Will Apple's Large-Screened Foldable be an iPad or a Mac?

[Warped9]

What is a Chromebook but a laptop using Google Chrome as an OS instead of Windows (or Mac OS). And some Chromebooks have touchscreens and some of them have detachable keyboards. Microsoft Surface devices do much the same thing.. A Cloudbook is a laptop using Windows 11S instead of Windows 11 Home.

Lenovo and others have made laptops with touchscreens that that flip (fold over backward) so the device can be used as a tablet.

Putting a keyboard to an iPad is technically still an iPad, but it is meant to mimic a laptop in use.

I think the distinguishing feature defining this conceptual device would be the OS.

 

[nathansz]

I wish "they" would stop referring to display-based keyboards as "virtual" keyboards, and call them something like "glass keyboards" instead, since a virtual keyboard is technically something that floats in virtual space when you're using a VR headset, goggles, or glasses.

No

A virtual keyboard is anything that is not a physical keyboard that can act as one

 

[SnowPenguin]

I personally think it will likely be a foldable iPad. Or if we are to be creative, a Macbook & iPad hybrid

 

[appleph]

If it increases productivity, then by all means go for it. I don't see it that way though because it is going to only fundamentally change the way how work is done.

What I'd like improved instead, is speech recognition. It is already very easy to create custom commands to trigger anything that is done manually by a user. But the problem is, speech recognition doesn't use context and has a hard time recognizing spoken words or commands correctly.

 

[frownface]

I personally think it will likely be a foldable iPad. Or if we are to be creative, a Macbook & iPad hybrid

ipados and all it's apps/features are designed for touch input.
macos is not (though there's no real restriction as to why)
For that reason alone i can't see why it wouldn't be a giant ipad.

 

[SnowPenguin]

ipados and all it's apps/features are designed for touch input.
macos is not (though there's no real restriction as to why)
For that reason alone i can't see why it wouldn't be a giant ipad.

I was thinking of something that works like a Macbook in laptop mode, while act like an iPad in flat mode. Just me being creative

 

[verniesgarden]

If there isn't a physical keyboard on this thing, forget it

yeah, the iPhone was dead on arrival without a keyboard!

 

[ignatius345]

A foldable Mac would be able to be folded in half and used like a traditional MacBook with a virtual keyboard

Yeah that sounds really fun to type on.

yeah, the iPhone was dead on arrival without a keyboard!

The iPhone wasn't trying to be a laptop, though, was it? Notice also that people who do real work on iPad buy... wait for it... physical keyboards for them.

 

[wdfly]

I am not interested in this at all. If they went to a foldable phone and did away with ones that do not fold, I would change to another brand after the last non-foldable phone stops working.

 

[antiprotest]

It will be a Pac.

 

[Mauser]

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i and Asus make these already. Nothing innovative from Apple if this rumor is true.

Those devices have two seperated displays.

 

[kaycrystal626]

Whatever it is, I can't afford it!

 

[mellonseed]

I don't see that being foldable benefits actual working like drawing, besides making it look a bit cooler and (maybe) more expensive.

 

[Dark_Omen]

Why would Apple develop a foldable Mac? It already bends.
Better yet... Why would they develop a foldable iPad? That isn't needed.

A foldable phone? Sure. Heck, a flip phone would be understandable, so it can fit in a pocket easier.

 

[leehericks]

I can see this being part of the future, but virtual keyboards are useless for serious work/typing as of now. iPad should be considered a light-use computer and content consumption device with attachable accessories, but if I need to bring a separate keyboard to use my Mac I’m out. Apple’s current Mac’s are phenomenal. iPad Pro is overpriced because it can’t do anything serious iPadOS. Shoving on macOS isn’t gonna fix the problem either. If you need a keyboard case to make it functional it ends up being heavier and bulkier than the MacBook Air.

 

[ddhhddhh2]

See what an iPad can do, and that’s exactly what it can do. So it will never be a Mac. I’ll say it again—it never was, and it never will be. And Apple can’t make it happen—technically, they can’t; capability-wise, they can’t; knowledge-wise, they can’t; willingness-wise, they can’t; even in the deepest core of their soul, they can’t.
So what can it do? Of course—it fits perfectly on that neat, compact, single-person table at Starbucks.

 

[entropys]

I think I like the idea of a ginormous iPad that folded. More so than an iPhone ( but what do I know, looks lovingly at 13 mini). That said I do worry that the bigger the screen, the worse the inevitable crease will end up being after a while.

 

[kwikdeth]

Both. When it's folded out flat it would work as an iPad and when the angle of fold decreases to say, less than 130 degrees, it goes into laptop mode with a virtual keyboard.
I'm sure there will be some kind of keyboard accessory akin to the current iPad offerings for those who want that

 

[McWetty]

iPad Pro Max Ultra Turbo Fold (with cellular).

 

[CapitalIdea]

It can be a hat, or a brooch, a pterodactyl….

 

[anthogag]

It will be an iPad. Typing on the screen sucks. It would not be a good MacBook.

 

[0049190]

This rumour doesn’t make any sense.

 

[platinumaqua]

Craig Federighi clearly said multiple times in BOLD that Apple will never merge macOS & iPadOS. I think the same goes for hybrid devices.

Totally not merging Mac OS with iPadOS but actually taking incremental steps to make macOS more like iPadOS…

 

[cult hero]

It would be nice if all the confusion means there is a world where capable devices can run either.

I have tried using an iPad paired with a monitor and the experience is… awful. It’s genuinely awful. And iPad running macOS is basically my dream device. When I’m on the couch and reading or whatever, I love the iPad. At my desk when I’m working I use macOS. A beefy iPad device running macOS would be my one device.

Unless adding touch to macOS is as awful as adding a window environment to iPadOS. Good lord man. Did I mention that it’s awful? Because it’s awful.

This is pretty unlikely, I admit. I think anyone with a brain knows Apple’s strategy is ultimately about getting to people to own multiple devices because of course it is.

 

[cult hero]

Totally not merging Mac OS with iPadOS but actually taking incremental steps to make macOS more like iPadOS…

I don’t wanna trivialize it but the idea that making macOS have a sensible touch interface is some monster feat is nuts.

Merging is a no no.