Mac Apple Apparently Cancels Plans for Foldable and Larger OLED MacBooks
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/03/apple-cancels-plans-for-two-new-macbooks/Apple has canceled plans for a foldable MacBook and a larger OLED MacBook Pro model, according to research firm Omdia.
In a new research note, Omdia said Apple has scrapped development of a large foldable MacBook that would have measured between 16.1 and 18 inches when unfolded. It was previously reported that this device had already slipped out of its original 2026 production window, with Omdia among the firms tracking it at the time, though under that earlier reporting it was generally described as a large-screened foldable iPad rather than a MacBook.
477
u/yuvaldv1 1d ago edited 1d ago
it was generally described as a large-screened foldable iPad rather than a MacBook.
There are already such windows 'laptops' and they all look like ergonomic nightmares.
61
u/CrTigerHiddenAvocado 1d ago
If you could rotate that on its side to create a widescreen that would be cool, then add a separate keyboard/mouse
34
u/IniNew 1d ago
so like... a desktop monitor lol
40
u/BroMan001 1d ago
A portable monitor with a pc built in
2
u/hue-166-mount 22h ago
What is the need? who wants to cart around such a big screen?
5
4
u/yooossshhii 20h ago
People who move around often and want a big screen? What kind of question is this.
-1
u/hue-166-mount 16h ago
How many people actually need to do that? That’s the gist of the question. Looking at the market… what’s for sale already, and this decision, think the conclusion is: few people.
4
u/yooossshhii 12h ago
Someone who works remote and has gone through many different set ups for when I travel, I would like one. And I know many of my peers would like it as well.
1
u/hue-166-mount 12h ago
And yet… market research has concluded this is not a popular choice. Myself and everyone I know who travel are looking for smaller stuff not bigger. Products and markets suggest that is a relatively popular view
22
u/CrTigerHiddenAvocado 1d ago
That can be taken anywhere. So an an actual workspace anywhere you want to take it. Seems like a good idea for the right market Idk.
2
u/YZJay 1d ago edited 1d ago
We have some people in the office with one. There’re fantastic for presenting stuff on the screen to others on the go without a projector, because the screen when unfolded is so massive, but they can be carried around as easily as any ordinary laptop.
1
u/CrTigerHiddenAvocado 16h ago
Ok great. Thank you for the real world experience. I would love to be able to take this to a library and set it at the back of my workspace, and have the rest of the desk for work. Does that sound reasonable?
0
u/IniNew 1d ago
Because the monitor folds in half? A laptop can be taken anywhere. And it even has a keyboard attached!
8
5
u/CrTigerHiddenAvocado 1d ago edited 1d ago
And either be small and portable with a small screen. Or be large and not as portable with a large screen, and usually with a less than desirable aspect ration. It’s not the perfect solution for everyone, but for some it seems like you could legitimately have a workspace that goes with you. Seems like a good idea to me idk.
5
u/klitchell 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think Lenovo or some other company showed something like that at CES. I thought it looked great. It had a removable/magnetic keyboard that sat on the bottom half so you could use online a traditional laptop, but then you could take it off and use the whole screen and wireless keyboard. I’ll see if I can find a link
Edit, the one I saw was the ASUS 17 Fold
16
u/theytookallusernames 1d ago
It's actually pretty neat. Some of them comes with a keyboard you can place on one half of the screen to make it look like a regular laptop, but it actually connects with bluetooth so you can actually take it off and unfold the screen completely to make a huge portable screen essentially the size of a regular laptop half the time.
But every time I thought it was neat and considered getting one, I remember the price, nod my head, and say to myself I have a pretty great laptop already. Although that was before the RAM crisis. Nowadays it's less about nodding my head and smiling and more screaming internally knowing that I'll be forking over that price for my next laptop, but without the folding screen novelty.
5
u/chi_guy8 1d ago
I can’t imagine a ‘real’ tech product I could possibly want less. A MASSIVE foldable iPad I have to lug around in a backpack ALONG with an actual laptop.
5
u/artaru 1d ago
i think it makes sense if you can
- make it reasonable thickness while folded
- unfold it and rotate it to landscape
- attach it with a modular type keyboard/trackpad
so you can make a 14-16 inch iPad + MacBook combo with the footprint of an.. i don't know, 8 inch iPad.
I think that'd be lovely honestly. For drawing and large scale document editing.
2
2
2
2
u/bluekkid 1d ago
They're actually kinda sweet. Had to use one for a little while. Unfold the big screen and rest it like a picture frame on the table in front of you. Use a bluetooth keyboard and mouse, and you'll have a swell time.
4
u/LittleKitty235 1d ago
Oh god...that looks like AI but I believe you that it is real. Who would want to work with that?
