While the iPhone Fold is nearing launch, the future of the often-rumored folding iPad is still in question, as it may never actually make it to consumer hands.

The rumor mill has been infatuated by the idea of the folding iPhone, which is widely believed to be on the way later in 2026. However, Apple has also been working on another foldable device with less chance of becoming a reality.

Writing in Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, the foldable iPad is a real thing being developed behind closed doors. Described as a tablet with a super-sized 20-inch display, it has been a priority of incoming CEO John Ternus while in his hardware chief role.

Despite being a project helmed by the man who will become the head of the company in September, there's no guarantee that it will actually become a real Apple product. Several people who worked on the project told Gurman that it may end up being an experimental prototype that won't actually see an actual release.

Gurman doesn't go into why the jumbo folding iPad could be scrapped, but it may be due to a change in priorities for Ternus. As CEO, he has to manage the entire company and spend less time on hardware projects.

Schrodinger's iPad

Mark Gurman is usually quite an accurate rumor reporter, with a lot of his reporting including a lot of internally-sourced items. In this case, the report doesn't necessarily confirm that the foldable tablet will be killed off.

Back in July 2015, a report said that Apple paused progress on the folding iPad project. However, the report was from DigiTimes, making its claim a little questionable.

By October the same year, Bloomberg was saying the folding iPad project had shifted from a 2028 release target into 2029. Gurman then went on to write in March 2026 that the giant iPad may never get released.

It apparently had design issues beyond the actual construction of the device. There were apparent practicality problems too, such as how a user would be able to type on it, but how to do that seems obvious to us.

As it stands, like many other projects, the giant folding iPad is in a quantum state. Once the new CEO has settled in his new role, we should have a clearer picture of where Apple's hardware project plans lie.