Kuo: A folding iPad is coming in 2024 and it will feature a carbon fiber kickstand

Apple has been predicted to launch a folding iPad in 2024 ahead of a foldable iPhone, and the device is thought to feature a carbon fiber kickstand.

iPad Pro with Apple Pencil lying on its back at a 45 degree angle
But will it fold? | Image: Rahul Chakraborty / Unsplash
  • What’s happening? Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims Apple could release a folding iPad in 2024 featuring a kickstand.
  • Why care? Apple is also rumored to have been working on a foldable iPhone, but it now looks like Tim Cook & Co. will first test the technology with a foldable iPad.
  • What to do? Check out Kuo’s Twitter account.

Kuo: A foldable iPad with a kickstand could arrive in 2024

In a series of tweets published on Kuo’s Twitter account, the analyst said he was optimistic that a foldable iPad would launch sometime in 2024.

He didn’t specify which iPad model might be the first to bend. Such a device, he said, would feature “an all-new design.” Previously, a display analyst said he expected a foldable iPad to feature a screen around 20 inches diagonally unfolded.

A foldable iPad will feature a carbon fiber kickstand, Kuo has it, because the “material will make the kickstand lighter and more durable.”

Kuo also expects mass production of the next iPad mini to kick off in the first quarter of 2024, saying the refreshed iPad mini 7 won’t fold. A foldable iPad would need to adopt a plastic flexible OLED display panel that may not feel as premium as glass.

A next-generation hinge mechanism

Apple's foldable iPhone patent drawing showing elongated fingers for stronger friction hinges
Apple’s patent application details a fiber composite friction hinge with a set of interdigitated elongated “fingers” Image credit: Apple/USPTO

Now, the current state of foldable technology leaves a lot to be desired regarding user experience. Samsung has been working for years to perfect the technology, but its foldable devices still show a visible crease when the display is unfolded. Clearly, to minimize the crease, a more sophisticated hinge mechanism is needed.

Apple might be onto something in that regard, as the company has been researching more robust hinges that promise to put less stress on foldable displays.