Mobile Devices

It's like every day is a "here we go again" day... and today we're reporting on the fact that out-of-control DRAM prices are forcing smartphone makers to re-think their 2026 plans, as the bill of materials (BOM) could increase by 25% according to the latest reports.

It was barely 24 hours ago that I reported that the return of 4GB of RAM in smartphones will be upon us in 2026, as well as the return of microSD expansion in upcoming smartphones, but with the BoM (Bill of Materials) rising 25%, then it just underscores that fact.

In a new report from Counterpoint Research, low-end, mid-range, and high-end smartphone BoM costs will be increasing 25%, 15% and 10%, respectively. It looks like Chinese OEMs will be hurt the most, with Apple and Samsung faring a little better.

Apple is reportedly using a new bezel-less display for its 20th anniversary iPhone, with both LG Display and Samsung Display spending hundreds of millions of dollars preparing for the iPhone 20 in 2027.

In a new report from Korean media outlet Dealsite, we're hearing that Apple would be using a "4-sided bending design" and "monolithic full-screen design" and that in order to achieve this, Apple aims to adopt 4-sided bending technology that won't only cover the front, but all four edges of the display on the iPhone 20.

LG Display's current 4-sided bending display is known to be a different concept from the edge display that Samsung has previously used on its Galaxy smartphones. Samsung used its edge display in previous smartphones, applying curvature to the display concerns, but the Galaxy Note Edge was released over 10 years ago, back in 2014. Curvature was used to the left and right sides to be utilized for edge panels and notification displays.

The future of smartphones is being heavily impacted by the ongoing DRAM shortages, with smartphone makers reportedly set to reintroduce 4GB smartphones in the future... as well as the return of the microSD card slot for (hopefully slightly cheaper) storage expansion.

In a new report from TrendForce, memory prices are projected to rise "sharply again" in Q1 2026, exerting "significant cost pressure on global end-device manufacturers". Smartphone and notebook makers are compelled to increase their product prices and reduce, yes, reduce specifications.

TrendForce notes that memory is increasingly accounting for a larger share of the BOM (bill of material) costs in consumer devices like smartphones and PCs, where we've seen giants like Dell tell its staff that huge price increases on their laptops and desktop PCs are coming... and they aren't, and won't be, the only ones.

Samsung Display will reportedly mass produce 11 million OLED panels for Apple, ready for its new foldable iPhone in 2026.

In a new report from Korean outlet ETnews picked up by analyst @Jukan on X, we're hearing that Samsung Display has plans to make over 10 million OLED panels for the foldable iPhone next year, with the 10M units exceeding initial expectations, and that the foldable smartphone market is growing, and Apple is going to tackle it head-on.

Samsung Display is the exclusive supplier of OLED panels for Apple's foldable iPhone, with the figure of 11 million foldable OLED panels being 30% higher than the volume previously expected by the industry. Initial display industry expectations on shipments were between 6-8 million units, as this was Apple's first foray into foldable smartphones, but with 11M+ units, Apple seems confident in its upcoming foldable iPhone.

Apple will (finally) release its foldable iPhone next year, and in order to save as much space inside of the foldable smartphone, the company is reportedly removing as many non-essential items as it can... and this includes a dedicated SIM card tray.

Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will reportedly be an eSIM-only handset, with Chinese tipster Instant Digital echoing previous comments by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and insider Ming-Chi Kuo, predicting an eSIM-only design for Apple's foldable iPhone.

Instant Digital has said that Apple's new foldable iPhone would be an eSIM-only affair, with Kuo previously stating that the ultra-thin design of the foldable iPhone doesn't leave much room for things like a dedicated SIM tray. The leaker said: "there is a high probability that the iPhone folding screen does not have a SIM card slot version and only supports eSIM. It's hard to say a word. I hope mainland China can improve the user experience as soon as possible!"

Apple's new iPhone Air has the highest level of depreciation of an iPhone in the last three years, with almost no demand for the iPhone 17 and production lowered, with the latest depreciation seeing 47.7% of its value wiped in the 10 weeks since the iPhone Air launched.

In some new data from SellCell, the entire family of iPhone 17 smartphones from Apple is averaging 34.6% depreciation in 10 weeks, beating out the iPhone 16 and iPhone 14 series, which dropped 39% and 36.6%, respectively, in their first 10 weeks from launch.

The iPhone 15 series has the best resale value of the last few years of iPhones, losing 31.9% value in the same 10 week period.

Samsung has officially introduced its new Galaxy Z TriFold, with numerous advancements and upgrades over the Z Fold 7, with the new Galaxy Z Tri-Fold unfolding out into a gigantic 10-inch display.

Inside, Samsung is using its most advanced hinge system yet with a refined Armor FlexHinge, made of titanium with two differently sized hinges using a dual-rail structure that provide a smoother, more stable folding experience, with varying weight and components across the Galaxy Z TriFold. The upgraded hinge structure also allows the screen panels to meet securely with a minimal gap, making for a thinner, portable -- even though it's a triple-fold smartphone -- experience.