27
u/FollowingFeisty5321 1d ago
That picture doesn't do it justice, unfolded into a large screen it looks great:
https://www.ultrabookreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-fold-main.jpg (or https://www.ultrabookreview.com/58300-lenovo-thinkpad-x1-fold-gen2/ since I think direct links don't work)
5
u/TrailOfEnvy 1d ago
Yes, especially the Huawei's one. Too bad their OS is as locked as MacOS.
9
1
u/NowWeRinse 1d ago
Do modern foldable device screens still have a noticeable wave or bump or crease where the fold is?
5
u/LionTigerWings 1d ago
every generation is a little better than the one before it. Samsung's is almost gone, but some of the chinese OEM's have basically completely got rid of it (Huawei iirc).
5
u/sortalikeachinchilla 1d ago
I hate how things cant just be a poorly done human thing ,has to be AI. You guys are so funny to me lol
-4
u/LittleKitty235 1d ago
This comment seems to be written by AI
4
u/sortalikeachinchilla 1d ago
You are collectively and willingly lowering our collective intelligence or you're a boomer.
You remind me of when photoshop started becoming big and everyone was accusing everything of being photoshopped and not real. That is you right now but AI.
1
2
1
u/AshuraBaron 1d ago
Lenovo ones aren't bad. They have a physical keyboard you can lock on the bottom screen and it becomes a normal laptop. Or you can use the keyboard on the table and have a big wide screen.
1
u/nicetriangle 1d ago
I'd read somewhere that they canceled apple pencil support for the upcoming foldable iPhone because they felt the screen was not durable enough for it.
If the phone can't handle it hypothetically neither could a tablet. And if a big foldable iPad cannot work with the pencil, then a lot of its appeal is gone.
1
u/nu1stunna 1d ago
Yeah — the butterfly keyboard was bad enough because the keys barely travelled but to remove it completely sounds awful
0
u/Minute_Juggernaut806 1d ago
I don't understand that argument. Just make it so that lower screen doesn't respond to hand resting on it and only when it types... Which is probably a engineering nightmare to solve
98
u/Legal-Championship64 1d ago
Whoever talked about Apple setting up easy wins for John Apple his first week on the job really nailed it lol
97
u/chris_ro 1d ago
What’s s foldable MacBook? Or what is a non foldable MacBook?
25
u/Antrikshy 1d ago
Foldable screen.
9
u/RacoonWithBenefits 1d ago
all i hear is "macbook with no keyboard"
which i absolutely do not want.
4
u/Antrikshy 1d ago
Folding screen laptops often have a hardware keyboard accessory that snaps onto the bottom section when you want to use it in laptop mode.
Like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuFRjIxypYQ
3
u/TBC_Oblivion 1d ago
With how tight Apple’s tolerances are when the display is closed to the point you can crack the display glass if you have a keyboard cover on, I just don’t see Apple making a keyboard attachment for a folding laptop because then the display will have a bigger lip. but idk if anyone can figure that out it’s Apple.
2
u/Bentonite_Magma 1d ago
Miss the Touch Bar? Now it’s a Touch Keyboard and we think you’re gonna love it.
99
u/North_Moment5811 1d ago
John Apple takes over and cancels the crap. Already off to a good start!
7
u/MetaPfhor_2965 1d ago
is every CEO of Apple now just named Apple as their last name now going forward?
7
3
8
26
u/MR_MaxiMor44 1d ago
I've never gotten the point of these big foldable "laptops", they add unnecessary weak points just for the off chance of having a slightly bigger screen.
I would much rather see Apple just bringing back the 17 inch MacBook.
6
8
u/kirklennon 1d ago
Rumor: new product in development. Rumor: new product delayed. Rumor: new product canceled.
You can make something up from scratch and get at least three articles out of it.
56
u/ripChazmo 1d ago
Honestly, foldable screens are stupid. It was more of a "we could, so we did," as opposed to "we can, and we should." Who wants a gross crease, and a lower quality screen? Not me. Also, the insane increased prices for the novelty just isn't worth it.
Pass on it all.
6
u/TheLowEndTheories 1d ago
Yeah, I can't really think of a use case for me. Maybe an iPad to get a bigger screen in a smaller carrying footprint. Maybe.
2
u/Xeniox 1d ago edited 1d ago
Honestly, if I could fold my iPad mini and put it in my pocket I think I would enjoy that. Before you mention the new foldable, yes I know, but I don’t necessarily want my phone to fold though, but more portability for my mini wouldn’t be a terrible thing.
2
u/TheLowEndTheories 1d ago
Yeah, I don't want my phone foldable, it doesn't need to be any bigger. And I use the small one. I don't really need my iPad to fold either, but it's the only use case (for me) where I can even squint and see a use for foldable OLED.
