Winners and Losers: Samsung’s mid-range foldable excites while all hope of a 27-inch iMac disappears

OPINION: We’ve been scouring the web for the best early Black Friday deals this week, but plenty elsewhere has caught our eye – and we’re not talking about a massive saving on the Google Pixel 7a.

This week we finally got some official news on the next instalment in the GTA series, Spotify launched its audiobook push in the States and several patents revealed how the Pixel Watch 2 might have turned out in an alternative universe.

Sony also terminated Twitter (or X) integration on the PS5, and Apple quickly squashed a battery drain bug on the Apple Watch, but read on see what else got us talking this week.

Winner: A budget Samsung foldable is exactly what we need

According to a report published this week, Samsung plans to expand its foldable line in 2024 with an option aimed at the more budget-focused buyer. This is great news for consumers who want a taste of the foldable future, but aren’t quite ready to part with around £999 for the Galaxy Z Flip 5 or not far off double that for Z Fold 5.

While the report doesn’t delve into what Samsung’s plans for the sector could be, just the fact that it is supposedly bringing a lower-end foldable to the market could signal a big shift.

Samsung already has a packed offering of mid-range devices with its A-series phones, so there’s a chance this report could be referring to possible a Galaxy A Fold or, probably more likely, an A Flip. This would be a smart move, as pricing on foldable devices remains high.

Motorola has tried a mid-range foldable with the £799 (though often available for much less) Moto Razr 40 and while we ultimately felt that it made just a few too many sacrifices to reach that point, it did tease what a cheaper foldable could be. If Samsung could do something similar but iron out those kinks and use its growing skill at making some of the best foldable phones, an A-series Flip or Fold could be the device that brings foldables to the masses.

Loser: Apple quashes hope of a large iMac

Last week we wrote about how it was a shame that Apple decided against unveiling a larger iMac alongside the new 24-inch model with an M3 chip, and this week it was confirmed that the company has no plans to release such a device soon.

Apple rarely comments on its future product roadmap, so the news that it isn’t making a 27-inch iMac to partner with the 24-inch model came as a disappointing surprise. Instead, Apple (via The Verge) suggests customers look at the Studio Display, and either a Mac Studio or Mac Mini to pair with it.

Thanks, Apple, but at £1499 the Studio Display is more expensive than the base iMac M3, and there’s the price of the actual computer to include too.

Now, while this doesn’t completely rule out an iMac Pro arriving at some point, it does seem to rule out a lower-priced standard iMac model with a big screen – a machine that could end up being a very tempting choice for many who simply don’t have the budget for both an Apple monitor and a Mac Mini or Studio.

We loved the iMac, but 24-inches is on the small side when compared to a lot of the monitors on the market, and it limits the usefulness of the device for many.