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In the iPhone Air, indicators that Apple is rising up to the foldable challenge

Apple’s ultra-thin iPhone Air isn’t just about looks, its redesign may be the company’s clearest step yet toward a foldable iPhone.

Ultra-thin form factors are the training ground for the foldables of tomorrow. (Image: Nandagopal Rajan/The Indian Express)

Apple has made some significant internal design changes to create the ultra-thin iPhone Air. However, this could actually be signalling something bigger: that it is preparing for its first foldable smartphone.

Ultra-thin smartphones are not really new, but almost all companies that have launched this form factor before have had foldable smartphones for years. And the ultra-slim phone is not the only indicator that the iPhone Air might be Apple’s first step towards perfecting its first foldable phone.

The biggest indicator of how Apple is already designing to overcome the challenges presented by a foldable comes with how the iPhone Air’s “camera plateau” now houses most of the internal components. This has been done to make space for the battery within the 5.6 mm body of the smartphone. So, while the modem, chipset, and sensor find space under this plateau, below it almost the entire space is occupied by the battery.

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ICYMI | Apple goes heavy on design change with the thinnest iPhone ever

This was not enough. Apple had to get rid of the physical SIM and 3D print the USB-C support to get it exactly right. The USB-C port might look like a mundane thing, but they were too thick for the iPhone Air design. So custom ports had to be printed for the iPhone Air to achieve a thin form factor. The other option was to remove the USB-C entirely to make the design easier, but Apple chose to keep it on for the sake of customer experience.

With all these changes, the company has been able to make a slimmer phone, one that has most of its innards on top and the battery below it. So, for all practical purposes, it can add a battery to the second part of the clamshell and be ready with a foldable.

This takes the iPhone maker a step closer to making its first fold, if it wants to enter this segment. Of course, it needs to figure out a good hinge and folding glass tech, but both of these technologies can be obtained from others who have perfected them.

But it is not that simple.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 7, for instance, has an unfolded thickness of just 4.2 mm. Apple will need to get to this level at least before it can even think about a foldable. So it will have to work on shaving off at least 1.5 mm more from the Air. It can always move a part of the battery to the other side. Tough, but certainly a feat it will be more confident about after the Air.

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Now, you might be wondering why it is so important to make a foldable so thin. Interestingly, this is because, according to some studies, foldable users are using their devices folded for 80% of the time — that means like a normal phone. So, companies cannot afford to make that experience inferior to that of a regular phone by offering a thicker device, like in the early-stage foldables.

Samsung and others have consistently shaved off thickness from their foldable devices over the years, and this is only going to get better. Apple has to live up to this user expectation if and when it enters the foldable race. Now it seems Cupertino is also slowly arming up for this next challenge.

Nandagopal Rajan

Nandagopal Rajan writes on technology, gadgets and everything related. He has worked with the India Today Group and Hindustan Times. He is an alumnus of Calicut University and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal. ... Read More

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