Usually, mentions of Samsung and Apple in the same sentence would be stacking one of the best iPhones against one of the Korean giant’s top-of-the-line handsets. Samsung, however, also makes displays – displays that Apple uses in both its iPhone and iPad lineups. In a recent press release from Samsung, some cool new display tech could point in the direction that future Apple devices could go – and we could be headed for the foldable.
Of course, just because Samsung is going to make them doesn’t mean Apple is going to use them – but taking a look at these displays could give us some idea about the kind of iPads we might have in years to come.
Foldable… iPad?
One of the first screens mentioned in the press release is the Rollable Flex display, and it sounds like it’s the most likely thing that’s going to dominate the front of a foldable iPad. According to the press release, the OLED display “expands more than 5x, from 49mm to 254.4mm in length.” That’s a small screen – to a very, very big screen. To put it in perspective, the small screen would be only 2 inches long, and the maximum expanded length would be 10 inches. Make the screen wider at the bottom, and you could have roughly the same size screen as the iPad Pro 12.9 inch.
The screen folds by “enabling the screen to be rolled and unrolled on an O-shaped axis like a scroll.” Could we have a rolling, cylindrical iPad at some point? Perhaps – although Apple will still want the tech to be almost perfect before it uses it in its devices.
There are other screens too. There is the Flex In & Out, “a new foldable phone concept that can be folded both inward and outward 360 degrees.” This will lead to, according to the press release, “the possibility of lighter and thinner foldable phones.” While perhaps not used for a foldable iPad, this could be implemented into a folding iPhone.
Finally, on the foldable front is the Flex Hybrid for larger tablets. These displays slide and unfold to allow for devices to go from 13 inches to 17 inches – so maybe that MacBook and iPad hybrid is on the way.
On the note of Macs, we might see a new MacBook Air with a 15-inch screen at the upcoming WWDC 2023 event – although it’s unlikely to be foldable.