Apple stopped development on a cutting-edge MacBook with a foldable screen, according to a market-analysts firm. The computer would have been larger than any current notebook offered by the company, and apparently take advantage of the support for touchscreens coming to macOS.
Rumors about the device circulated for years, but some of these mentioned that Apple was struggling with the design. It supposedly has now given up.
MacBook with large folding screen is apparently dead
Most people use a screen around 30 inches or larger at their desk, but we’ve had to get used to a 16-inch or smaller display on our MacBooks. Apple reportedly explored a way to build an even larger screen into a mobile computer… but couldn’t make it work.
The canceled machine was expected to use a relatively huge flexible display that could fold down to be more compact. The first report of Apple’s interest in a 20-inch notebook came from analyst Ross Young way back in 2022. Then Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with TF International Securities, also claimed in 2024 that there was a computer with a 20-inch foldable screen on Cupertino’s drawing board. An Apple product roadmap prepared by Omdia analysts that same year included an 18.8-inch computer with a folding display, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman agreed.
But the analysts with Omdia released a new Apple roadmap this week with their predictions through 2030, and it now specifically lists the 16.1- to 18-inch foldable MacBook project as canceled.
Not your father’s MacBook
A MacBook with a foldable display would have been a radical departure from Apple’s traditional laptop design. Instead of having a conventional keyboard and display, rumors suggested the device could use a giant screen that folds in half, potentially allowing it to function as a notebook or a large portable display.
During all this time, there has been some uncertainty about whether it would ultimately be sold as an iPad or MacBook. Either was a possibility, as macOS 27 will apparently add touch support for the touchscreen-enabled MacBook expected in the fall. iPadOS is designed for touch, of course. But the question is moot now.
