Foldable phones could be hot – in more ways than one

The most fascinating thing about Apple's new iPhone Duo – and others like it – may not be that it folds.

It may be the innovation required to keep it cool.

Because at a time when performance demands from edge AI continue to increase, we’ve now taken available smartphone real estate and – though not exactly halved it – constrained it more than ever.

And that impacts heat.

Which impacts performance.

What makes the Duo interesting isn't simply the engineering required to create a folding phone.

It's that Apple is confronting the same challenge every edge device manufacturer now faces: AI capability is increasing faster than our ability to manage the heat it generates.

That’s why I believe we’re entering a new phase of device innovation, with thermal design increasingly shaping what’s possible.

In the edge AI era, managing heat helps determine what a device can do, how long it can sustain performance, and how small or thin it can be.

The iPhone Duo is just the latest reminder that smartphone manufacturers have run into a stubborn engineering problem: How to keep mobile processors cool when there’s almost nowhere left to put a cooling system.

For its part, with the Duo, Apple has packed its A20 Pro and other heat-generating electronics into an exceptionally thin, foldable design.

It’s also created a custom vapor chamber to help dissipate heat and sustain performance in the new form factor.

The latter is more than an engineering footnote.

It’s a glimpse at a challenge the edge AI industry is starting to confront.