Samsung's new Galaxy Z TriFold features a huge 10-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED screen with a native 2160 x 1584 resolution, with up to 1600 nits of peak brightness, and a dynamic refresh rate between 1Hz and 120Hz to conserve battery life. The cover display is a 6.5-inch Dynamic LTPO AMOLED panel with 2560 x 1080 and up to a higher 2600 nits of peak brightness. The smallest 6.5-inch uses the same panel tech, with an adaptive refresh also between 1-120Hz.

Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone is expected to retail for around $2447, which will take the foldable smartphone battle directly to Apple's front door when it finally releases its foldable iPhone in 2026, which is expected to retail for $2399.

In a new post from South Korea rumor aggregating website, Naver, more information about Samsung's new Galaxy Z TriFold has been released in regards to pricing. The new triple-fold smartphone was expected to cost 4 million won (around $2719 USD) but it will reportedly be cheaper, at 3.6 million won ($2447 USD or so) in South Korea.

Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to retail for $2399, meaning that Samsung is wanting to double-down (or is that triple-down) with the retail pricing on its Galaxy Z TriFold at $2447, meaning Samsung's absolute flagship foldable smartphone only costs $50 more than Apple's not-yet-released and still-ages-away foldable iPhone. In that time, I'm sure we'll find the Galaxy Z TriFold discounted when the foldable iPhone launches, to steal all of Apple's thunder.

Apple launched its new M5 iPad Pro last month, with a Russian YouTuber uploading an unboxing video ahead of the release, and now Apple has bricked the new iPad Pro, turning it into an expensive paperweight.

The new M5-powered iPad Pro was released in October, with the 13-inch iPad Pro spotted being used by YouTuber "Wylsacom" who ran benchmarks of the new M5-powered tablet to see the performance improvements over the M4 iPad Pro. The YouTuber noted around a 30% improvement overall, but we all know Apple doesn't like leaks... so they bricked the M5 iPad Pro once they found out who leaked the unboxing.

The new Apple M5 iPad Pro was sold in Russia ahead of its October release, but a post on Reddit from two days ago says that Apple bricked the unit, and it is pretty much an expensive cutting board now.

Apple won't be launching its new base iPhone 18 or budget-friendly iPhone 18e next year, where instead they will reportedly launch alongside a potential refreshed iPhone Air 2 smartphone in 2027.

In a new report from insider Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple will be unveiling three new high-end smartphones in 2026 -- the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, alongside the first foldable iPhone -- in fall 2026. But 6 months later, Apple will reportedly unleash the base iPhone 18, budget iPhone 18e, and refreshed iPhone Air 2, with this pattern of staged releases to continue for "years to come" says Gurman.

Apple's second iPhone Air was reportedly delayed until fall 2027 to give the company time to add an additional rear camera, as well as a possible vapor chamber cooler and increased battery, reported The Information. The outlet also said that poor sales of the iPhone Air have also been another large reason why the new iPhone Air 2 is delayed.

Samsung is expected to officially unleash its new Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone on December 5, and we've got some delicious new leaks to share with you.

The company teased its new Galaxy Z TriFold tri-fold smartphone in a limited unveiling at the "K-Tech Showcase" on October 28 in South Korea, but showgoers had to look at the triple-folding smartphone behind glass. Inside, we didn't know which specs Samsung would go with, and now we do thanks to some fresh leaks.

Mobile leaker Evan Blass shared some leaked specs on Samsung's new Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone on X, where we're hearing the tri-fold handset will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip -- probably the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen5 -- and up to 2600 nits of brightness from the outer display.

Apple only recently launched the iPhone 17 generation and we are already hearing about what the company will be changing with the iPhone 18 generation.

The rumor comes from Weibo user, Setsuna Digital, that Apple will be picking either brown, purple, or burgundy for the iPhone 18 Pro. Notably, Setsuna Digital correctly predicted the release of a yellow finish for the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, along with the Titanium Milanese loop for the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Despite those being correct predictions, we should still take this information with a healthy amount of skepticism considering it's a leak.

Notably, the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max came with a Deep Purple color option, but Apple has never released a brown or burgundy. For reference, the iPhone 17 Pro, and Pro Max came in Silver, Cosmic Orange, and Deep Blue. Apple is expected to launch the next generation iPhone in September 2026, which means there is still plenty of time for the company to finalize a color.

Samsung will unveil its next-generation Galaxy S26 series smartphones at an "AI-focused" Galaxy Unpacked event on February 25, 2026, in San Francisco.

In a new report from Korean media outlet MT picked up by @Jukanlosreve on X, industry sources said that Samsung has confirmed the event, and will unveil its next-gen Galaxy S26 series smartphones, including the new Galaxy S26 Ultra, powered by its new in-house Exynos 2600 processor.

There were previous rumors that we'll see Samsung release the new Galaxy S26 Edge, but after lackluster sales of the S25 Edge, the company is reportedly narrowing the choices down to the three-model lineup with the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, and S26 Ultra.

Samsung has just unfolded some new details on its upcoming tri-fold Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone, which will be between 12mm and 15mm thick when folded, and could be using new silicon-carbon (Si/C) batteries.

