Skip to main content

Apple foldable MacBook brought to life in striking renders

Apple’s rumored foldable MacBook is now alive in the form of some conceptual renders, which give an idea of what the device might look like based on current details.

Designer Antonio De Rosa has dubbed the proposed product the “MacBook Folio” and has released image and video renders of his take on the potential Apple product. The concept is based on several reports that surfaced last week.

Related Videos
A concept visual of a foldable screen MacBook Folio.

His renders show a device that looks like a standard MacBook laptop in its folded form with a hinge on the outer area; however, it can be folded back into a flat form. It includes a trackpad, but its keyboard is all virtual.

De Rosa notes the accompaniment of an Apple Pencil, as well as other keyboard forms other than an alphanumeric, such as a musical keyboard, suggesting several creative use case options.

Initially, Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young claimed that Apple has plans to create a foldable MacBook with a 20-inch display and screen resolutions of at least 4K, with higher options likely.

Young also claimed that the device could be used both as “a notebook with a full-size, on-screen keyboard when folded” and “a monitor when unfolded and used with an external keyboard.”

The back lid of the conceptual MacBook Folio.

Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman has also backed the claim with sources telling him that the device would be a cross between a MacBook and an iPad, but it would be a completely touch-screen product in lieu of having a physical keyboard and trackpad.

Apple isn’t expected to have any such product on the market in the near future, with a potential launch timeline for the foldable notebook being sometime in 2026 or 2027. However, the company does appear to be looking into making the virtual keyboard technology that would make such a product a reality.

Apple already has patents for making a virtual key on a flexible display feel like a physical keyboard, adding haptic feedback to a virtual display to emulate typing of real keys and adding an electrostatic charge to a display to make it feel as if keys are under the fingers before you type.

Editors' Recommendations

MacGPT: how to use ChatGPT on your Mac
The MacGPT app for macOS Monterey and Ventura.

Apple might not officially be in the AI space, but a developer has created a legitimate way to bring ChatGPT to macOS and make the chatbot accessible from your menu bar.

The aptly named MacGPT is an application developed by Jordi Bruin that allows you to install ChatGPT as a remote browser on your Mac desktop. The application has been available since the 2022 holiday season and has garnered over 370 ratings, many of which are five stars. MacGPT is currently free, however, Bruin accepts donations. Once out of beta, he will make MacGPT available at the App Store, where it will sell for $5.

Read more
Apple could soon put an M3 chip in its worst laptop
Fortnite running on a Macbook M1.

Apple’s MacBook lineup is full of great laptops, but the 13-inch MacBook Pro really doesn’t feel like it belongs. Yet a new report claims Apple will update that device with an M3 chip later this year instead of simply killing it off.

The news comes from 9to5Mac, and the website says its sources have confirmed the 13-inch MacBook Pro is going to get a refresh with a new M3 chip, potentially at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June.

Read more
A new iMac and 15-inch MacBook Air are almost ready to launch
A student types at a desk on a pink Apple iMac 24-inch M1 desktop computer.

The M1 iMac made a big splash when it launched in spring 2021, but it’s been a long two years without updates since then. There’s some good news for Apple fans, though, as a new iMac is apparently almost upon us.

That’s according to a new report from Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, who claims the next iMac is undergoing production tests as we speak. This stage of development (known as engineering validation testing, or EVT) means the product is getting close to launching.

Read more