According to an Apple analyst, a foldable iPad could arrive early next year.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-known analyst specializing in the apple company, says that Apple could launch a foldable iPad early next year. Kuo also expects to be joined by a new iPad Mini, which will go into mass production in early 2024.
Kuo didn’t offer many new details about the foldable iPad, but did say it will feature a “carbon fiber” stand produced by Chinese component maker Anjie Technology.
The 2024 release date is significantly earlier than the last major foldable iPad prediction, which came from analyst Ross Young in February 2022. He reported that Apple is developing a foldable iPad/MacBook hybrid with a foldable screen. around 20-inches, but it’s not expected to be available for release until 2026. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman later reported that Apple has been exploring a dual-screen foldable device, adding that the bottom of the screen will serve as a virtual keyboard when the device is used as a MacBook-like case.
Gurman did not offer a precise release date, but did note in October that Apple’s foldable iPad could launch “later in the decade.”
This isn’t the first time Kuo has dated a foldable iPad prediction, as he said a foldable iPhone could launch in 2023 two years ago. But it looks like this could be a much smaller device with a screen size between 7.5 to 8 inches. Gurman has even reported that Apple has thought of launching a foldable device with a screen size similar to the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max. Given the lack of rumors about a foldable iPhone more recently, it’s hard to imagine it launching in 2023, as Kuo previously predicted.
For the foreseeable future, Kuo sees iPad shipments declining by 10 to 15 percent year-over-year in 2023.
