Apple is finally getting serious about foldable devices, reports say

We've been hearing it for years, be it through rumors, whispers, or actual patent applications: Apple is working on foldable devices. But the reports always come with a caveat: Those plans are still very far from realization, and they might change in the future.

Well, judging by the new crop of reports that showed up in the past couple of days, Apple's foldables are getting real, though it still may take a while until they launch.

In a new report Sunday, the Wall Street Journal said that Apple is planing two foldable devices. The larger is "intended to serve as a laptop," and would have a display that unfolds to be at about 19 inches in diagonal.

A smaller model would be more akin to a phone, with a display that's larger than that of the iPhone 16 Pro Max when fully unfolded, the report said.

The company has experimented with various designs, but seems to have settled down to an inward-folding design for its foldables. According to the report, the foldable iPhone might actually hit the market in 2026 (though there are still technical challenges to overcome), and the foldable laptop/tablet would come later.

In the latest edition of his newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman also said Apple is working on a couple of foldables, though his report differs from WSJ's in a few key ways. Gurman thinks that the larger foldable is likely to be "akin to a giant iPad" (instead of an all-screen MacBook), and would likely run iPadOS. However, this device will is coming to market "around 2028."

Gurman also said Apple is looking into launching a foldable iPhone, which might come in 2026 "at the earliest."

The WSJ's report also reiterated previous reports that Apple is working on a super-thin iPhone (perhaps called the iPhone Air), which should launch next year. Details are scarce, except that the phone would be thinner than current models, with a simplified camera. As for the price, it should be "cheaper than the Pro models."