Wesley Hilliard
A new leak suggests Apple's only foldable with a development schedule and release is a 20.3-inch MacBook that would enter mass production in 2027.
Apple's first foldable could be a MacBook instead of an iPad or iPhone. Save your jokes — we already know the MacBook folds shut with hinges.
A post on X from Ming-Chi Kuo states that rumors around Apple mass producing a foldable iPhone or iPad by 2026 are not accurate. Instead, Apple's only foldable with a development scheduled is a 20.3-inch MacBook due in 2027.
Kuo's post lines up with previous reports about Apple's foldable plans. In this case, the "foldable" part of the MacBook isn't hinges but the display itself.
2025 2026 iPhone iPad20.3"2027MacBook
— (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) March 7, 2024
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Recently, I've received many inquiries about whether Apple plans to mass-produce the
A different leaker called Revegnus replied to state it was actually a 20.25-inch foldable. That display size was previously reported by The Elec in 2022 with a 2027 release window.
That report suggested it would fold shut into a 15.3-inch device, which is similar to existing MacBook display sizes. The top half would be a display, and the bottom half could display a software keyboard or other content.
Timelines from rumors have since shifted, with a different Elec report suggesting a foldable could arrive as soon as 2025, followed by Ross Young echoing that.
Something is going on with Apple's foldable development as another report suggested Samsung had reshuffled its organization to prioritize improving technology for Apple's foldable.
Ming-Chi Kuo tends to use placeholder names when describing future products. A 20.3-inch folding display may not be called MacBook at all. It could even be classified as an iPad if it has an all-touch surface.
This rumor is rated possible due to Ming-Chi Kuo's accuracy when dealing with the supply chain.
Time will tell if any of these rumors come true, but where there's smoke, there's fire. Apple is clearly working on folding technology, but what form it takes and when is still in question.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
11 Comments
My wallet stands waiting.
Who am i kidding I'm not going to have a wallet by 2027.
I'm still waiting on the flat-sided Apple Watch 7 Series that numerous leakers throughout early to mid 2021 absolutely, postively, no-doubt-about-it promised we were going to get.
But seriously... visibility about Apple's future plans is so limited that even predictions only 3-6 months out are routinely incorrect. We don't know what's coming at WWDC in June. We have no release date for the high performance variants of M3. But we can predict that Apple's going into production 3 years from now on a folding screen Macbook in a massive, 20+ inch size? Please. I"m gonna have to file this one under a new rumor rating that I call "Random Guess"
I wouldn't buy it, but a foldable laptop makes a lot more sense than a phone.
Seems very unlikely. Unless Apple has a totally new, unseen before, superior state of the art folding screen mechanism, that other brands do not have, that isn't as crappy as what is on the market right now. Also, indeed, what would it run? Has to be iPadOS.
Ok, there's an example of a reason for a foldable screen but a 20" iPad.
Yes, I get there are Wacoms and that there are artist that may want more real estate but do "I" really want hold and watch a 20" iPad? Probably not.
My iPad Pro at 12" is too heavy.
Hey Apple, let start innovating on weight not size. My current MacBook Pro is a pig, my iPhone wants to pull down my short, etc.