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The Vergecast · Friday, July 31, 2026

Discussion on the future of phone form factors: Foldables and Apple's potential entry

The hosts debated the future of smartphone design, specifically focusing on foldable phones and the potential for Apple to enter the market. They discussed whether foldable technology, particularly the larger, book-style foldables, is compelling enough for consumers, especially at their current price point.

personDavid PiercepersonNeely PatelpersonDomcompanyApplecompanyGoogle

The tape

4 quotes
Everybody is making AI devices and trying to ask what's a computer. Apple is wondering if you might be interested in never buying your computer again and instead just happily renting one from Apple.
David Pierce
We have a new foldable phone that actually I think is very good. We're getting details about Google's foldables. We're just in a phase of uncertainty in terms of how we're supposed to do gadgets that I think is very fun.
David Pierce
I remain unconvinced. I I think the thing that comes out of an Android vendor is, unless you are the kind of person who is constantly unfolding the phone, it's not valuable to you. And most people never unfold the phone.
Neely Patel
I think the case for foldables has to be something about this gets dramatically better when you unfold it.
David Pierce
Heard on The Vergecast — “It's time to panic about AI safety, published Friday, July 31, 2026. Heardvine summarizes and quotes with attribution and timestamps, and links to the original everywhere.
Transcribed via Gemini audio transcription · $0.08
Discussion on the future of phone form factors: Foldables and Apple's potential entry — Heardvine