Foldable MacBooks: Six Things to Know About Apple's Future Plans

Rumors from multiple reliable sources suggest that Apple is working on a MacBook that has a foldable screen, and it could in fact be Apple's first foldable device, coming before a foldable iPhone. We've rounded up six key features that we've heard about the device so far.

Foldable Screen MacBook Concept AstropadConcept by Astropad

Design

The all-display design of the foldable MacBook would be distinct from the current MacBook, which has a display and keyboard. It would feature a single large screen that's able to be folded in half.

When unfolded, the MacBook could be used as a monitor when paired with a keyboard and a trackpad or mouse, and when folded, it could serve as a notebook machine. Presumably this kind of design would not have a separate keyboard, instead using an on-screen keyboard with digital keys and haptic feedback for a key-like feel.

Size

Display research analyst Ross Young claims the foldable MacBook will have an 18.8-inch display, with Apple aiming to make the screen "as crease-free as possible" when it is unfolded. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also suggested Apple is planning for a screen around 19 inches.

Display Technology

Apple has been rumored to be working with LG Display to develop a foldable OLED panel, and LG has been developing foldable ultra-thin cover glass for the last several years.

Apple has also tested electronic paper display (EPD) technology that it could use in future foldable devices. EPD could potentially be used in the outer-most display in a foldable device, if Apple goes with some kind of dual display design with an outside and inside screen.

EPD is a form of e-ink technology, which is known for being much more viewable than LED or OLED screens in bright light.

At an 18.8-inch size, the foldable notebook would likely have a 5K or higher resolution.

M-Series Chip

Mass production on foldable display panels for a future MacBook could begin in the fourth quarter of 2025 for a launch in late 2025 or early 2026. That would be timed with the future M5 chip, a successor to the 2024 M4.

We don't know what to expect from the M5, but it is likely to be manufactured on a next-generation 3-nanometer node or even a 2-nanometer node. TSMC is working on 2nm chips, and they're supposed to be ready somewhere around the second half of 2025.

3nm and 2nm reference the architecture that TSMC is using for its chips, and a decrease in node size corresponds to a decrease in transistor size, allowing more transistors to fit on a processor. This often results in faster performance and better energy efficiency. Right now, Apple's M4 chips are built on a 3-nanometer mode, much like the M3 chips.

Price

Apple will need to use high-cost components for the foldable MacBook, and Kuo believes it could be almost as expensive as the $3,500 Vision Pro headset when it launches. The 16-inch MacBook Pro currently starts at $2,500, so presumably the larger foldable model would be more expensive than that.

Release Date

If rumors are accurate and Apple is planning to have LG Display begin mass production on a foldable MacBook in the fourth quarter of 2025, the device could launch in 2025 or 2026. Kuo estimates that Apple will ship more than one million units in 2026.

Apple analyst Ross Young believes that a foldable MacBook could come as soon as 2025, the same timeline suggested by analyst Jeff Pu.

Rumors about a foldable MacBook have been all over the place, however, and just two months prior to suggesting a Q4 2025 mass production schedule, Kuo said a foldable MacBook wouldn't come until 2027. It's best not to read too much into launch date rumors at this point, because Apple's plans could change.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Six Things to Know About Apple's Upcoming Foldable iPhone

Friday March 28, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things. Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

iPhone Foldable Display Said to Feature iPad-Style 4:3 Aspect Ratio

Friday March 28, 2025 3:44 am PDT by
Apple's upcoming "iPhone Fold" will feature a foldable screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, according to a Chinese leaker who previously leaked the book-style device's display dimensions. The Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station claims that Apple will adopt a "roughly" 4:3 aspect ratio on the inner display in order to achieve consistency between the outer display, as well as to ensure parity...

Top Rated Comments

Plutonius Avatar
11 months ago
Is this another product looking for a market ?
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mitthrawnuruodo Avatar
11 months ago
Isn't this more of a foldable iPad?
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
truthsteve Avatar
11 months ago
horizontal, flat table touch makes sense (like your trackpad)

vertical touch makes no sense. people who keep asking for MacBooks to be more like PC laptops with vertical touch are wrong.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
11 months ago
I can imagine Tim Cook saying something to Apple's industrial designers similar to this: "Even if that laptop doesn't have Face ID, make sure it still has a notch. The iPhones are Apple's biggest money-maker, and they have a notch. Therefore, I think we can make more money by selling more laptops if they also have a notch."
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
happydude Avatar
11 months ago
...like the Vision Pro, I'll let the millionaire technophiles buy a device with no measurable benefit to drive demand for future improvements.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Luna Murasaki Avatar
11 months ago
Oh no. Oh god please no.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)