Foldable iPad with other new features is coming from Apple next year, report claims
Apple is making a foldable iPad that could arrive next year, according to a new report.
The tablet could even include additional features such as a “carbon fibre” kickstand that will allow it to stand up on its own.
But the tablet is not likely to arrive until 2024 and there may be “no new iPad releases” until then, according to Ming-chi Kuo, a reliable Apple analyst with a track record of revealing the company’s plans.
As such, iPad sales could drop over the year, with a decline of 10-15 per cent, he said. “Nevertheless, I’m positive about the foldable iPad in 2024 and expect this new model will boost shipments and improve the product mix,” he wrote in a series of tweets.
The next iPad to arrive is likely to be the Mini version, which was last updated in 2021. Apple is set to start production on those tablets in early 2024, Mr Kuo, said.
Reports have repeatedly suggested that Apple is working on foldable technology for an iPad, with some suggesting that it could be something like a combination of the tablet with a MacBook, so that the bottom half can be placed flat and used as a keyboard, for instance.
But many of those reports have suggested the technology is still some way off, with other reports suggesting that it could be arriving later in the decade.
Apple has also been rumoured to be working on a foldable iPhone, too. Mr Kuo had previously predicted that such a device could arrive this year – but there have been few rumours since, and so it may be unlikely that it will ship soon.
It is unclear how many of these rumours actually relate to different products, or whether Apple has been experimenting with different designs. Such early reports usually emerge from within Apple’s supply chain, meaning that while they may often been accurate, they do not always reflect what the product will look like when it is finally marketed and sold to consumers.
Mr Kuo’s new iPad prediction appeared to be based partly on information related to Anjie Technology, a Chinese supplier that he claimed would be making that stand for the foldable tablet.
