Samsung’s rumored next foldable, the Galaxy Z Flip 4, has leaked just weeks after the Galaxy Z Fold 4 was also outed ahead of any official announcement. The leak reveals a phone that keeps a lot of what works from the Galaxy Z Flip 3, while bumping up specs where possible. It’s not the biggest upgrade; think of it as more of a refresh based on this information.
The upgrades are minimal, with the processor jumping to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, a larger 2.1-inch outer display, and a bigger 4,000mAh battery with fast charging. The same AMOLED, 120Hz display as before is expected, as is the same triple camera, plus identical RAM and storage combinations as the older phone. Android 12 is onboard, naturally, and Samsung is likely to keep this phone up to date for the next four years at least. There are no pricing or release date reports yet, but Samsung often hosts an August Unpacked event, that’s where the Z Flip 4 (and the Fold 4) are expected to launch.
If all this is true, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 4 will be a modest update over the Galaxy Z Flip 3, a phone which already scored highly in all criteria except for the camera and the battery. The battery may only slightly increase in capacity, up from 3,700 mAh. The Z Flip 3 didn’t have the best battery life, though, so any improvement would be for the better. Meanwhile, Samsung is keeping the camera unchanged, a shame since it was a far cry from the excellent camera the company ships in its S22 flagships, but it’s a physical space thing. These components need space, which is at a premium inside the Flip’s body.
At the same time, it is important to note that you aren’t buying the Galaxy Flip as a phone that replaces your S22 Ultra or iPhone 13 Pro Max. It’s a small and compact phone that does smartphone things while being extremely compact with a unique look. It’s different, and those losses are a compromise made to make that difference work.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.
Samsung’s scandal over its Game Optimizing Service, or GOS, has returned with a bill attached. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has tentatively fined the company 20.1 billion won, or about $15.1 million, over gaming claims made for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S22, and Tab S8.
The regulator says Samsung promoted the devices as gaming powerhouses without disclosing that GOS placed preset CPU and GPU limits on certain demanding games. Samsung disputes that conclusion, calling GOS a legitimate way to manage heat.