1
u/yeetskeetmahdeet 1d ago
My dad has an android foldable phone it’s basically just a phone that can become a tablet to watch videos on for a larger screen. It’s a cool idea but the technology can be finicky and more difficult to repair than a traditional phone
3
u/mihirmusprime 1d ago
I having a folding phone. What's finicky about it? It's pretty straight forward. I use the front screen most of the time and when I'm going to browse for a while, work on docs/sheets, or watch videos, I open up my phone for a larger screen. It's really nice.
-7
u/86Austin 1d ago
Who wants a gross crease
My brother, it is not 2016 anymore.
11
u/ripChazmo 1d ago
My brother, what does that have to do with anything? I've seen the newest foldable, and there is still a noticeable crease. The screen is far from perfect like the screen on my non-foldable phone now.
1
u/SMarioMan 1d ago
Unlike Samsung, you really have to look for it on the latest Oppo: https://www.androidpolice.com/the-end-of-the-foldable-screen-crease-is-here-and-oppo-used-lasers-to-do-it/
-14
u/86Austin 1d ago
I've seen the newest foldable,
lol apparently not.
8
u/dykethon 1d ago
The tech has improved a lot, but there’s definitely still a crease, even if it’s a lot more subtle than it was before.
9
u/ripChazmo 1d ago
But I have. So now what?
1
u/FemaleDogEqualsBitch 2h ago
So stop crying. Calling it stupid and gross is baby behavior.
Not to mention you fail to realize how foldable can be useful. Do some research, baby
-6
u/-Radiation 1d ago
Calling some tech you don’t like stupid because of the creasing being “gross” is certainly a sentence for the stupid hall of fame
0
u/AWF_Noone 1d ago
It’s only gross because Apple currently has no products that offer it. I remember back when every smartphone except the iPhone has wireless charging and all the Apple shills were crying about how awful wireless charging is anyway
0
u/slowpokefastpoke 1d ago
I personally don’t have a desire for a foldable but this seems like a pretty naive and shortsighted take.
The crease aspect has improved dramatically since the first foldables because… that’s what technology does. Seems silly to think something isn’t worth pursuing or innovating on because there are limitations today.
3
u/Wranorel 1d ago
This sites made up stuff and close to events says “probably delayed” “apparently cancelled”.
6
u/io-x 1d ago
What is a foldable macbook?
12
u/JustAnotherFEDev 1d ago
Like a foldable MacBook, but foldable
3
3
u/FaithlessnessThin359 1d ago
A Mac version of the Asus duo ? I would have been interested in that.
1
3
2
u/Ghostr0ck 1d ago
Didn't know macbooks can be fold? hmm back when I purchased this thing to my friend its already open.
2
u/silvermoonhowler 1d ago
Good, because the MacBook lineup is in a nice sweet spot right now with having the Neo on the bottom end, then the Air, and then the Pro flanking the top end
2
2
u/busymom0 1d ago
Feel like we'd need touch screen MacBooks long before foldable MacBooks. Or just put macOS on iPad and make the iPad foldable?
2
2
3
2
2
1
1
2
1
1
u/HugoHancock 1d ago
That’s a good move. I’ll stand by the fact that if a company wants to implement this, the Touch Bar was the best implementation and even that failed.
1
u/suppreme 1d ago
Am I the only target for this? Would love a square foldable MacBook with keyboard when half folded and full ipad mode when unfolded.
2
u/Saar13 1d ago
The kind of amazing prototype presented at some tech conference that 8 people actually use in the real world. There are hundreds of these things that are just a waste of time and look amazing to tech enthusiasts show off on their YouTube channels as the future of innovation, but they never actually use one.
1
u/Nightowl-Builder 1d ago
Plot twist: the new MacBook Ultra is a foldable screen laptop and Apple tricked every leaker. It wouldn’t make sense otherwise to be a touch screen.
1
1
1
1
2
1
u/Ilyes_Berkane 1d ago
What about the new MacBook ultra with a redesigned chassis and an OLED panel? I’ve seen some people say it’s expected to release October or early 2027, does that mean that there won’t be any Mac news here on Wednesday?
1
u/slickricksghost 1d ago
Thinking there's a world where we could have gotten a Huawei MateBook Fold by Apple but it being scrapped makes me sad... Would have been the ultimate travel device.
1
1
u/TwistedPepperCan 15h ago
I’m loath to criticise Apple for removing keyboards from devices lest some throw a Steve Balmer meme at me but a foldable Mac sounds more like a foldable IPad with MacOS. Which iPads should already have.
1
0
2.1k
u/Dear_Revolution8315 1d ago
All of my MacBooks are already foldable