Foldable MacBook-iPad Hybrid Device Likely to Run macOS, Analyst Says

[ThailandToo]

Why not let current M-series iPad Pros run MacOS then???? I know some hate the idea, but I am saying let me choose. I could see Apple implementing something for power users that allows them to run MacOS in laptop mode, but Apple seems bent on forcing iPadOS on all of us for some reason. I just don’t see this as feasible. I really want an iPad Pro 11” device that folds down four ways into my pocket and I can use as an iPad, iPhone or Mac. It ain’t happening soon, but don’t say never.

 

[dominiongamma]

I can’t imagine what AppleCare+ on this thing will be lol

 

[jecowa]

Why not let current M-series iPad Pros run MacOS then???? I know some hate the idea, but I am saying let me choose. I could see Apple implementing something for power users that allows them to run MacOS in laptop mode, but Apple seems bent on forcing iPadOS on all of us for some reason. I just don’t see this as feasible. I really want an iPad Pro 11” device that folds down four ways into my pocket and I can use as an iPad, iPhone or Mac. It ain’t happening soon, but don’t say never.

Wouldn’t surprise me if they are working on a touch version of MacOS that will be compatible with all M1+ iPads.

 

[dominiongamma]

MR is about five hours away from providing 24hr news/rumors coverage.

I do wish they would do news on Sunday honestly lol

 

[usersince86]

Don't really want this. Really don't want this. I think both are true in my case.

 

[Attirex]

I do wish they would do news on Sunday honestly lol

Sunday is Gurman Update Day.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

I would rather see a 15” iPad with a much better iPad OS so Mac and iPad apps have the same functionality.

To get MacOS and iPadOS apps to have the same functionality, it would seem that macOS with its greater functionality would have to win, and that's apparently more or less what Apple has planned, though earlier rumors make it sound like Apple will be munging together iPadOS and macOS, to include features from both. Hope they do it at least passably right, though we may go through a long transition phase like the transition from OS 9 to OS X, in which people find all kinds of features dropped, UI elements that make no sense and which were done much better in the prior OSs, etc., and Apple gradually fixes these things.

 

[Tofupunch]

MR is about five hours away from providing 24hr news/rumors coverage.

Gimme MR with Live Activities on my lock screen

 

[ghanwani]

Oleophobic nanotexture display add on for $299.

 

[nfl46]

Starting at $4,999.

Whew.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

Oleophobic nanotexture display add on for $299.

Special cleaning cloth not included in this price

 

[Love-hate 🍏 relationship]

i hope macOS doesnt become like ipadOS honestly, the interface needs to remain different. the way with interact with a touchscreen isn't the same as using a kebyoard and mouse/trackpad .

 

[ZZ9pluralZalpha]

How would one type on this without looking at the keys?

"Yo dawg, I heard you hated flat keyboards only because they could get debris under the keys, so..."

(But seriously, I don't think the dogfooding worldbeating-UI-building Apple is that far gone yet)

 

[frownface]

Maybe they should start with making a touchscreen macbook.

Not entirely sure why they've never done that except maybe they don't want to enroach into their ipad sales.

 

[groove-agent]

… an iPad running MacOS? Take my money … please! It’s the best of both worlds.

 

[svish]

Will make it a very interesting and nice device if it runs macOS and has a touch input also. But the price for such a device will easily be around $2999.

 

[HipHopAnonymous]

Yesterday, analyst Jeff Pu said Apple's first two foldable devices will enter mass production in the second half of 2026. Today, he provided some additional details about these devices, which are expected to launch in 2026 or 2027.

In a research note with investment firm GF Securities, Pu said the two devices will include a foldable iPhone with a 7.8-inch inner display, along with a larger foldable device with an 18.8-inch display. He described the larger foldable as a MacBook-iPad hybrid, and he believes that the device will likely run macOS, rather than iPadOS.

This is a very bold prediction, as it implies that the 18.8-inch foldable device could end up being a touch-screen Mac. In his Power On newsletter over the weekend, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that Apple's rumored design changes coming with iOS 19 and macOS 16 should set the stage for new hardware designs, including "foldable devices and touch-screen Macs." However, there have not been any rumors indicating that a touch-screen Mac will launch as early as next year, so some skepticism is warranted for the time being.

Pu does cite a recent report from The Wall Street Journal as the basis for some of his foldable information, so it is possible that his macOS prediction is simply based on that report having said that the 18.8-inch device is "intended to serve as a laptop." But, until we hear otherwise, we can dream about the intriguing possibility of a touch-screen Mac.

Article Link: Foldable MacBook-iPad Hybrid Device Likely to Run macOS, Analyst Says

An Apple version of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold. I (weirdly) kinda dig it…

It *should* include a magnetically attached keyboard for the bottom half of the screen, or allow full screen access while being unattached.

 

[jlc1978]

I’m not so sure the laptop comment necessarily means Mac OS. Apple has been pushing the iPAd, off and on, as a computer and has a keyboard that essentially turns it into a laptop. A foldable would just be another version of that idea; continuing the mantra of the iPad as a laptop.

 

[lfaa]

I´m really sceptical about the convenience of working on a screen like that. On my previous mac I was alteady ignoring the touch bar, just because I was focused on the vertical display not the horizontal one. Also the distance to the screen changes depending where you’re working on it and this is a source of fatigue for the eyes.

Edit. So as I am using macOS, I’m going to continue to work on a MacBook not on a foldable tablet (?) like that, even if it runs macOS

 

[Simon89]

No was on this earth will it run macOS.

 

[fantasyname_qwertz]

It's a mobile device. It’s a laptop computer. A mobile device. A laptop Computer. Are you getting it?
Steve Jobs Tim Cook (Probably)

 

[TechRunner]

Meh. And once the price is factored in, meh squared.

 

[turbo79]

A small portable device that can run MacOS? That's what we've been asking for, for years.

Not sure I want to type on glass though, this should come to iPad Pros with magic keyboards.

 

[turbo79]

I would rather see a 15” iPad with a much better iPad OS so Mac and iPad apps have the same functionality.

Er no. People actually like being able to work efficiently and multitask on their devices. You know, doing some coding in Visual Studio, Cmd-tab to Excel, copy some cells, Cmd-tab to Terminal, paste some data, Mission control to find Slack, type a few messages, open the Database explorer, view table schemas, have Mail running in the background, use Finder etc.

iPadOS just doesn't cut it, it's a souped-up iOS that can "sort of" do most things but doesn't do any of them well. Apple already have an OS that works well: macOS.

 

[SpanishAppleNerd]

People: WE WANT MACOS IN THE IPAD
Also people: WHEN RUMORS OF MACOS IN A TOUCH DEVICE APPEAR, WE COMPLAIN