Daniel Rubino on Foldable iPhone & AAPL Long-Term Expectations

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
It's time for a look here at AAPL, here on the watch list, and we're about a month away from the expected release of the iPhone 18
Which one are you on? In the meantime, Daniel Rubino, Editor-in-Chief, Windows Central is with me. And so, what do we think about the iPhone 18? The 17 certainly received really some good demand. We saw that going for a long time. We were looking in China. The 17 did quite well from what I saw, you tell me. And now, we have the 18 in line. Is that going to have demand?

**Daniel Rubino** (0:35)
Thanks for having me. Yeah, so the 17 did do better than expectations, especially since the entire phone market is either flat or declining in some markets, especially Europe, where price and competition is a lot more, it's rough out there basically, especially with the VAT tax.
And you see this in the US as well. But the iPhone 17 was received well. And when it comes to the iPhone 18, well, it's not going to be too many major new features for your standard phones. You're going to get, of course, an improved processor. Of course, the OS will be better. The iPhone 18 Pro Max, the top tier model, is rumored to be getting a new camera, which has a physical aperture. This has been done before by Samsung and some Chinese brands. It remains to be seen if Apple will stick to it. If it does, it's going to make the camera on the Pro Max basically similar to a true DSLR camera, which for the people who buy the phone would certainly appreciate.
That said, I don't know if it's a slam dunk. Samsung has been rumored to use the same sort of technology for its upcoming S27 Ultra, but had backed out of it for various reasons, so we'll see. The big story here, of course, is going to be the iPhone 18 Fold, which won't go by that name. They're going to expect it to be called either the Ultra or some other name. This is it, their first foldable device. Now, I think they'll do extremely well at this, despite the expected high price, which should range between 2000 and $2,500.
The reason I think this will do well, is because the foldable market is very well established. Samsung just released its eighth generation of foldables. And in China, this is already a major market with a lot of competitors, doing some really outstanding quality hardware. So I think, even though it's expensive, I think this will sell out probably day one, which should be a combination of high demand, but also this is going to be tough to produce en masse. So they're going to have to balance retail availability of this device, but I think it will do very well for them.

**SPEAKER_1** (2:34)
Look, so many people have been waiting for this. We used to have the foldable phone. It's gone. It's, you know, I see people here at the stock exchange using a Samsung foldable. I heard a conversation, you talked about the new camera that may be coming on the 18
I heard people having a conversation about the Google phone and how great that the photos are there in. I mean, is that real? Is that a real thing? I mean, do we think Google's photos are better than that of iPhones?

**Daniel Rubino** (3:03)
No, I think Apple still does extremely well.
Definitely when it comes to video, that's what they're really well known for, but their camera quality is also great. As you know, the camera stuff, it's good, but all the flagship Samsung, Pixel, Apple all do really well, I don't think most people care anymore.

**SPEAKER_1** (3:22)
What about the long-term? I mean, we're seeing the strategy moving forward. What about AI? The services is another part of it as well, and the 2027 anniversary design. So we look a little further out than just this September.

**Daniel Rubino** (3:39)
Yeah, the 2027, 20th anniversary of the iPhone, which is crazy to think about, is going to be something I think really coming to watch, because I think we're going to see a major redesign or some sort of anniversary edition. There's been rumors about special displays and glass, and it remains to be seen whether they can achieve it and how much they can pull off with it. I think that's going to be a pretty big deal. Now, the bigger market here is getting tough, right? We're seeing price increases across the board due to memory restrictions because of AI, and consumers aren't spending as much, right? So I think the next couple of years will still be soft. I think AAPL does get credit because people who tend to buy their phones tend to have more money and don't mind spending it. That said, AAPL does compete now in the lower segment with their E-series devices, and I think they can compete there as well. But I don't expect any, besides the foldable thing, I don't expect any major, you know, huge advancements with smartphones in the next coming years. I think everybody's going to try with AI.