20-Inch Apple Foldable MacBook Revealed by Rival Samsung

Urian B., Tech Times 21 July 2023, 09:07 pm

Samsung is one of the companies that has placed foldable smartphones back on the map and new information from the company seems like it's leaking a device from one of its competitors, Apple. The revelation points toward something bigger than just a tablet, which could mean that Apple is working on a foldable MacBook.

Samsung Working on 20-Inch Foldable Device

According to the story by Laptop Mag, Samsung has just made a huge announcement during its event, wherein it revealed that one of its top competitors, Apple, is working on what was described to be a 20-inch foldable device. The news was picked up and shared by other publications as well, pointing toward the new Apple device.

Patently Apple reports that the event, SID Review, which happened in Seoul, was where Samsung confirmed that its competitor was working with LG Display and Samsung to develop what it referred to as a "foldable IT product project." This supports earlier reports of Apple potentially working on a new foldable device.

The news reportedly correlates with a report in 2022 that noted that Apple could be working on a foldable MacBook. However, during that time, the rumor only pointed toward a foldable MacBook in 2026 with no mention of it being developed or in production.

The New Device Might be Too Big to be an iPad

The article by Laptop Mag also tackles the possibility of this being an iPad. However, one major reason why it might not be the iPad is because of its size, with laptops usually having a display half of 15.3 inches.

As also seen on Apple Insider, since the new foldable is reportedly 20 inches, it might be too big for users to consider just another tablet and it might just be closer to a 20.5 inch foldable MacBook Pro. During the event, it was noted that Samsung didn't dive into juicy details regarding the new Apple foldable.

Despite that, Samsung executive director Baek Sueng-in, gave a statement about how Apple's entry into the market was a "necessary condition" for foldable in general to succeed. It was also noted that Samsung Display was working on key issues in order for them to meet the high standards of Apple.

Other Issues that Samsung Needs to Solve with the Device

Some of these issues include folding cracks, compressive stress, foldable crease, display buckling, pen drop issues, and folding torque. Basically, this means that Samsung still has a lot to do when it comes to eliminating creases from the inner screen.

Samsung also needs to work on making improvements to reliability issues that could happen due to the device's flexibility, which is a given. Aside from the issues being tackled, the executive also went into yet another intriguing area, where it talked about the dispersal of internal components.

The executive noted that although most laptops today consist of the upper part being the screen and the lower part the hardware, there are more companies being interested in what was described as a "full display" foldable. The article then noted that buyers can expect to see more evenly distributed internal hardware with these types of machines.