The majority of the world’s leading manufacturers of smartphones now offer handsets with a form factor known as folding phones. [KJMX] made the decision to take matters into their own hands by releasing the “iPhone V” because of the fact that Apple has been conspicuously absent from this market sector (YouTube – Chinese with translations via MacRumors).
Instead of attempting to interface the screen of an already existing folding phone with the iPhone, these modders delaminated a genuine iPhone X screen to use in the mod. It took them 37 attempts before they were successful in constructing a screen that had layers that were adequately separated, was flexible, and had practical applications. Following the disassembly of several different folding phones, [KJMX] came to the conclusion that the folding mechanism of the Motorola Razr would work best with the screen of the iPhone X. Unfortuitously because the screen of an iPhone cannot be folded, it will still crack after only a few attempts at doing so.
In order to realise the desired form factor, other concessions had to be made, such as the removal of the Taptic Engine and the adoption of a battery that was of a lower capacity. The “iPhone V” has the poorest battery life of any iPhone to date, including previous models. But after more than a year of hard work, [KJMX] is now in a position to credibly claim that it has built something that Apple has not.
