As we edge our way closer to the launch of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, the rest of the smartphone market isn't sitting on its hands and waiting. We already expected that Google would announce new Pixel phones soon enough and the company has now confirmed it — August 13 is the big day.
That unveiling will see the arrival of a slew of new handsets including the Pixel 9 and Pixel 9 Pro, but there's one phone that is sure to capture the attention more than the others and it's one that I'm particularly keen to take a look at. That phone is the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, a device that as the name suggests, will be foldable.
I've long had an interest in foldable phones of all shapes and sizes, although I admit that I'm more interested in phones that fold open into tablets than a reimagining of the flip phone years. Because of that, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is right up my alley despite having a terrible name. But with the iPhone Fold (or whatever it winds up being called) still seemingly years away, Google's new foldable is just another reminder of just how far behind it's fallen in a key aspect of the smartphone world — excitement.
Terrible name, cool phone
We don't know all that much about the Pixel 9 Pro Fold right now and we might have to wait until next month to get the full details. That being said, Google's Pixel phones tend to leak more than a leaky thing in leaktown so perhaps not. But Google has given us a glimpse of what we can expect in terms of the image at the top of this piece and the video below this text.
That video focuses heavily on Gemini, the chatbot technology that is sure to be a focus of the phone's unveiling a month or so before Apple Intelligence launches on the iPhone with iOS 18.
I have to say the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (have I mentioned how terrible that name is yet?) is a looker, and I do find it a more aesthetically pleasing device than its contemporaries like the Samsung Galaxy Fold family. But I'll likely never buy one because I want my foldable phone to be an iPhone. I want it to run iOS and tie into iCloud and have all my photos, currently safe and sound in iCloud Photos.
So what gives, Apple? Sure, the iPhone 16 models look cool and I'll no doubt own an iPhone 16 Pro Max in some shade of gray by the end of September. But am I excited about that? Not really. I'm more excited about having a new screen that isn't scratched if I'm being absolutely honest. There's talk that the iPhone 17 will hold up better than its predecessors, thankfully. But it still won't fold.
Apple will never join a market until it thinks it can do it right, and it's hard to argue with successes like the Apple Watch and the iPhone. But it was relatively early to the game with the hugely expensive Apple Vision Pro, a device that isn't expected to sell well and instead seems designed to get people used to the idea of spatial computing. A foldable iPhone isn't too much to ask, is it?
I'm worried that I won't be excited about another iPhone until I can fold it in half. An iPhone Pro Max that turns into an iPad mini at will sounds like a productivity and gaming powerhouse.
But Apple won't make one. And I now find myself looking at a Pixel and wishing that it ran iOS instead.
