This is the only phone I've seen people move away from iPhone to get, I know at least 3 women who switched from iPhone to android to get the folding clamshell Samsung and all love it.

I mention RAM as Android with 4GB of ram is almost unusable.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Both a phone and a tablet can come with WhatsApp, it's a user choice whether they are there and the frequency of checking them. Global muting the apps is also an option.

I understand your point, but it is a point mitigated by user intervention. Now, if we want to say reading on a bigger screen than a phone is a better user experience, I'm on board with that.

It's really nice to have a tablet always with you. I live in a warm country so I don't usually wear a coat or a big bag.

Also, on android there's really no good small tablets. They're all 10" and bigger.

Eh, iOS has profiles that let you disable whatever apps you wish to. Better than a whole other piece of hardware, IMO

We know Apple is bringing a folding iPhone through manufacturing leaks. A desktop mode is less likely to be leaked, since it would be mostly software and (a lot) less reliant on third parties.

Maps are too narrow on phones.

Books also are easier to read.

Apple's annual gross profit was $195B last year against an R&D budget of around $35B. So, they've got more than enough spare change to throw around. I'm sure whatever they're spending on foldables isn't impairing them financially in any way.

I'm more concerned for what it means for focus, fragmented ecosystems, user experience, etc.

From Jobs: "People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of many of the things we haven't done as the things we have done."