Report: Apple Developing a 20-inch Foldable iPad / MacBook Hybrid
For years now Apple fans have been begging the company to add touchscreen functionality to its MacBook computers, and yet the company has resisted the impulse to match its Windows-based counterparts. Instead, Apple has focused on delivering a touch-based experience on its iPad lineup. Now however, the company looks to be experimenting with a dual-screen, folding tablet hybrid iPad / MacBook that splits the difference between them. Before you get too excited though, two things: this is just a rumor, and the person providing the information doesn’t expect such a device to materialize until 2026, at the earliest.
The information comes via notable Apple watcher , who himself is relying on , CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC).
The Lenovo X1 Fold gives us a hint of what Apple may be considering. (Image: Lenovo)
In his , Gurman expands on Young’s rumor a bit based on information from his sources. He notes Apple is considering either a folding notebook with a built-in physical keyboard and trackpad, or a dual-screen model with a virtual keyboard. Apple reportedly favors the latter at this time. That’s not a surprise, as it’s already something its iPads currently offer, and people who do actual work with these machines usually demand some sort of physical keyboard to do a lot of typing. Having a dual-screen 20″ iPad/Macbook hybrid could also open up some interesting possibilities for content creation as it could double as either a huge iPad with a big continuous display, or a super portable MacBook. There’s also the question of which OS it will run, as Apple has famously refused to put macOS on its iPads.
Amazingly, Young says Apple has been working on this project for several years already, with the company planning a foldable phone in 2025, and the notebook version in 2026 or 2027 even. If that’s the case it will coincide with the launch of two more of the company’s long-rumored new products: the Apple car and its . If Apple does enter the foldable market it will have a juicy target in front of it, as according to Young’s analysis Samsung currently controls a whopping of the market. Its dominance comes down to the fact that big players like Google and Apple has so far stayed out of this nascent product category, with Samsung largely being the torch bearer so far, along with several non-US based companies like Huawei.
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