Apple is rumored to start manufacturing a new, foldable version of the MacBook laptop within in three years, an analyst revealed.
Tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the foldable laptop is expected to enter mass production as 2027 — and is also predicting that it will hit the market before a collapsible iPhone or iPad, which he initially anticipated to happen “in 2025 or 2026.”
“My latest survey indicates that currently, Apple’s only foldable product with a clear development schedule is the 20.3-inch MacBook,” Kuo wrote in a post on X Wednesday, translated from Chinese to English.
Kuo — closely-watched technology industry analyst who previously made accurate predictions about the release of Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro, among other product developments — didn’t elaborate on what “foldable” means in the post earlier reported on by Business Insider.
Technically, the MacBook, like all laptops, already are foldable since they hinge open and closed.
However, it’s suspected that he means that this forthcoming iteration of the MacBook would be a “hybrid” laptop that can fold on itself to turn into a tablet.
The day after Kuo’s X post, Apple published a patent application for “electronic devices with folding displays.”
Per the document, filed on Nov. 10, 2023, Apple is seeking to copyright an electrinic device that “may bend about an axis” with a “display panel may be configured to bend along the bend axis as the device is folded.”
Should the device boast a 20.3-inch screen as Kuo suggests, it would be Apple’s biggest laptop screen to date, according to BI.
The largest MacBook Pro laptop touts a 16-inch display, while its desktop iMac offerings have larger screen sizes starting at 21.5 inches.
The patent application provided few further details about what the foldable device would look like, though users didn’t seem too thrilled with the propect.
“Apple falling further behind on innovation,” one X user said in response to Kuo.
There are already multiple laptops on the market that convert into a tablet, including rival Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio 2, as well as Lenovo’s Yoga model, among others.
“Unless you have something original you will be lost in a sea of foldables. No margins in that,” another user said, while a third chimed in: “Probably still won’t be as good as Samsungs folding devices.”
Representatives for Apple did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Reports about Apple making long-rumored foldable devices date back to 2016, when the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant was first granted a patent for an iPhone made from ceramic that had the capability to fold width-wise, like a clamshell.
Then in 2021, tech product review site Tom’s Guide reported that Apple asked manufacturer Foxconn to create two prototype shells to test out potential future iPhone designs.
The two designs will be very different, Tom’s Guide reported, with one featuring a large display that folds in half, while the other is two separate screens joined by a hinge.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Apple has plans to put out a pair of foldable phones or if it is experimenting to find the best design.
Either way, a device of any kins from Apple has yet to hit the market.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
