Winners and Losers: Apple adopts RCS messaging as Samsung rejects rumours of a mid-range foldable

We’re more than halfway through November now, meaning the Black Friday deals are truly starting to stack up. 

Amazon kicked off its sale on Friday, with retailers like Currys, Argos and Very having already begun dropping deals in the weeks prior to this. 

Among all of the deal chaos, a few tech companies still found space to announce their latest news – some good and some bad – keep reading to hear more about our best and worst updates of the week. 

Winner: Apple 

Our winner this week is Apple after the company revealed that it would be adopting the RCS messaging standard in late 2024. 

“Later next year, we will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile, the standard as currently published by the GSM Association. We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users,” said Apple in a statement (via 9to5Mac). 

The update will come as a surprise to many, as Apple has been under pressure from competitors like Google and Samsung to adopt the standard for a while now. 

Regardless, this is great news. The RCS Universal Profile is already employed by Android, meaning this change will increase interoperability between the two operating systems specifically when it comes to messaging. 

Potential features this could unlock include live typing indicators, read receipts, location sharing and the ability to send higher-resolution media. 

Apple has yet to confirm exactly what RCS messaging will look like on iPhone, including what features will be available and how it’ll handle data. However, the company has stated that iMessage will continue to be the more secure and private option for iPhone users as RCS does not support the same level of encryption available through the Apple messaging platform. 

Regardless, this is fantastic news for families and friends who own a mix of iOS and Android devices as it should make communicating across the two platforms easier than ever.

Loser: Samsung 

In a surprising turn of events, our loser this week is last week’s winner. 

Last week, we named Samsung our winner as rumours emerged that the tech giant had plans to expand its foldable line with a more budget-friendly option in 2024. 

However, on Tuesday Samsung reportedly stated that it will not be releasing a mid-range foldable, squashing the rumours just one week after they began to gain traction amongst Samsung fans. 

“We don’t plan to manufacture foldable smartphones that are priced in the midrange, and the latest rumors are groundless,” said a spokesperson for Samsung according to a report published by English language South Korean outlet, Korea JoongAng Daily. 

This statement is surprising as it had been expected that Samsung would begin marketing cheaper foldables to help push mainstream adoption of the foldable form.

Samsung has seen a lot of success with its mid-range Galaxy A-Series so it makes sense that it would want to replicate that with the Galaxy Z-Series foldable line, whether that be through a cheaper Galaxy Z phone or the first Galaxy A Flip. 

It’s a shame that Samsung may not be pursuing a mid-range foldable after all as we were excited to see the company release a more affordable alternative to the hugely successful Z Fold and Flip devices. Hopefully, the company’s high-end foldables are expected to see a hefty discount during the Black Friday sales this year, so keep an eye out if you fancy yourself a foldable.