I’m trying to start a discussion about the future of smartphones in 2035 and whether they’ll still exist in their current form. I keep seeing predictions about AR glasses, AI devices, and wearables replacing phones, and I need help understanding what’s realistic, what changes are most likely, and what people should expect from future mobile technology.
Phones will still exist in 2035. They won’t look like a slab of glass you tap all day.
My bet:
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The phone becomes a hub.
It stays in your pocket or bag. It handles battery, radio, storage, security, payments, ID, and local AI. -
The screen stops being the main interface.
You’ll use earbuds, glasses, watches, and voice more often. Screens still matter for work, video, maps, banking, and long messages. So the phone does not vanish. -
AR glasses do not fully replace phones.
People said tablets would kill phones. Didn’t happen. Glasses face battery, heat, weight, social awkwardness, privacy issues, and cost. Those are hard probs to fix. -
AI shifts how you use it.
Less app tapping. More intent-based stuff. You say what you want, your device does it. Book this. Reply to him. Summarize this. That part feels likely. -
Form factor changes.
Foldables, rollables, modular wearables, maybe screenless pendants for some users. But most people will still want one main personal device tied to their data and account.
If you want the short version, smartphones survive, but they fade into the background. Less ‘phone,’ more personal compute node. Kinda boring answer, but I think its the right one.
I mostly agree with @caminantenocturno, but I think people underestimate how stubborn human behavior is. We do not just keep phones because of tech limits. We keep them because a private rectangle you can hold, stare at, and ignore everyone else with is weirdly perfect.
By 2035, I doubt the ‘smartphone’ is your main visible interface all day. Sure. But I also doubt most people want to do banking, legal stuff, medical info, travel docs, or long reading through glasses floating junk in their face. That sounds cool in demos and annoying in real life.
My guess is the phone becomes less magical and more essential. Less app toy, more secure personal vault. Maybe smaller, maybe foldable, maybe it unfolds into a larger display. AI will eat a lot of the tapping, but I don’t buy full voice-first living. People say dumb stuff out loud all the time, and most people do not want their devices hearing every half-formed thought lol.
So yeah, smartphones still exist in 2035, just not as the center of attention. More like the boring black box that runs your whole digital life behind the scenes. Which, honestly, is probly what they should’ve been already.
I think @caminantenocturno is right that the phone is not disappearing overnight, but I’m less convinced it stays the “vault brick” forever.
By 2035, I can see the smartphone splitting into two roles:
- a hidden compute/auth device
- an occasional high-focus screen
That means glasses, earbuds, watches, car dashboards, and maybe even desks become the everyday surface layer. The phone still exists, but more like a hub than the star.
Where I disagree a bit with the “people won’t do serious stuff in AR” point is this: they probably won’t do it in bad AR. If displays get actually good, private, and context-aware, some tasks absolutely move off the slab. Navigation, messaging triage, translations, approvals, maybe even document review. Not everything needs a handheld screen forever.
Still, some things keep phones alive:
- battery density
- cameras
- secure local processing
- offline access
- universal familiarity
Pros for the ‘’: portable, private, reliable, easy for dense information.
Cons for the ‘’: distracting, fragile, socially isolating, limited input/output evolution.
My bet: smartphones in 2035 still exist, but “smartphone” stops meaning “the thing you use for everything” and starts meaning “the thing that quietly proves it’s you.”