This rumour about Apple’s first foldable has me worried
The first foldable from Apple will be the size of two iPad Pros – and I'm worried that it might be too large
There have been rumours about Apple’s first foldable device for as long as I can remember. It’s been an iPhone that folds like a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, it’s been an iPhone that opens up to the size of an iPad, but now it’s something bigger. And I’m a little worried about this rumoured device.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is working on an iPad the size of two iPad Pros slapped together. If that sounds like an absolute unit of a device to you, you’re not alone. At nearly 19-inches of screen real estate, this thing isn’t just large – it’s borderline impractical.
Gurman says that Apple hopes to roll out this foldable by 2028. It’s supposed to offer a “creaseless” foldable display – something the industry’s been chasing for years. The company’s industrial design team has apparently cooked up prototypes with an “almost invisible crease.” For now, though, that’s where the excitement stops and the scepticism kicks in.
Apple has been rumoured to be toying with foldables for ages, with whispers of a smaller folding iPad supposedly dropping as early as 2026 or 2027. Gurman’s latest report, however, throws us back to the monstrous 20-inch hybrid first teased in 2022. This massive foldable device would blur the lines between an iPad and a MacBook, though it wouldn’t necessarily run macOS. Instead, iPadOS would supposedly evolve to support macOS apps. That’s cool and all, but I’ve got questions. Do we really want to see Final Cut Pro or Logic shoehorned onto a giant bendy tablet?
On paper, it sounds impressive – a futuristic foldable display, no crease in sight, Mac app support – but 18.8 inches? That’s no longer a tablet; that’s a tabletop. Apple might be gunning for a productivity powerhouse here, but there’s a reason most foldables today stick to the sub-10-inch range: portability. Of course, Apple’s pricing for this monstrosity will be key. With the current 13-inch iPad Pro starting at $1,299, we’re looking at a price tag that’ll likely make your bank account weep. Expect nothing less than $2600.
Meanwhile, a foldable iPhone is also allegedly in the works – though don’t expect that to land before 2026 at the earliest. Compared to a nearly 19-inch iPad, a folding iPhone suddenly seems a lot more reasonable, doesn’t it?
Connor Jewiss
