Motorola recently unveiled a new family of Razr foldables at an event in West Hollywood filled with glitz and glam. The fresh flip phones come in a variety of colors and textures, including leather and acetate, and, on the premium Razr Ultra, suede-like Alcantara. It's an appealing departure from the ceramic slab design of most phones, but what was particularly interesting to me was the influx of comments on social media about how attractive the new flip phones are—coming from people I know who are typically Apple faithful.
If you're familiar with Motorola's reprise of its iconic Razr flip phone as a foldable, you know that its finishes and specification offerings aren't anything new compared with previous years. You also know this year's foldables are slightly pricier due to current market conditions. That doesn't matter when the phones themselves are iconic little gadgets in their own right. It brings to mind Apple's much-anticipated foray into foldables later this year.
Rumors of the so-called iPhone Ultra, the suspected first-generation book-style foldable from Apple, describe a device finished in the company's usual clean, minimalist design aesthetic: a titanium chassis, a rail-thin frame, barely a bezel, and a high price tag to match its pedigree. But that's boring! Samsung already did this with the Galaxy Z Fold series. What Apple should do instead is embrace its own legacy of colorful, playful designs and release a foldable iPhone aimed at the young, the young at heart, and those who know the brand as the rainbow logo from back in the day.
Imagine Cute, Folding iPhones
Instead of a folding iPhone 17 Pro, with its giant honking triple periscope lenses and titanium enclosure, imagine a folding device that channels the flirty spirit of the iMac G3, the iPod Nano, or the MacBook Neo. Most of Apple's current design language is obsessed with metallic finishes and clean lines, but that energy is cold to the touch. It's meant to dissipate heat from the powerful A19 Pro chip, sure, but does it spark any joy beyond the impulsive Amazon purchases you make on it?
A "cute," colorful, foldable iPhone based on the designs of yore wouldn't need a prominent Apple logo or a burnt-orange chassis to stand out. Instead, it would come in a variety of candy-coated shells, kind of like how the iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 base models attempted to reprise themselves as devices for the people. The flip phone would offer cheeky software features that harken back to the classic Apple moment.
Imagine an iPod skin of sorts for the cover screen, with a virtual scrolling click-wheel you can use to shuffle through streaming tracks on Apple Music—topped off by satisfying haptic feedback. Or a "happy Mac" charging animation that sprouts up when the device is placed on a wireless charger. By cheekily referencing those famous eras, Apple would be shouting out its longtime faithful users while reminding others why the iPod and iPhone became such coveted devices in the first place.
Reclaiming the Zeitgeist
I could have used AI to illustrate exactly the kind of foldable iPhone I'm thinking of. However, it's more fun to imagine it for yourself. The reality, according to Bloomberg and others, is that Apple is likely to stick with the book-style foldable aimed at power users already locked into the company's coifed walled garden. The device will be geared toward productivity in an iPad-like way, with Apple Pencil and Stage Manager support, as well as other integrations you'd expect from a powerful tablet. Again, it's the same trajectory that worked for the Galaxy Z Fold series. And Apple is trying to justify a $2,000 first-gen device.
(Florence Ion)It makes sense why Apple is starting with something premium. But it also seems like a missed opportunity to appeal to "everyone else" during a time when young people, especially, are clamoring for how cute life was back in the day. The foldable revolution isn't about engineering the perfect hinge or putting together the highest-performing package. It should be about getting us to fall in love with the design, all over again.