Economist Josh Gans reviews the folding iPhone: a pocket iPad mini for Claude and Codex

joshgans · x · 2026-11-07

Economist Josh Gans shares a one-week review of the folding iPhone, finding it excellent for his workflow but not for everyone.

Highlights:

Use case: he works mainly on a desktop; the pocket-sized iPad mini lets him keep using Claude or Codex away from his desk, plus easier reading.
The small outer screen surprised him: more focused than expected — what he always wanted the Apple Watch to be.
Quibbles answered: Touch ID instead of Face ID (dual cameras are hard; iPhone Pro 18 ships under-screen Face ID); the nano-texture crease is a non-issue; battery sits at 50% by day's end after Siri indexing; app layouts still adapting, though some apps exploit the fold (he switched from Reeder to Flit for RSS).
Verdict: expensive, but "undeniably worth it" by next year.

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