The new tri-fold smartphone only has a single competitor on the market, the China-exclusive Huawei Mate XT, but now Samsung has had its new Galaxy Z TriFold smartphone on display and in the flesh at the K-Tech Showcase event on October 28 in South Korea.

The folks over at the Korea Economic Daily were at the event, reporting that the dimensions of Samsung's new Galaxy Z TriFold were between 12mm and 15mm thick when folded. Huawei's tri-fold competitor, the Mate XT, is just 12.8mm when folded, so it's good to hear that Samsung will be in that vicinity when its upcoming Galaxy Z TriFold is folded.

Apple's new iPhone 17 Pro Max comes with 256GB of storage on its base model, but the upgrade to the flagship 2TB storage costs $800... unless you have precise machinery, and steady hands like this modder.

YouTuber "DirectorFeng" has modded his iPhone 17 Pro which has 256GB of NAND flash made by Toshiba with part number "K5A4", saying that physically formatting the flash drive preparing for the 2TB upgrade is impossible without using machines, and even then, you'll need specific gear and years of knowledge to do so.

The 1TB and 2TB NAND flash modules are the same length, but they're not the same thickness or width, making the upgrading process of an iPhone 17 Pro Max not so easy. But, it seems that the dimension change hasn't caused a problem for the modder, as he soldered the Toshiba "K6B3" 2TB NAND flash module to the logic board of the iPhone 17 Pro Max using tin planting, followed by fuming with resin, and then installing the beefier NAND flash module.

Apple's purported 18-inch foldable iPad plans are "now in flux" according to the latest reports, with the foldable iPad postponed with a release in 2029 "at the earliest".

In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that Apple is preparing a slew of new products that would be the "most compelling" in its history, including the first foldable iPhone, a revamped iPhone Pro smartphone for the device's huge 20-year anniversary, new smart glasses, a tabletop robot, and other home tech.

One of those exciting devices was meant to be an 18-inch foldable iPad, but Gurman writes that unfortunately, "this device is suffering some hiccups". Apple reportedly had plans -- just like the last 6+ months of rumors have teased -- to release the foldable 18-inch iPad sometime in 2028, but the company has "run into challenges tied to the weight of the prototypes and the ultra-advanced folding OLED panel".

Apple's next-gen M6 processor will be even more powerful, and an even bigger thermal problem for a new iPad, with rumors suggesting the company will deploy a vapor chamber cooler to stop thermal throttling.

Apple recently unleashed its new M5 processor for its new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro products, but the new M5 MacBook Pro has been suffering from thermal throttling inside, with its M5 chip hitting 99C under load. To avoid any thermal throttling issues on the next-gen M6 iPad Pro, it looks like the company will be adopting the use of vapor chamber cooling, just like its recently-launched iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max smartphones.

In his latest "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writes that Apple will reportedly use a vapor chamber cooler inside of its next-gen M6 iPad Pro. The new M5 iPad Pro that Apple just launched features a graphene sheet to transfer heat, with the aluminum chassis acting as a heatsink.

Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone might not release in 2026 and could be delayed according to Mizuho Securities, citing issues with key design elements of the phone including the complex hinge system and flexible OLED display.

The analysts also said that the estimated flexible OLED panel production has been reduced from 13 million units to around 9 million units, a huge adjustment that hints at slower early-stage manufacturing. We could expect Apple to still launch its foldable iPhone in 2026, but internal testing standards from the company could push the release out considerably.

We were to expect Apple to unveil the foldable iPhone -- rumored as the iPhone Ultra -- alongside its next-gen iPhone 18 family of smartphones in 2026. Apple as a company is perfectionistic, where it won't release a product, especially something totally new for the company, unless it is as close to perfect as possible.

If you have a smartphone, you have received a scam text, and if your information has been shared around online, you probably get scam texts several times a week. While most people ignore these texts as they are obviously nefarious, they generate more than $1 billion per year.

It's an unfortunate thought to know that scammers are taking hard-earned money from everyday people that think they are paying for things such as US Postal Service fees, unpaid traffic violations, or a toll payment that is overdue. These are just some of the texts that US residents are receiving on a daily basis, and according to officials criminal organizations operating out of China are responsible for at least the toll and postage messages.

With just those two messages, the organized crime groups have generated more than $1 billion over the last three years, according to data provided by the Department of Homeland Security. Officials state that behind these text messages are criminal networks that are being connected to server farms, which then send a flurry of text messages to potential victims.

Apple has launched its new M5-powered iPad Pro, calling it "the most powerful and intelligent iPad ever" which also features Apple's new in-house C1X and N1 processors. Check it out:

The new M5 iPad Pro has been rumored for a while now, launching with a refined minimalist design language, and is now the thinnest product in its lineup. The new 11-inch M5 iPad Pro is only 5.3mm thick, while the bigger 12.9-inch version is just 5.1mm thick, with both of the new iPad Pros feeling sturdier through the use of precision aluminum machining.

We've also got the new Ultra Retina HDR display with tandem OLED technology for deeper blacks, more brightness, and improved HDR. Inside, Apple's new M5 processor is at the heart of the new iPad Pro, with up to 10 CPU cores and 10 GPU cores, with each of them featuring a Neural Processor for improved AI and gaming performance.