Apple stay oddly reticent about entering the burgeon foldable market place , with the firstfolding iPhonestill nowhere to be seen an astonishing five years after Samsung unveiled thefirst Galaxy Fold . It ’s tempting to bear , at this level , that Apple might have decide to hop-skip this securities industry entirely and focus on mixed reality .
But a new written report suggests that , while there are presently no plan for either a foldable iPhone or a folding iPad , Apple does have something in mind . And that is a foldable … MacBook .
On Twitter / X Thursday , the widely respected technical school analyst Ming - Chi Kuo post his thoughts on Apple ’s design in this area , revealing that right now , “ Apple ’s only foldable Cartesian product with a clear development schedule is the 20.3 - in MacBook , expected to enter mass production in 2027 . ”
Honest first reaction ? Confusion . MacBooksalreadyfold ; whoever came up with the original grapple laptop design was really on to something , but that happened more than40 years ago . So this must mean something else .
At 20.3 column inch , the rumored twist would have the largest ever projection screen on an Apple laptop . so as to make this work as a portable political machine ( after all , there ’s a reason why the company does n’t currently go any bigger than 16.2 inches ) the hinge will bisect the silver screen itself , rather than join the screen and keyboard as on the existing MacBook compass . As for the keyboard itself ? Gone . At least as a ironware ingredient .
The abject one-half of the screen ( which will need to be a touchscreen ) will act as a software system keyboard when required , potentially aid by haptic feedback to ameliorate typecast truth . When you ’re not type , you could have this broken filmdom behave as part of the user interface , or indeed unfold it completely and range the whole ‘ laptop computer ’ horizontally as a sort of colossal iPad for watching movie . Or for connecting to a freestanding Bluetooth mouse and keyboard for a screen background - esque calculation experience . The rumor also imply a touch - based variant of macOS , which in itself would be a biz - record changer .
It would be reasonable to be skeptical about all of this . Foldables are a notoriously crafty product category because they create so many concern around delicacy , projection screen quality , repeat action at law leading to joint vesture and tear , excessive heaviness when close and more . Apple will want to get this correct before merchant vessels , and there are many opportunities between now and 2027 for the company to get cold feet and shut things down .
But if Applecanget this right wing ? This could be a very exciting prospect indeed .
