According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is actively testing a 9-inch folding screen device. It is not clear whether this is an iPhone or an iPad.
Kuo said on Twitter that the company is “testing” a 9-inch device with a foldable screen and OLED technology. Many people think that this is just a test for future products that haven’t come out yet.
“As far as I can tell, the order of size priority in Apple’s foldable product development process is medium to large to small”, said Kuo. Apple is testing 9-inch OLED displays that can be folded (PPI between iPhone and iPad, TDDI applies). Testing is done to make sure that important technologies work. It may not be the final specifications for the product.
Kuo thinks Apple will make a folding iPhone (like the iPhone Fold or the iPhone Flip) in 2024. In other words, he now says that Apple will release its first foldable product by 2025, which could be an iPhone/iPad hybrid or just a foldable iPad:
I thought Apple would make a foldable iPhone in 2024 at the very least. However, I think this prediction needs to be changed now that I think about it more. I think Apple will make its first foldable product in 2025. It could be a foldable iPad or an iPad-iPhone hybrid.
Ross Young said the same thing in a report from the DSCC this year. Kuo’s statement is the same. It was supposed to come out in 2023 or 2024, but now it’s been pushed back to 2025, says Young.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman also says that Apple is working on a two-in-one product that can fold. I think it could be a hybrid between a MacBook and an iPad. It won’t have a physical keyboard or trackpad.
