Apple

Apple might be working on a 20-inch folding screen for some reason

Next-gen tablets will fold in half because why not?

by
Curtis Silver
February 28, 2022

Image: Antonio De Rosa

There are enough dual-screen flip phones on the market right now that it’s logical to ask when Apple is going to enter the market.

You’ve heard of the Motorola RAZR, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, but have you heard of the iPhone Flip? No, because it doesn’t exist yet.

But this isn’t about the iPhone Flip, a phone that may or may not come into existence in the next couple of years. This is about Apple looking to build a device with a 20-inch foldable display screen. A device that may come into existence when our fetid dreams become our wet realities.

render of rumored apple foldable — Image: Antonio De Rosa

It’s all rumor and conjecture at this point. As it generally is with anything Apple does until the company holds a massive press event to announce it. It could be framed as a foldable Macbook, or possibly something closer to a tablet.

According to Bloomberg, which cites someone who studies display technology supply chains for a living, Apple is sourcing hardware that feeds into the assumption that it is working on such a folding device.

While this seems like a game of telephone with some cans and string, this is usually how rumors become reality, or at least more viable, believable rumors.

If this device is a real thing that Apple is working on, it seems it would have to be some sort of tablet-like unit. The first thing that comes to mind is the ThinkPad X1 Fold, a 13-inch foldable tablet thing that exists for reasons.

The ThinkPad X1, while seemingly a glimpse into the future of laptops, is an imperfect device. The technology has a ways to go to fully replace physical peripherals. Perhaps this is what Apple is working on perfecting.

Whatever the reasoning is behind wanting to bring to market a giant folding screen, Apple will find a way to make it an overly grand reveal. Are these giant folding phones supposed to complement tablets or replace them? How many screens do we need in our lives?

A foldable Macbook or tablet is still years away

apple foldable tablet render — Image: Antonio De Rosa

It could take another five years to see a 20-inch Apple folding tablet come to market. By then we’ll probably have augmented reality eyeballs, so will we even need a 20-inch foldable display? These are all questions that we have to ask when the technology rumor mill starts a-churnin’.

The entire folding phone market seems weighed down by a mix of nostalgia for folding devices and a strange desire for an ever-growing slate of entertainment-focused devices that happen to fold in half.

Because what else are we going to use a 20-inch folding screen for besides watching movies in public places and tweeting?

Sure, it could mimic a tablet-type laptop like the Surface Pro or an iPad with a keyboard, but we already have tablets for that. Do we need them to fold as well and be all screen and not enough USB ports?

Regardless, this seems to be something that is lighting the fire under the booties of tech companies. Get ready for the market to be flooded with folding screen tablets. Then get ready for Apple to release one.

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