Apple ‘developing giant MacBook/iPad hybrid’

Last week, a rumour surfaced that Apple was working on a foldable device with a 20in screen; we were unconvinced. But the knowledgeable Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has picked up and amplified this thread in his Power On newsletter. “Add a giant foldable iPad/MacBook hybrid to the list of future Apple devices,” he says.

Gurman agrees with the rumour, and claims Apple is exploring a foldable MacBook/iPad hybrid device with two screens. According to Bloomberg, Apple could produce a 20in screen with a physical keyboard, or alternatively have one side of a larger, foldable screen act as a virtual keyboard – perhaps something along the lines of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold pictured above. According to Bloomberg, the latter option is more likely.

At the moment, Apple is said to be in discussions with subcontractors about such a device, and Gurman claims it has been “in development for the past couple of years”. However, the product could still be several years away – the year 2026 is mentioned – if it becomes a reality at all.

Gurman is widely respected but by no means infallible, as his accuracy rating of 85.5% on AppleTrack indicates. With a project as far from launch as this, even the best-informed pundits struggle to offer much in the way of detail, and we wouldn’t set too much store by this prediction. It’s wholly plausible that Apple is working on a hybrid device, but the company works on a huge number of projects and form factors that never see the light of day.

This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.