Apple is far from announcing a foldable iPhone or iPad, but these devices have appeared in several reports in the past few weeks. The foldable iPhone is seen as the catalyst the foldable smartphone niche needs to see continued growth now that Samsung and Huawei are dealing with lower-than-expected demand. According to the display analysts at DSCC, the foldable iPhone will hit stores in 2026.
Separately, we saw a few reports over the weekend that say Apple is working on a giant foldable iPad. The device will have a nearly 20-inch screen and a crease that’s almost invisible when unfolded. The latter is reportedly one of Apple’s big goals for foldable devices. It’s a problem competitors have yet to fix, Samsung included.
Those reports followed a leaked document that showed Apple’s purported roadmap for bringing OLED panels to the MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad mini, iPad Air, and the foldable iPad. All these stories said the foldable iPad would arrive in 2028 at the earliest.
We now have an unexpected twist in this foldable Apple tablet narrative. The same DSCC folks who think the foldable iPhone will give the foldable phone industry a big boost say that the foldable iPad Pro will actually launch in 2027, slightly earlier than expected.
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DSCC calls the foldable tablet a foldable iPad Pro in the report. It’s a moniker I haven’t seen used widely, but one that makes sense.
After all, according to an earlier Bloomberg report, the foldable iPad should be about the same size as two iPad Pros sitting side-by-side. Also, the foldable iPad would probably deliver the best possible tablet/laptop experience Apple can muster, so the “Pro” moniker is warranted.
As a potential buyer, my only objection to the designator is that it cements the idea that the foldable computer would be an iPadOS device rather than a macOS tablet/laptop. While I know the chances are minimal, I’d rather Apple made a foldable MacBook Pro instead of a foldable iPad. I’d want the software to behave more like macOS but support touch input like iPadOS.
Purported roadmap for OLED screen tech for iPad, MacBook, and foldable MacBook products. Image source: X
The DSCC panel experts said in the report that Apple switching more iPads to OLED panels will drive growth in the OLED screen industry starting in 2026. They offered the following roadmap for Apple’s products, almost matching what we saw last week (see the leaked document above). Here’s DSCC’s purported for OLED iPads, including the foldable iPad Pro:
- 2026: 8.5-inch OLED iPad mini
- 2027: 11-inch and 13-inch OLED iPad Airs
- 2027: 18.8-inch foldable iPad Pro
The report also notes some of the tech advancements coming to OLED tablets in the coming years:
More cost effective G8.7 IT OLED fabs bringing down the cost of OLED tablet panels.
More efficient OLEDs boosting brightness, battery life, and lifetime through a number of new technology advances such as phosphorescent blue, CoE, MAX OLED, etc.
When looking at the leaked roadmap above last week, I interpreted it based on what Apple has done with the 2024 OLED iPad Pro. The roadmap gives us a mid-2023 timeframe for those OLED screens, but Apple only unveiled the OLED iPad Pro this spring.
This suggests the roadmap offers a production or development start for the unreleased Apple products, including the foldable iPad Pro. As such, the document might indicate a mid-2028 launch for the foldable iPad Pro. Other reports also offered the same tentative release window for the device.
That said, we’re still looking at unofficial estimates. Even if the DSCC team has been accurate before, plans can always change, especially for Apple. The company will want to get foldables right, no matter how long it takes.
