Apple has begun developing a 20-inch foldable display, according to South Korean outlet The Elec, citing industry sources:
Apple started a foldable development project in the early 20-inch range. This project does not have a concrete commercialization plan, and is presumed to be carried out in order to secure core foldable technology. The forecast for commercialization of 20.25-inch foldable products has also been pushed back from 2026 to 2027. Apple is expected to release foldable IT products after gradually increasing the application of OLED to IT products.
The Elec goes on to speculate that the foldable display could debut in a future MacBook, having noted the size of Apple’s current devices:
In that the screen size is in the early 20 inches when unfolded, it is highly likely that this project product will be in a form close to a MacBook (laptop). Assuming that a 20-inch product is 20.25 inches, the size is 15.3 inches when folded. Currently, the screen size of the commercially available Apple MacBook series is in the mid to late 10-inch range, and the screen size of the iPad (tablet) series is between less than 10 inches and early 10 inches.
Apple is also looking to replace the iPad mini with a foldable device that measures 10 inches, according to the report.
“The OLED iPad is planned to release two models in 2024, 11.0 inches and 12.9 inches. LG Display and Samsung Display are developing the OLED,” the publication added.
Apple’s latest MacBook, the MacBook Air with new M2 chip, features a 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display.
“The new MacBook Air features a gorgeous 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display, which has been expanded closer to the sides and up around the camera to make room for the menu bar,” Apple wrote in an announcement from June 2022. “The result is a larger display with much thinner borders, giving users more screen real estate to view their content in brilliant detail. At 500 nits of brightness, it is also 25 percent brighter than before. In addition, the new display now supports 1 billion colors, so photos and movies look incredibly vibrant.”
Some of the foldable laptops that have been released thus far include Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold, which features a 16.3-inch OLED display and starts at $2,499.