While Android-based smartphone makers, most notably Samsung, continue to forge ahead with foldable smartphones, Apple has stayed back and let the dust settle. Which was probably wise given the catastrophic launch of Samsung’s first foldable. But just as Apple skipped the whole netbook trend and launched its own take with the wildly successful MacBook Air, supply chain experts and noted Apple leakers are saying Apple won’t launch finding iPhone until after a folding iPad comes to the market.
Ross Young from Display Supply Chain says:
We delayed our expectations for Apple entering the foldable smartphone market by two years to 2025 after discussions with our supply chain contacts. The company does not appear to be in a hurry to enter the foldable smartphone market, and it may even take longer than that.
In other words, analysis of the supply chain for folding displays points to Apple playing a long game, if they indeed even enter the folding phone market.
And noted Apple pundit Ming-Chi Kuo says the folding iPad is on the cards for the start of 2024.
Foldable screens offer lots of possibilities. Having an iPad mini that can be used as a portable e-reader and note-taking tool which can be unfolded for use in content creation could make it an ideal device for mobile professionals. And with iPadOS and macOS becoming more alike, with both supporting an M-series System-on-a-Chip, it’s not hard to imagine such a device running iPadOS when closed and macOS when opened.
Of course, macOS would need to become touchscreen-friendly. But a touchscreen Mac is under development according to Apple prognosticator Mark Burman. Or we could see something that is similar in size to an iPad Air when folded but opens into a laptop-sized device where the bottom screen is a customisable virtual keyboard. The possibilities are endless and it’s a fair bet Apple is spending some of its considerable bank balance researching and developing various prototypes and models to see what works.
2024 could be the year where Apple releases an all-new product that looks at what the competition is doing and leapfrogs them all. They did this with the first iPhone, the MacBook Air, the iPad, and the Apple Watch. Could they do it again with foldables?
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.