I’ve been writing about small computers since the original Asus Eee PC launched in the United States in 2007, showing that it was possible to make computers that were both ultraportable and affordable. But over the years I’ve also come to find that while there’s certainly a place for small-screen devices like netbooks, tablets, and smartphones, it’s easier to get some sorts of work done when you have a big screen or multiple displays.
So I’ve been closely tracking the rise of dual-screen devices like the GPD Duo, Asus Zenbook Duo, and Lenovo Yoga Book 9i. I’ve been less excited by foldable devices like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, HP Spectre Foldable, Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, and LG Gram Fold because they tend to be more expensive, while typically leaving a weird crease in the middle of one big screen. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is developing its own foldable with the goal of launching a creaseless-model sometime “around 2028.”
If the company is successful, it could address at least one of my issues with current models. But I highly doubt that it will do much to alleviate the other – the upcoming device will almost certainly be very, very expensive.
According to Gurman, Apple’s upcoming device will be roughly the size of two iPad Pro models placed side-to-side when unfolded, measuring close to 20 inches diagonally. But you’ll also be able to fold it in half like a notebook so it can easily slide into a bag for portability. Depending on whether the screen folds inward or outward, it’s also conceivable that you could use it like an iPad when folded and as a bigger device when unfolded.
Given that prices for the current-gen iPad Pro start at $999 for an 11 inch model or $1299 for a 13-inch tablet, I imagine that a model with a larger, foldable display will most likely cost considerably more.
Of course, 2028 is still far enough away that it’s unclear if this device will ever actually see the light of day. Apple may decide to scrap it if the company cannot overcome the creasing issues or runs into other difficulties in making something that truly stands out from what competitors are already offering.
But one thing Apple does have going for it is that the company is vertically integrated in that Apple designs both hardware and the software that runs on that hardware. One of the reasons that I’m currently more interested in dual-screen devices than single big-screen foldables is that while I dabble with other operating systems from time to time, I primarily use Windows. And while Windows has added features over the year that make it possible to snap different applications to different sections of a single display, some multitasking features still work best when you’re using two or more physical displays.
Apple, meanwhile, can tailor the behavior of whatever operating system runs on its foldable to work well in whatever operating modes the device supports. Gurman speculates that it will run “iPadOS or a variant of it.”
