Don’t Expect to see Folding Apple Devices Anytime Soon

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman is a notably reliable leaker of Apple’s plans, but his latest report is full of guesses and uncertainty. The key takeaway is that we shouldn’t expect to see folding iPhones or iPads anytime soon.

I’m not a big fan of rumors, but relevance matters. Some leakers, like Gurman, are more trustworthy than others. And Apple is so influential that it’s worth following closely, even if you never intend to use any of its products or services.

But Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter is off. Way off. There’s a lot of iffy language and guessing, and little in the way of information coming from inside sources.

For example, Gurman’s “impression” is that much of the work Apple is doing with foldable screen technologies is focused on a high-end iPad Pro, so he “doesn’t anticipate” a foldable iPhone before 2026 “at the earliest.” But those are just guesses. He also cites a Twitter leak that “generally lines up” with what he’s heard about an Apple “foldable computer.”

“You can imagine a scenario one day when the ultimate Apple fans are wearing the watch and glasses, have an iPhone in their pocket, a Mac on their desk, a foldable iPad in their backpack and a Vision Pro on the coffee table at home,” he writes. Sure. I can imagine all kinds of things. But is any of that happening? It’s “no sure thing,” he admits. Sigh.

Anyway, the theme of this report is that “Apple’s new vision for the future of computing is a giant, iPad-like foldable device,” an update to its previous vision, which was the Vision Pro. It “could become its next breakthrough device.” Well sure.

“Apple designers are developing something akin to a giant iPad that unfolds into the size of two iPad Pros side-by-side,” he writes. “The company has been honing the product for a couple of years now and is aiming to bring something to market around 2028, I’m told.” This, at least, is based on sources, and he says one goal is to have “a nearly invisible crease.” But that’s literally the goal of any company designing foldable displays.

Then it’s back to the guessing. It’s not clear what OS this device will run–macOS or iPadOS–and Gurman doesn’t “believe” it will be a true iPad-Mac hybrid. But iPadOS “should be” advanced enough to run Mac apps by 2028, and it “makes sense” that it would support Apple Pencil.

Beyond the notion that Apple is obviously trying to figure out how folding displays can make sense in its product lineup, none of this feels certain to me. Maybe even Apple isn’t sure.

Beyond the folding display information–or lack thereof–Gurman also reported that Apple is working on a new Magic Mouse … more than 18 months from now. There are new generation AirTags on the way next year. Apple Watch Ultra 3 is likewise coming next year and will get the satellite features from this year’s iPhones. And we may get hypertension detection on Apple Watch 11, which I suspect I’m suffering from trying to parse this report.

In short, there’s much there there. Apple is trying to figure out folding displays, as we all knew it was.