Samsung leaks that Apple is still working on an all-screen foldable MacBook Pro
Rumors have been swirling for a while that Apple is working on a large all-screen folding MacBook Pro, but the current state of the folding display technology may be the primary issue Apple is waiting to launch anything.
MacBook Pro
At the beginning of 2022, it was rumored Apple was developing a large foldable display, measuring upwards of 20 inches, that would use a touchscreen keyboard for input. At the time, it was expected this device would either be a MacBook or an iPad.
Before the end of that year, however, the best guess evolved into Apple working on a MacBook Pro with a foldable display, which would measure somewhere near 20.5 inches. The device was expected to launch as early as 2026 if all went according to plan.
At the beginning of 2023, the rumor mill offered up that Apple's plans to launch its first foldable MacBook Pro had been moved up, with the device now expected to arrive sometime in 2025. Apple is still rumored to launch an "iPhone Fold" after that.
As reported by The Elec, Samsung Display Managing Director Baek Seung-in spoke about foldable display reliability at this year's SID Review event in South Korea. In that report, Apple is said to still be working on a product with a foldable display, but current reliability issues may be giving the company pause.
The Samsung exec was at the event to talk primarily about reliability in foldable displays, which notoriously started pretty weak. And while the screens aren't as durable as the non-foldable alternatives on the market, they are certainly improving.
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Slide showing reliability issues for foldable displays
The report says Apple is working with both Samsung Display and LG Display in its efforts to build its first foldable product. It also adds that Apple is applying for patents that cover products with foldable displays and that the industry is waiting for Apple to jump on the bandwagon so adoption can increase.
Apple is more than likely waiting for foldable display reliability to improve before it launches a product in the category.
Unfortunately, the supply chain can't quite nail down when Apple is going to launch one of these foldable devices. The wait may continue for a few years at least.
Six years ago, Apple was granted a patent for a "dual display" device that looks like of a MacBook with a unique hinge installed. In that research, the lower portion of the device automatically transitioned into a digital all-screen keyboard when text input is required.
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Comments
Aim for where the puck is going to be. This has always worked for Apple, but it's hard to see how it can work for them with foldable and A.I. tech when the market is already seeing impressive offerings in these categories.
This!
I’m waiting for the iPhone Wad, the phone that crumples into a ball to fit the bottom of my pocket. Never again will it slip from shallow pockets! Let’s move it, Old Man Cook, you’re behind on crumpleable phones.
kidding! Just kidding.
“Samsung leaks that Apple is still working on an all-screen foldable MacBook Pro”
I had not considered repair costs of a keyboard with screens on each key. I bet that would be way more than the price to repair the butterfly keyboard.
To point out the obvious: Samsung leaking this info would open it up to a very costly lawsuit from the famously litigious Apple since Samsung would be in flagrant violation of the NDA that undoubtedly exists (and in multiples, I'm sure) between Apple and Samsung. With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if Samsung sent AppleInsider a cease and desist on this headline.
The foldable ecosystem is getting wider... Samsung D "Global company interest in foldable IT products↑"
Samsung D Managing Director Baek Seung-in presented in the 'SID Review' book of the Korea Information Display Society "The industry is interested in 25-inch foldable products, 13-inch foldable products" "We are improving device characteristics, etc. so that foldable wrinkles are not noticeable" Samsung Electronics' new foldable phone to be released next week will also notice changes.
It has been claimed that the world's leading IT companies are showing interest in foldable IT products. Apple is currently working on a 20-inch foldable IT product project with Samsung Display, LG Display, etc.
At the 'SID Review' event of the Korea Information Display Society held in Yeoksam, Seoul on the 19th, Samsung Display Managing Director Baek Seung-in presented △Folding Crack △Crease △Pen Drop △Folding Torque △Compressive Stress (Buckling) as a matter of reliability of the foldable display.
Among the foldable display reliability issues, wrinkles have been mentioned as an improvement task since Samsung Electronics' first-generation foldable phones in 2019. “I've been working on it for years (to improve foldable phone wrinkles), but it hasn't completely disappeared,” Baek said, explaining that “I'm working on a variety of structures to keep this (wrinkle) out of the consumer eye.”
“This new version (the new Samsung Electronics foldable phone) looks slightly different from the previous one,” he said. The Samsung Electronics foldable phone panel is produced by Samsung Display.
In this regard, Apple is working on a foldable project with Samsung Display, LG Display, etc. Apple itself is continuing to file (apply) for foldable patents. The industry cites Apple's entry as a requirement to expand the market for foldable products. In order to do that, the industry's challenge is that the internal screen wrinkles of foldable products must be improved to the extent that Apple can be satisfied.
Industry interest in foldable IT products is also continuing. "In the Samsung camp, foldable is becoming a new form factor product, which is becoming quite successful," said Sangmu Baek. "The next area of interest in foldable is IT products." “Currently, laptops consist of a screen at the top and a hardware and keyboard at the bottom, but a lot of companies are interested in displaying the entire (laptop), and they're very interested in products that are about 25 inches wide and 13 inches (foldable) when folded," he explained.
In the process of developing foldable products, it is also a consideration that consumers prefer glass materials as mobile product cover windows. “From the first time (consumers) encountered mobile displays, there's always glass at the top of the product,” Baek said, explaining that “consumers feel a little uncomfortable unless it's an empirically familiar glass feel.”
Samsung Electronics' foldable phones used transparent polyimide (PI) film made of plastic as a cover window in the first-generation products in 2019, but since the second-generation model in 2020, it has been replaced with ultra-singlass (UTG), a glass material. Since then, Chinese smartphone companies have also favored UTG with foldable phone cover windows, while UTG has overwhelmed transparent PI film in the foldable phone cover window market. However, in IT products with large screens, there is a prospect that there will be an opportunity for transparent PI film because UTG has problems such as price and durability according to the production yield. Transparent PI film is a weakness in visibility.
“The stack structure is becoming more complex to maintain a sense of touch,” said Sang Sang-S. Baek, adding that “there are many trade-off relationships between the characteristics of the foldable display, so it's important to find the right point.”
The SID review, which was held in Yeoksam, Seoul, hosted by the Korea Information Display Society on the 19th, was attended by about 150 people, including Senior Vice President Kim Hyun-jae (Professor of Yonsei University) and CEO Seok Jun-hyung.