Will the Oppo Find N6 steal the iPhone Fold's thunder?

I guess nobody took those claims literally, as the industry hasn't yet developed such a panel. But it's a fact that creases in foldables have indeed been getting shallower and shallower with each new model. Durability has also greatly improved.

So tech fans left and right were anticipating something truly special with the iPhone Fold. Yes, it won't be perfect, as first-generation devices often come with their fair share of hiccups and shortcomings. But Apple is so late to the foldables party that it is reasonable to expect something spectacular out of its first Fold.

The momentum might be gone, as the new Oppo Find N6 looks like it's justifying the Zero-Feel crease (one point to Oppo's marketing team) that it promotes. What's more, the display panel is claimed to have "self-healing" capabilities, meaning that if you leave your Find N6 open for a longer period of time, the crease that was formed during its folded state should be disappearing.

There you have it. Even if Apple pulls an almost-creaseless display for its iPhone Fold as well, it won't be a pioneer move.

The novel aspect ratio

The iPhone could bet it all on its unusual form factor and aspect ratio (it's expected to be wider than usual). If we take tri-foldables out of the equation, we're living in the square-ish book-style foldable realm right now.

It's not that companies were dying to shove the square form factor down our throats; the square is dominating because the book-style foldable wants to be a "regular" phone that simply opens to the side and gives you twice the screen real estate.

The square-ish form factor isn't ideal, though. Especially if you consume lots of video – it doesn't matter if you chug down (horizontal) 7-hour documentaries on the Roman Empire on YouTube or you're addicted to (vertical) TikTok slop, square-ish foldables are far from perfect. There'll be empty spaces around your video and you won't be taking full advantage of your huge inner screen.

Apropos, viewing 4:3 pictures (what essentially all phones shoot at) is much better than 16:9 video on these foldables… and 1:1 (square) Instagram photos look outstanding.

But… Apple might be late on this (the aspect ratio) front, too. The rumored Galaxy Z Fold Wide (that could arrive in the summer) is also a handset that's rumored to be wider than what we're used to.

I guess the only thing that's supposed to save the iPhone Fold is the Apple brand itself. This, however, might be the most powerful and effective weapon. As you know, Apple is superb at convincing its fanbase to buy whatever the fruit logo company is selling. Well, maybe not the Vision Pro, but I guess that's the exception that just goes to prove the rule.