A new rumor has begun to spread amongst Apple enthusiasts, detailing the potential mass production of ‘crease-free’ foldable screens made by LG for a 20.2-inch MacBook (or possibly 18.8-inch), that might be released late next year.
Analyst and prolific Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo listed some pretty interesting details surrounding the supposed foldable MacBook in a Medium blog post. It will supposedly run an M5 series processor (hinting Apple will proceed with its SoCs in a logical manner) alongside a crease-free panel. After some time, foldables like the Google Pixel Fold or the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 Gen 1 can reportedly develop a noticeable line where the screen folds.
It seems that to combat this danger, the supposed LG-manufactured screen will have “high design specifications” for the panel and the hinge, which would lead to a very high cost of production. Kuo estimates the panel and hinge to cost around $600 to $650 and $200 to $250 respectively.
That’s a scary figure, considering that cost would be passed on to the consumer and possibly make the rumored device so much more expensive than already expected.
Will this MacBook really happen?
Do I think this rumored foldable has even a smidge of a chance of becoming a reality? Probably not. In the last few years, it seems like after every MacBook launch there are rumors about a foldable laptop or tablet, and they inevitably come to nothing.
The specifications of the rumored MacBook also lead me to believe that this product may never be realized. There are very few 20-inch laptops in the market, and there’s no clarification on whether the device is 20-inches unfolded or folded.
Apple has made it quite clear that MacBooks are not iPads and vice versa. A foldable laptop would have to come with a touchscreen, and arguably it would be in Apple's best interest to keep these entities separate, to ensure more people have to buy separate products for their separate needs.
Plus, Apple has never been known to jump in at the height of a trend like foldable devices. The company’s approach has always been to wait till the very end of a trend and swoop in and revamp the hype, or completely miss it out entirely. I personally can’t even envision a foldable MacBook, at least not in the next few years at the very least. Still, this rumor is fun to think about - maybe one day it'll be true.
