Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold has problems, and it’s telling us to steer clear of the foldable iPhone

Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold isn’t without its problems. | Image by Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold sold out in mere minutes following its launch in the U.S. Clearly, there is very strong demand for interesting new phones, especially if they’re made by established big players like Samsung.

However, Galaxy Z TriFold displays are failing, at least in some reported cases, and that gives credence to one of the most important buying practices that you can adopt: never buy first-generation products. And yes, this unfortunately also applies to the foldable iPhone coming out later this year, no matter how much you’ve waited for it.

First-generation products, never again

Oftentimes, first-generation products come with certain problems or oversights that make them a regrettable purchase soon after launch. Take, for example, the Apple Vision Pro, the company’s premium MR (Mixed Reality) headset released in 2024.

The Vision Pro, as described by the former head of Oculus, is an “over-engineered devkit” rather than a consumer product. It features tons of redundant sensors that weren’t exactly needed, but Apple included them anyway to make the headset as premium as possible. Features like Eyesight — the external display that shows a user’s eyes — were also tacked on there to make the headset stand out.

As such, the Vision Pro started with a price tag of $3,499, one of the biggest factors that led to it failing to meet sales expectations among both average consumers as well as enterprise clients. Unfortunately, Apple decided to stick with all of these extras and the expensive aluminum and glass chassis for the M5 Apple Vision Pro as well, and the starting price did not come down.

Not only was this first-generation product unaffordable for most, it still isn’t getting enough new content to make it a worthwhile purchase even now. Worst of all, it was just an experiment on Apple’s part, and the company has abandoned a more affordable version in favor of AR smart glasses.

iPhone 17 Pro also had problems

Okay, so the iPhone 17 Pro isn’t exactly a first-generation product, but it was the first iPhone to test run Apple’s redesign. This new design features a much larger rear camera island, an aluminum chassis, and a new antenna that wraps around said new camera island.

Guess what, the iPhone 17 Pro ran into a ton of problems at launch and it still has some issues. The new antenna, which was designed to improve cellular reception greatly, instead did the opposite for almost half of the people who bought an iPhone 17 Pro or an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

In addition, the aluminum chassis is very prone to getting dented and scratched, though it manages to do a great job dissipating heat. People who use an iPhone 17 Pro have to be a lot more careful than anyone still rocking an iPhone 16 Pro or an iPhone 15 Pro. Reports of the new antenna cracking have also started showing up, though the validity of these claims has not yet been verified.

Let’s talk about the foldable iPhone

So, how does this all tie into the Galaxy Z TriFold and the upcoming foldable iPhone? Well, just look at the Galaxy Z TriFold displays that have started dying. The problem is clearly a manufacturing issue, as Samsung has even replaced a unit for one user.

Apple isn’t taking some parts from Samsung’s supply chain for the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and slapping its own logo on them, the company is making an unorthodox foldable flagship that requires entirely new components. The proportions resemble the Huawei Pura X and the upcoming Galaxy Z Wide Fold, and the phone is going to be using a completely novel hinge never seen before in the industry.

There is absolutely no guarantee that this phone won’t start malfunctioning a couple of months after release. Given Apple’s track record with the software and hardware since 2024, I’d even go as far as to say that it’s almost a given that the foldable iPhone will be a broken product in one way or another.



Additionally, there is also a chance that this foldable design doesn’t actually take off at all, and just like the iPhone Air and the Galaxy S25 Edge, the foldable iPhone flops hard. If that happens, Samsung will abandon the Wide Fold like it abandoned the S25 Edge, and Apple will quickly shift to a more traditional foldable design.

For now, the hypothesis is that Apple wants the foldable iPhone to be able to run both iPadOS and iOS apps, hence the wide-folding design that makes it look like a small tablet. If that doesn’t work as expected, or if it runs into unforeseen problems, Apple might abandon it just like it abandoned the Vision Pro. Software support will stay, but the phone’s ecosystem will be barren.

I’m aware that the foldable iPhone will probably sell like crazy, just like the Galaxy Z TriFold did. But if its display fails like Samsung’s tri-fold phone, or if it cracks in your pocket, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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