Apple's Giant Folding iPad Suffers A Setback And May Top $3,000 At Retail

Apple brought some excitement to this year’s lineup of iPhones with the introduction of the ultra slim iPhone Air. The company is reportedly hoping to do the same for its iPads with a foldable version of the device. However, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman claims that the project is now delayed after hitting several stumbling blocks.

The project, which internally goes by the codename J312, is working towards a design in which the foldable iPad would look like a MacBook when folded closed. This means the device may not have any kind of external display. When opened, it will supposedly reveal a sprawling 18” OLED display that will occupy a footprint similar to that of a 13-inch laptop.

Accomplishing everything Apple wants with an 18” display is proving to be a challenge, especially because the company wants the crease that is inherently part of the foldable design to be minimized as much as possible. While the company was supposedly targeting a price point of $3,000, the complexity of the design had pushed that to “roughly triple that of a 13-inch iPad Pro,” putting it closer to $4,000.


The weight of the device has allegedly been another point of concern for those working on the project. The current iPad Pros weigh in between 1 to 1.3 pounds, making it light enough to tote around comfortably. The foldable iPad prototypes are tipping the scale at 3.5 pounds, which is pushing it into full MacBook Pro territory.

These issues have reportedly forced Apple to rethink its plans on when to release the device. It originally planned for a launch sometime in 2028, but that has been pushed back to 2029 or potentially even later. Moreover, there is enough concern surrounding the development that it might not ever see the light of day.

While an iPad with an 18” display that you can fold up and take anywhere is enticing, the pricing will likely dampen any excitement and obviously limit the potential audience.