Apple is again rumored to be hard at work on its first foldable device, but it won’t be a phone like Samsung and Google’s latest and greatest. Instead, it’ll be a laptop as suggested by prior leaks.
Like so many leaks of this kind, this one comes via Apple’s supply chain. But the company that leaked it might surprise you because it’s a household name. And it’s one that you wouldn’t expect to be involved in leaking information about upcoming products.
But all of that being said, here we are. And Samsung appears to have leaked that it’s working with Apple on a new 20-inch foldable computer.
Who said what now?
Samsung, like some other companies, is currently at the SID Review event in the Yeoksam business sector of Seoul in South Korea. During that event, Patently Apple reports, Samsung let slip that something’s afoot.
According to the report it was “revealed that Apple is currently working on a 20-inch foldable IT product project with Samsung and LG Display.”
Samsung previously said that it expected Apple to get into the foldable laptop market in 2024, although a more recent report suggests that 2026 is the timeframe we should be looking toward.
When discussing its foldable plans with Apple this time around Samsung said that it is aware of reliability issues that currently afflict foldable displays including buckling, cracking, and the effect of impacts from things like dropped styli. Those are all things that Samsung and LG will need to work on if they want to put their displays into future foldable Apple devices.
Apple’s focus on a 20-inch notebook rather than a phone might be counter to what other companies are doing, but it could make for an interesting product. Could the display open out to be a large tablet of sorts, but turn into a laptop with a touch keyboard when needed? Time will tell and at this rate, Samsung might beat Apple to announcing this thing properly, too.