Apple is designing an iPad so large it could replace both your laptop and video conference setup. A foldable 18-inch iPad, according to reliable sources, is in internal development — targeting a launch between 2028 and 2029.
📖 Read more: Apple March 2026: New Mac and iPad
🔍 What We Know
According to Mark Gurman (Bloomberg) and recently filed patents, Apple is working on a device that unfolds to 18-20 inches and folds to standard iPad Pro 13-inch size. It will run iPadOS with desktop-mode capabilities — essentially macOS lite. The display will be a seamless foldable OLED without the characteristic crease.
💡 Why 18 Inches
Apple doesn't want to make a big tablet. It wants a device that replaces the laptop in use-case scenarios. At 18 inches, you can have split screen with two full-size apps, a full-size virtual keyboard, or even work on digital drawings with Apple Pencil at actual A4 size. In video calls, the screen is large enough for the other person to appear at natural size.
📖 Read more: Apple Touchscreen MacBook: What We Know
🔧 Technical Challenges
An 18-inch foldable OLED doesn't exist in consumer devices yet. Key challenges:
- Crease: Apple patented “invisible crease” tech — but nobody's achieved 100% success yet
- Weight: Such a device must stay under 700g — difficult but not impossible
- Battery: Two separate modules, one on each side of the fold
- Digitizer: Apple Pencil must work across the entire unfolded surface without lag
📅 Timeline: Internal prototype: 2026. Possible announcement: WWDC 2028 or separate event. Launch: early 2029. Price: expected above €2,000.
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🆚 Competition
Samsung already experiments with foldable tablets (Fold Tab concept). Lenovo launched the ThinkPad X1 Fold series. But nobody has Apple's ecosystem — iPad + Apple Pencil + Magic Keyboard + iPadOS + macOS integration. If Apple releases this device, it will define a new product category — exactly as it did with the iPad in 2010.
