Apple’s effort to push its tablet lineup to the cutting edge has reportedly run into multiple snags. The company continues to work on an 18-inch, all-screen folding iPad, but the proposed $3,000 price is enough to give anyone pause … even Apple.
And that’s not the only roadblock Apple’s engineers supposedly slammed into. The sad result? The long-rumored device might not arrive for years.
Foldable iPad might exceed Apple’s grasp
Apple makes the most popular tablets in the world, but the product line is in a rut. New models include faster processors and other enhancements, but it’s been years since Apple shook up the design. That’s apparently the goal of the 18-inch foldable iPad currently in the prototype stage in Cupertino. It’ll be like no current model.
“When closed, the device resembles a Mac laptop, with an aluminum enclosure on both sides,” Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing unnamed sources. “When opened, it’s about the size of a 13-inch laptop.”
In other words, the tablet is more portable than the smallest current Apple laptop, but users will be able to work on a touchscreen larger than the display in the biggest MacBook Pro. There’s no external screen, just the one that folds inward.
Photo: ChatGPT/Cult of Mac
However, Apple is reportedly struggling to turn its vision into a reality. Most obviously, the estimated price for the folding iPad is a whopping $3,000 — a roughly triple that of even the priciest iPad Pro today.
If Apple releases the tablet at that price, it’ll undoubtedly find a few buyers, but it’ll be a product used only by those with deep pockets or generous expense accounts. Apple’s goal is make mainstream products. That’s what analysts and the public expect also. Take the Vision Pro headset as an example — it’s brilliant, but its $3,500 price makes it a niche product, and it’s widely seen as a flop.
Plus, the developers working on the folding iPad supposedly face other technical hurdles. Apple’s prototype weighs about 3.5 pounds, according to Bloomberg. That’s about three times the weight of a current iPad Pro.
Maybe 2030?
Recent rumors point to the folding iPad reaching customers and store shelves in 2028. But that might be optimistic.
Bloomberg’s sources now point to a release in 2029 or even later, given the engineering challenges Apple must overcome.
