's unlikely Apple would add more ways to use a defunct feature in iOS.
At WWDC, the company said the new MacPro and 6K display would be available this fall, but didn't specify when. Then for a brief moment, if you clicked on the "Notify me" link above the Mac Pro on the Apple.com homepage, the pop-up read "Coming in September." But then if you clicked on the product page and did the same, it read "Coming this fall".
Justin Jaffe/CNET
By the time Apple noticed and corrected the slip, it has already been published on 9to5Mac and MacRumors, and made its way around the internet. It has since been corrected to match the other notifications, and Apple has not responded to a query about when the new products will ship.
That said, I'd definitely put my money on a September release date for the Mac Pro, maybe even the day of the iPhone reveal.
We might have caught our first glimpse at the Google Pixel 4 out in the wild, after a phone looking very similar to the one Google teased last week was spotted being used in London.
An image of the phone was shared by 9to5Google – you can see the square rear camera array on the back and... that's about it. The snap doesn't really tell us anything new about Google's upcoming handset.
The phone does appear to have a large front-facing bezel at the top of the display, the anonymous tipster who took the phone noted, which we think is going to be housing a dual-lens camera.
And the handset looks as if it's wrapped up in one of those official Google Pixel fabric cases that we've seen appear with previous Pixel launches as well.
Does this look like the Pixel 4 to you? (Image credit: 9to5Google)
We're bracing ourselves for a host of Pixel 4 leaks between now and October, which is the month when we're expecting the next Google flagship to be officially announced.
Even Google is getting involved with the leaks this time around, posting a photo of the upcoming handset on Twitter. The square design for the rear camera is now confirmed, though we're not sure yet exactly what kind of optics it's carrying.
There has been talk of a "spectral sensor" on board the Pixel 4, which would be able to sense hand gestures above the phone, and possibly let users control the device without touching the screen.
Apparently the phone is going to come carrying a Snapdragon 855 chipset and 6GB of RAM too, putting it on a par performance-wise with some of the best phones of 2019. We should get all the details in a few months.
Sometimes, I really don’t enjoy being right. A perfect example is when I repeatedly warned readers for about a year before the Galaxy Fold was even announced that Samsung’s first smartphone with a foldable screen would end up being a horribly designed piece of junk. Then the phone was officially unveiled and the world saw immediately that Galaxy Fold’s design was horrible. As we approached the phone’s release date in late April, it became undeniably apparent that the Galaxy Fold was a piece of junk.
How was I so sure a year before the phone was unveiled that it would be so awful? The answer is quite simple: I’ve been doing this for a long time. I’ve seen Samsung repeat the same pattern over and over again with all of its mobile products. When Samsung releases a first-generation product, it’s garbage. Plain and simple. Samsung’s first Galaxy S phone was garbage, its first Galaxy Note phone was garbage, its first tablet was garbage, its first smartphone with a curved display was garbage, and its first smartwatch was garbage. Now, Galaxy S and Galaxy Note phones are some of the most gorgeous and most powerful smartphones on the planet. Samsung’s tablets are spectacular and its smartwatches are great. And Samsung’s signature curved displays are the best in the industry. Samsung is not an innovator, it’s a renovator, and now history is repeating itself yet again with the Galaxy Fold.
Someday, Samsung will sell foldable smartphones that are wonderfully sleek and people will love them. Unfortunately for people who were looking forward to the Galaxy Fold, that day isn’t going to come anytime soon. Even if we put aside the fact that the Galaxy Fold was such a piece of junk that its release had to be delayed indefinitely, the phone itself is hideous. It’s way too thick to be held comfortably when folded, both the inner and outer displays have massive bezels around them like it’s still 2012, the main display has a gigantic chunk missing from the corner where the front-facing cameras and other sensors are located, and so on. It’s hideous.
Even if the Galaxy Fold hadn’t been designed and manufactured so poorly, it was already an aesthetic failure. But then you add in the facts that the technical design was terrible and Samsung’s quality control was atrocious, and you’re left with a total dumpster fire. This is a $2,000 smartphone with huge gaps in the hinges, so dirt and dust would work its way into the device in a matter of days and destroy the display. This is a $2,000 smartphone with a display that had exposed edges on its top layer, so it looked like a cheap pre-installed screen protector that people inevitably want to peel off. Only when they peeled off this particular plastic film, the screen was instantly trashed.
Ugh.
Look, I like Samsung products. They’re great. The only Android phone I would personally even consider using over a Galaxy S10+ right now is the OnePus 7 Pro, and it’s basically just a Galaxy S10+ copycat with a pop-up selfie camera. And Samsung TVs? They’re the best on the planet, hands down. I would probably strangle a distant relative (no, not really) to get my hands on Samsung’s massive new 8K TV. But all of Samsung’s best products have one thing in common: They’re mature.
Samsung has been making televisions since 1970, and it has been making Galaxy S phones for almost a decade. When the company’s tenth-generation foldable smartphone comes out, it’s going to be absolutely astonishing. But when its first-generation foldable smartphone is finally released — and no one knows when that might be, not even Samsung — it’s still going to be awful. Even if Samsung fixes the inexcusable defects that early reviewers found in April, it’ll still be a $2,000 piece of junk. Skip it and save your money. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.
I hate to say it, Samsung fans, but I told you so.
Pixel leak season was just getting off to a strong start this week, and then Google shockingly posted an official image of the device. Now that that cat is out of the bag, a tipster for 9to5Google has spotted what definitely looks like a Google Pixel 4 in the wild, and it lines up directly with Google’s design.
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The below images, shared with us by a tipster who will remain anonymous, show the device with a rear camera array and placement that’s identical to Google’s official design. We’re fairly confident that this is indeed a real-life Pixel 4.
Since we already know the official design, these images don’t provide us with a ton of new information, but we can see what looks to be a microphone cutout on the top of the device. Presumably, this may be the XL model given the size in the user’s hands. The phone is clearly sitting in a case as well, and it appears to be a fabric design not unlike Google’s official cases that it sells for Pixel 2, 3, and 3a.
Seeing a Pixel 4 in the wild doesn’t come as much of a shock, as this is far from the first time a Pixel has leaked in this exact way. The original Pixel was spotted in use on a train, and the Pixel 3 XL’s notch gave it away in public ahead of launch as well.
Our tipster further shared that the device was spotted in London, but no other images were taken of the device. They were able to get a quick peek at the front of the device and confirmed that the rumored “forehead” did indeed seem large and still had the two front facing cameras from last year’s model.
