When Samsung released its first Galaxy Fold back in 2019, there was a ton of excitement, which was quickly tempered when people got a chance to try it out. Even after the early wrinkles were ironed out, one major flaw was still evident: the crease. Samsung has worked to lessen it over the years, but it’s still something of an eyesore–and a new report claims Apple is facing the same issue with its folding iPad.
The difference is Apple won’t ship its folding iPad until it can remove the crease entirely. According to Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, Apple’s work on a folding tablet is still “in its early stages,” but has already hit a stumbling block when it comes to the crease. Gurman reports that if Apple “is unable to solve that problem it could decide to ditch the foldable concept altogether.”
He notes that “there’s still time” for Apple to figure out the problem, but Apple’s quest for perfection could end up getting in the way. While creases on folding phones have varying levels of visibility–the OPPO Find N3 series appears to be the least noticeable–they’re all there and on a screen the size of a 14-inch iPad, it could be very distracting. (The largest folding phone opens to a screen smaller than 8 inches, but rumors suggest Apple wants to go much larger with its first folding iPad.)
At any rate, it sounds like a folding iPad is still a long way off if it ever happens. In the meantime, you can check out our iPad Pro and iPad Air rumor roundups for the latest information about iPads that are actually launching soon.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.