We have seen Apple delay its foldable iPhone more than once, and now it’s happening again this time with the iPad. The company’s long-rumored 18-inch foldable tablet has slipped further down the timeline, now expected no earlier than 2029.
Early expectations pointed to a 2028 debut, but those plans are changing fast. Apple seems in no hurry to rush out hardware that doesn’t meet its design standards, even if it means years of waiting for a foldable iPad to finally exist.
Price and timeline
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports Apple’s first foldable iPad is “projected to cost around $3,000” and now targets “2029 or later” for release due to engineering challenges. The company had aimed for 2028, but “weight, features and display technology” pushed the schedule. Apple declined to comment.
This delay contrasts with Apple’s foldable iPhone plans. As previously outlined, Apple expects to launch a foldable iPhone in 2026, while the foldable iPad slips further out. The tablet is harder to ship at the standard Apple bar for portability and durability.
The hardware
Apple is working with Samsung Display on “the roughly 18-inch panel,” with a design that “minimizes the crease seen on foldable displays.” Prototypes, code-named J312, do not include an external display when closed. Open it, and you get a canvas about the size of a 13-inch laptop. Close it, and you see aluminum on both sides.
Weight remains the sticking point. Test units “weigh around 3.5 pounds,” far heavier than current iPad Pro models that range from 1 to 1.3 pounds. That number puts the prototype near a MacBook Pro. If Apple ships near that weight, you will treat this device less like an iPad and more like a portable desktop screen.
Think of this foldable as a high-end machine, not a mainstream tablet. At roughly $3,000, you are in MacBook Pro territory. Gurman’s reporting notes a useful benchmark: Huawei’s MateBook Fold, an 18-inch foldable tablet, weighs about a pound less and sells for about $3,400 in China. Apple’s prototype sounds similar in footprint, but Apple still needs to solve weight and polish.
Why the rush is off
Apple refreshed the iPad Pro with the M5 chip last week and kept the same thin external design as the M4 generation. The company also introduced the ultrathin $999 iPhone Air and keeps pushing on long-horizon hardware such as smart glasses and a tabletop robot device. At the same time, Apple has shown it cancels or pauses efforts that do not clear the bar. The autonomous car is the headline example. More recently, Apple “shelved a cheaper and lighter version of its Vision Pro headset… known internally as N100.”
Those choices explain the cautious approach here. If Apple cannot solve weight and crease behavior to its standards, you will not see a foldable iPad in stores anytime soon.
Conclusion
Apple’s foldable iPad is “projected to cost around $3,000,” uses an 18-inch crease-minimizing OLED panel from Samsung Display, and now faces a “2029 or later” debut because prototypes “weigh around 3.5 pounds.” If Apple cracks those problems, you get a large, versatile screen that travels. If not, you keep using a lighter iPad Pro and wait.
