Unlike several of its rivals, such as Samsung and Huawei, Apple hasn’t released a foldable phone yet, although it is rumored that he is working on one. A YouTube channel in China has created an impressive prototype showing an iPhone that folds a center hinge into the display. The prototype, called the iPhone V, was built by Chinese engineers using an iPhone X and the folding mechanism of Motorola’s Razr.
The iPhone V, which took more than 200 days to make and cost thousands of dollarsit also has silver iPhone lettering on the hinge and the iconic Apple icon on the back.
Of the world’s top seven smartphone manufacturers, six have already introduced foldable screens (Samsung, Motorola, Huawei, Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo), but the seventh, Apple hasn’t.
Chinese YouTube channel Technological Aesthetics posted the video, detailing the painstaking, multi-month mission to build the device. “It took more than 200 days of effort and at great costsaid Na Yan of Technological Aesthetics. “Over the next few days we want to continue to improve the foldable iPhone.”
Usually, the iPhone V looks like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flipg, which opens like a retro ’90s phone thanks to a horizontal hinge in the middle of the screen. But the team used the iPhone Xan iPhone model that is already five years old, to transform it into a modern-looking foldable phone with iOS 16.
Engineers used the phone’s OLED screen, which itself is flexible, though on iPhones it’s covered in hard outer glass. The team also rearranged the internal components of the iPhone X to allow for folding and borrowed the folding axis structure from the Motorola Razr, although they considered using the mechanism from Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip. Engineers admit that the result is a “fairly rudimentary prototype” as it has several issues that cleared up after limited periods of use.
For example, there are gaps when folding, and after a few days of use there are horizontal wrinkles and bubbles under the screen that ‘can’t be fixed’. Also, if it is completely closed, the entire screen is irreversibly damaged.
It also uses a 1000 mAh battery compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s 4352 mAh battery, so it barely lasts a day. However, in general, the team claims to have technically created “the world’s first foldable iPhone”, possibly years before Apple officially releases one. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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