Apple’s folding iPad now expected to arrive in 2026

There's been tons of speculation about Apple's folding iPad, and many rumours have suggested we'll see it next year – although as we reported back in February, a launch in 2026 rather than 2025 seemed more likely. And now a new report suggests that the 2026 prediction was correct.

The new report comes from analyst Jeff Pu, via MacRumors. In a note to investors, Pu says there have been some "pushouts" around the 20-inch folding iPad. That's trade-speak for when a company decides to move back its planned launch date for a product. 

Pu had previously predicted that Apple's folding devices would go in to mass production in 2025 and 2026, with the iPad arriving first and the folding iPhone coming later in 2026. He still predicts that the iPad will go into mass production in 2025, but late in the year for an early 2026 launch.

Apple's foldable iPad: what's holding the folding?

According to Pu, the folding iPad is encountering some of the same problems that plague all folding phone and tablet designs: "display durability issues". 

Folding devices are much harder to design than traditional phones and tablets that don't have any moving parts. Folding screens are exposed to unique stresses and strains that can cause all kinds of problems, and while Pu doesn't share any details of the specific issues that Apple is encountering they're likely to be similar to the problems we saw in the first generation foldables from Samsung and Google. 

One particular issue with folding devices is delamination, which is when the layers of the display start to separate as a result of all that folding and unfolding. Some phones have also encountered issues with dust getting underneath the protective layer at the crease between the two halves of the display. And others have encountered problems with the hinge mechanisms.

It's worth noting that even these revised launch date predictions are informed speculation: just because Apple may be planning late-2025 production doesn't mean it'll definitely happen. Rumours of folding iPhones and iPads have been circulating since 2017.