Apple is working on a 20-inch foldable display that could be shaped like a future MacBook Pro.
This is according to a report from a Korean website electric (opens in a new tab) (noted by MacRumors (opens in a new tab)), which claims industry sources believe Apple has just started work on the display, so apparently we’re still in the very early stages of the project. The initial prototype is based on a 20.25-inch OLED display from an unspecified South Korean vendor.
As The Elec points out, this puts it in the laptop size category as it would give the user a 15.3-inch screen when folded, which would fit nicely into a MacBook Pro (it would be 20.25 inches fully extended).
However, do not think that you will see this innovation soon. According to the report, the production target for such a 20-inch foldable device is 2026-2027, so there is still half a decade to go. Of course, if Apple doesn’t abandon the idea during prototyping and testing, which is the fate of a good number of potential pieces of hardware.
As the report also explains, it’s likely that Apple will want to adopt OLED displays (rather than LCD) on MacBooks and iPads before the foldable one arrives. The Elec believes that 2025 will be the year the MacBook Pro comes with an OLED display, with OLED iPads being preceded by 2024 as previously rumored.
Analysis: You have to know when to hold them, know when to fold them…
For the uninitiated, a foldable laptop is one that is actually just a giant display that folds down in the middle – like the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED we saw at IFA earlier this year. In other words, the keyboard section is omitted to double the size of the screen – and the display can then be used as a virtual keyboard for use as a laptop. But the screen can also be laid flat as one large display, or used as a full 20-inch monitor at a desk with a mouse and keyboard, adding to the device’s flexibility.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of a foldable MacBook, with rumors pointing to the possibility in early 2022. Indeed, previous speculation had been based on Apple considering a 20-inch screen for this MacBook, with an arrival date pinned to either 2026 or 2027.
So this latest report reflects that exactly and gives it more weight, but as always we should be very skeptical of anything announced by word of mouth. Even if that’s true at the moment, Apple may shelve the project at some point in the future, especially given the very long development time framed here.
Five years is absolutely ages in the tech world, but on the other hand, a theoretical launch this far into the future could be a good thing – at least in terms of the mechanical side of the huge foldable screen, which has been developed in a better way. We’ve always been wary of foldable devices, and certainly seamlessly foldable devices that aren’t just two screens (with a very thin bezel in between), but given a lot of time for technological advancements, perhaps Apple can produce a really slick and well-designed foldable MacBook Pro. (Just try not to think about earlier innovations that didn’t fare as well, such as the butterfly keyboard.)
The broader question might be – do we even want a foldable MacBook Pro? Here at TechRadar, we’ve argued in the past that this seems like a rather silly idea for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that any virtual keyboard will be a much worse typing experience than a physical deck. On the other hand, perhaps haptics will develop far in half a decade, but it all seems like something far fetched in terms of realizing rumors.
Still, you never know, and with speculation now popping up twice this year, perhaps the foldable MacBook Pro really is a concept Apple is seriously evaluating for the future.