• Apple is busy with a foldable iPad that it could reveal in Q1 2024.
• This would mark the first foldable device from Apple, which has famously stuck to single-screen setups.
• According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the foldable iPads will launch with new carbon fibre kickstands.

A new major player could be heading into the world of foldable electronics as Apple looks to launch a foldable version of its iPad, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The space has been dominated by South Korean giant Samsung, especially in the foldable smartphone corner of the market, with the likes of the Galaxy Z Flip and Z Fold series.

It makes sense for Apple to try the foldable pad route instead as no other smartphone maker has managed to get their folding-screen phones near the success of Samsung’s.

Now, Kuo, who has a respectable track record when it comes to leaked information from Apple, claims that the Cupertino, California company could announce a foldable iPad by as soon as Q1 2024.

They add that the foldable iPads will feature a carbon fibre kickstand, the piece that props up the iPad at the back of the device. Carbon fibre will make the kickstand lighter and much more durable.

Apple is apparently getting help for the foldable iPads from a company called Anjie Technology, according to Kuo, which is also the polishing and bonding supplier of the new carbon fibre kickstands.

Finally, Kuo adds that they don’t expect any new iPad for the next nine to 12 months until the foldable comes into play.

“There may be no new iPad releases in the next 9-12 months as the iPad mini refresh is more likely to begin mass production in 1Q24,” Kuo wrote in a thread on Twitter.

“I’m positive about the foldable iPad in 2024 and expect this new model will boost shipments and improve the product mix.”

More insight about a potential foldable product from a famously anti-foldable company gives some credence to rumours that emerged in early December 2022 about a “foldable MacBook.”

At the time, South Korean tech publication The Elec reported that Apple was working with major parts makers to secure “core foldable technology.”

The tech in question pointed to Apple working on something with a 20-inch display that could be folded to offer a 15.3-inch screen.

If the foldable iPad does indeed launch next year and is successful, Apple could begin pursuing foldable avenues that Samsung has yet to plumb, including foldable notebooks.

We just hope that if Apple does begin making foldable notebooks, the folding capabilities present more than just a gimmick to inflate the price point. The company recently launched its improved M2 chip line of MacBooks.

[Image – Francois Hoang on Unsplash]