The rumour mill has been going wild with the possibility of an foldable device by Apple showing up in the coming years, and probably for good reason. There have been rumours in equal measure of it being an iPhone or a MacBook of some sort. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has leaned towards the latter with two possible sizes. More recently, he has confirmed that one of those figures are accurate, while also claiming that it won’t be arriving as soon as initially predicted.
In a post on X, previously Twitter, Kuo says that Apple has locked in the 18.8-inch model, and has cancelled the larger 20.25-inch model. But “due to technical challenges with the display” and the mechanical parts surrounding it, mass production of the foldable MacBook has been delayed pretty significantly. The initial start window of the first half of 2026 is now either late 2027, or just simply in 2028.
Foldable MacBook survey update – mass production delayed significantly
1. Final display size spec confirmed at 18.8 inches. Apple has canceled the 20.25-inch design.
2. Due to technical challenges with the display and mechanical, the assembly mass production schedule has been… https://t.co/mPviHVeK0x— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) August 22, 2024
Kuo’s post also mentions sort of addresses rumours about a foldable iPad rather than the MacBook. Not too surprising, as reports from earlier in the year mentions the size of the device being in between the high 7- and low 8-inch range. But according to Kuo, this “foldable iPad has no visibility” within the current supply chain.
As there are so many rumours about this possible foldable MacBook, with a fair number of contradictory ones as there are complementary, it’s worth reiterating that a lot can happen in the span of three years. Should Apple not come up with solutions to its technical challenges that it finds satisfactory, the bitten fruit brand could just decide to cancel the thing altogether. Just this year, it has done so with its self-driving car project after spending nearly a decade and US$10 billion in it.
(Source: Ming-Chi Kuo / X)
