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Kuo: Folding All-Screen MacBook Delayed Until Late 2027 At the Earliest
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This is too small.
I'd be interested if the laptop had the same size of the current 14" and 16", hence roughly providing 28" to 32" when fully unfolded.
Why would I buy a 18" laptop (completely unfolded) when I can already have 16" right now? Are they really R&D'ing in foldable laptop technology just to achieve a mere 2" increase?
I'd be interested if the laptop had the same size of the current 14" and 16", hence roughly providing 28" to 32" when fully unfolded.
Why would I buy a 18" laptop (completely unfolded) when I can already have 16" right now? Are they really R&D'ing in foldable laptop technology just to achieve a mere 2" increase?
The thing is it would be a poor laptop without a physical keyboard, and a relatively small desktop monitor that you’d have to set up each time—so its only real usefulness in my view would be as a giant portable drawing Mac tablet. But even as a digital artist myself, I question how many people need it to be giant. I would probably get it only because I’ve been wanting a portable drawing Mac for quite some time, and no other all-in-one Mac solutions exist (external pen display is required), but for me it doesn’t need to be giant, something like the 16” MBP screen would be very adequate for a portable pen display. For me, maybe even more important than size though is the fact that I need (physical) keyboard shortcuts when I’m drawing. So if it’s all screen then I’d have to always bring along an external keyboard, which to me defeats the purpose of an all-in-one. Plus I’d probably need a stand of some sort to put the display at a comfortable drawing angle. For me, the ultimate drawing laptop form factor is a regular clamshell when it needs to be, then when in drawing mode it “hovers” the pen display over the keyboard, bringing it to a comfortable drawing position and allowing you to use keyboard shortcuts while drawing—all without any external devices other than obviously the pen. The Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel is the best example I know of this:
Unfortunately I found out about this laptop too late and it was discontinued. So instead I got a Surface Laptop Studio which is similar but it doesn’t quite hover because the secondary hinge has no friction so it needs to rest on the keyboard base. I have to use a 3D printed solution to keep it from rotating and make it “hover”.
Switching from MacBook Pro + portable pen display, to the all-in-one Surface Laptop Studio completely freed me up to do drawing work in a ton more situations where the Mac solution was too cumbersome. The only major annoyance for me is it doesn’t run macOS. So if Apple makes any type of portable drawing Mac, I’ll be very interested, but I hope it’s not a BYO keyboard and stand solution.
By the way, though I want pen input, I do not want any touch input. If touch can be disabled, I would. Unfortunately touch cannot be disabled on my Surface Laptop Studio and is a major annoyance.
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hard to believe such device with macOS, Apple pencil and no phisical keyboard. I mean, Apple was forced to release the magic keyboard for the iPad. so what would be for this device?
is this a Cintiq killer for artist?, with such awrkward design? this brings a lot of questions... who needs a portriat device? isnt the ipad being produced with Landscape orientation in mind recently?
($$$$$?)
is this a Cintiq killer for artist?, with such awrkward design? this brings a lot of questions... who needs a portriat device? isnt the ipad being produced with Landscape orientation in mind recently?
($$$$$?)
Exactly. Brings to mind the Henry Ford quote… “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses”. Am I saying this specific idea is going to be awesome… or a flop? Who knows. But lack of imagination won’t get us anywhere.
Other people have commented on this in this thread. It's obviously a common problem with tablets in general.
I don't think that onscreen keyboards are actually meant to give the full typing experience. They are a convenience, nothing more. That's why the market for Bluetooth and wired external keyboards is so huge. Most users who seriously think they can use their tablet for doing something productive want to take the next step... basically bringing them right back to... the traditional laptop computer.
Being a programmer myself and knowing quite a lot of programmers I can say that you're somewhat wrong.
Anyone coding over a decade would have some sort of RSI issue, because laptop keyboards suck ass. They are un-ergonomic AF and very cramped.
I remember IBM were trying to solve this with their ThinkPad Butterfly design, but they did not make the next step - make it split and detachable.
Most programmers would use mechanical/otrholinear/split external keyboard and have no use for laptop's keyboard when working from home or office. And in coffee shop / on a plane you're going to mostly read stuff anyway, not code, so glass keyboard would be OK (18" iPad with MacOS? GIMME!).
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Dude, that’s not how maths nor screen sizes work. Screen sizes are measured from corner to corner, so if you unfold a 14”/16” laptop essentially doubling the height you end up with an almost square monitor with a size or ~21”/24”.
This is what I've wanted for years. A Mac with the touchscreen built in. iPad is great and all but syncing it to a Mac to use with the Mac version of Photoshop and Illustrator is a huge pain.
Presumably Apple will sell some kind of "keyboard case" for this Mac to turn it into a traditional Mac.
Yeah I know, you're right dude.
But that's a bit beyond the point. My point is that making a foldable device just to get 2 inches more than the current MBP 16" is not worth while. And that point still stands despite the easy math approximation I did.
What a flippin’ stupid idea. I’m sure it will be a real pleasure typing on that screen.
