Expensive foldable MacBook tipped to arrive in 2026 with a 20.3-inch or 18.8-inch screen and M5 chip

Haitung International Securities analyst Jeff Pu gave us something of a roadmap for Apple's foldable devices earlier this month. Pu expects Apple to produce a 20.3-inch foldable MacBook next year followed by a foldable iPhone in 2026. About a week later, there was talk about a deal that Samsung reportedly made with Apple to supply the latter with foldable displays. 

Highly accurate TF International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo must have been working his sources inside Apple hard because today he posted some new information about Apple's foldable MacBook in his blog. Kuo says that Apple is considering two different screen sizes for the device, 20.25 inches and 18.8 inches. When folded, the two different sizes correspond to a 14-15 inch laptop and a 13-14 inch laptop respectively.

Unlike the previous rumors, it appears that LG Display will be the exclusive supplier of the foldable screens. Perhaps Samsung is being punished and LG rewarded for how each display unit fared supplying Apple with the OLED panels for the recently released iPad Pro tablets. Kuo writes that the production of the foldable panel, regardless of which size Apple decides on, will start during the fourth quarter of 2025 with assembly of the foldable MacBook beginning during the first half of 2026.

Kuo says that the foldable MacBook will be powered by the M5 chip. If that doesn't ring a bell, that's because such a component has yet to be made official by Apple as the M4 is the latest chip released in Apple's M-series and is powering the new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro (2024) tablets.

According to Kuo, Apple is trying to make the screen as crease-free as possible. Considering the technology involved in such a pursuit, the displays are expected to cost Apple $600-$650 per unit. Each hinge will cost Apple $200-$250 Kuo says. However, if yields improve during mass production of these parts, the price Apple pays for these components could go down. LG Display will be Apple's exclusive development partner for the display while Amphenol will have the same title for the hinge.

Kuo says that based on the cost of the panels and the hinges, the foldable MacBook is going to be expensive and the Bill of Materials (BOM) will come close to the BOM for the Vision Pro. Kuo predicts that shipments of the foldable MacBook will exceed those of the Vision Pro with more than 1 million units shipped in 2026.