Apple's rumored foldable MacBook won't arrive until the end of 2027 or 2028 at the earliest because of technical challenges, according to the latest prediction by Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Previous reports from display industry analyst Ross Young, Haitong analyst Jeff Pu, Korean website The Elec, and Kuo himself suggested that Apple is developing an all-display foldable laptop that will feature a 20.2-inch or an 18.8-inch screen.
When folded, the laptop was rumored to be a full-size on-screen keyboard that seamlessly integrates the typing experience into the display itself. When completely unfolded, the device was said to function as a standard monitor. Paired with an external keyboard, it would essentially transform into a large-screen desktop setup.
Kuo in May said that LG Display was aiming to begin mass production of display panels for a MacBook with a 20.2-inch or an 18.8-inch foldable screen in the fourth quarter of 2025. However, his latest post on X (Twitter) claims that Apple has canceled the 20-inch design and has now settled on a display size of 18.8 inches.
"Some market participants previously expected Apple to launch the foldable iPad in 2025," said Kuo in his latest post. "But the current supply chain survey indicates that the foldable iPad has no visibility. This may also be because some call this foldable MacBook a foldable iPad."
Apple has been experimenting with various devices with foldable displays, including a foldable iPad and MacBook. Obviously the MacBook is already foldable, but Apple has reportedly been exploring an all-display MacBook form factor that has no standard keyboard.
Display analyst Ross Young said in July 2022 that Apple could bring some kind of foldable laptop to market in 2026 or 2027, and it remains unclear if such a device would be classified as a Mac, an iPad, or something in between.
In a May report, Haitong analyst Jeff Pu said Apple's first foldable devices would reach mass production in 2025 and 2026, following increasing evidence of foldable devices in Apple's supply chain. At the time, the analyst said Apple would likely release a large-screen foldable iPad or MacBook in that timeframe before launching a higher-volume foldable iPhone in late 2026.
Pu had claimed one Apple foldable with a 20.3-inch display would start production in late 2025, which was sooner than previously expected. However, Pu later said he believed Apple would join the foldable market in the second quarter of 2026 due to "display durability issues," reflecting Apple's intention to perfect a foldable design. It seems Apple is still in the prototyping stage of a foldable device. Would you be interested in such a product? Let us know in the comments.
Article Link: Kuo: Folding All-Screen MacBook Delayed Until Late 2027 At the Earliest
I did, sorry about that. I was drunk and it was late and things got out of hand.
This makes sense IFF there is OS convergence being planned between ipadOS and macOS. If you had Final Touch on an iPad pro, where the UX seamlessly switched from macOS - keyboard and mouse - and ipadOS - touch screen - then you can have your daily driver hardware be an iPad Pro. That frankenmachine - the folding touch screen with a touch sensitive keyboard - can be a large screen ipad when opened and no keyboard interface present. It can be a Macbook pro with a touch keyboard when folded open with a touch keyboard UI. And it can be a Macbook pro with a magic keyboard. Three things in one. A widescreen video ipad, a breakthrough macbook, a revolutionary internet communicator...
I love my 13" iPad pro because I hate viewing the internet on a phone screen. But for professional work, I need a keyboard and mouse. I can put a keyboard and mouse on my iPad, but its the software that is the problem. Apple HAS to know this. Everyone's comments above come back to that. But Apple aren't stupid. They have to know that the ONLY reason I can't make my iPad Pro into my daily driver is because of the application UI. The UI for Final Cut, Excel, etc. - one paradigm for touch iOS, another for desktop. There is NO reason they can't have a "universal" app with both UIs built in and that have a switchable context.
I know I am wildly speculating. But the touch screen keyboard mode would basically be an OPTIONAL bridge. You could have the universal app on a screen only iPad and switch the context with a Magic Keyboard. They could launch THAT today. THAT could be the next feature to Sidecar. The "leak" would not be a hardware product that none of us want, but a minor aspect of major platform convergence.
Tell me you wouldn't want that platform convergence. Tell you it would not be FANTASTIC to have a single application which scales seamlessly from iOS to desktop, allowing multiple different UX.
I love my 13" iPad pro because I hate viewing the internet on a phone screen. But for professional work, I need a keyboard and mouse. I can put a keyboard and mouse on my iPad, but its the software that is the problem. Apple HAS to know this. Everyone's comments above come back to that. But Apple aren't stupid. They have to know that the ONLY reason I can't make my iPad Pro into my daily driver is because of the application UI. The UI for Final Cut, Excel, etc. - one paradigm for touch iOS, another for desktop. There is NO reason they can't have a "universal" app with both UIs built in and that have a switchable context.
I know I am wildly speculating. But the touch screen keyboard mode would basically be an OPTIONAL bridge. You could have the universal app on a screen only iPad and switch the context with a Magic Keyboard. They could launch THAT today. THAT could be the next feature to Sidecar. The "leak" would not be a hardware product that none of us want, but a minor aspect of major platform convergence.
Tell me you wouldn't want that platform convergence. Tell you it would not be FANTASTIC to have a single application which scales seamlessly from iOS to desktop, allowing multiple different UX.
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