While Apple silicon has changed the game for the company’s product lineup (most notably the Mac), Apple’s overall designs haven’t changed all that much in recent years. Sure, the iPhone 17 Pro looks a bit different than the iPhone 16 Pro, but to most, they might as well be identical. Meanwhile, a MacBook Pro, from 2026 looks exactly like one from 2022—you’d have to use it to know what M-series chip it was running.
That could all change in the next year. The rumor mill is predicting Apple will release two brand-new devices in the near future: a foldable iPhone and a touchscreen MacBook. These products would certainly offer a departure from Apple’s typical lineup, giving users their first chance to buy devices with these features within the Apple ecosystem. Reports suggest these devices will ship within this year’s update cycle—i.e., in the iOS 27 and macOS 27 era. As such, many of us wondered whether Apple would make any allusions to these new products at WWDC last week, when the company formally announced the upcoming updates. It didn’t—but the company might have provided some clues that these devices are indeed on the way.
As reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s first betas for iOS 27 and macOS 27 each contain evidence for the company’s upcoming foldable iPhone and touchscreen MacBook, respectively. While neither OS includes flashing lights that scream “These products are coming soon!” there are some not exactly subtle signs.
Let’s look first at Apple’s hints about a potential folding iPhone. Gurman says the most obvious piece of evidence here actually comes from macOS 27: The OS’ updated iPhone Mirroring app now lets you stretch the window to display iPad-like window layouts, all while running the same iOS software. While convenient for macOS users, this design suggests Apple is thinking about different-sized windows for iOS, and, likely, integrating wide-formatted windows to a foldable device.
To that point, Apple was keen to encourage developers to design their software around “app adaptability.” This philosophy is all about creating apps to fit a wide range of screen sizes, and seeing as the iPhone really only has two aspect ratios to deal with at the moment, this advice likely has more to do with the upcoming iPhone Fold. Perhaps the least obvious but most telling piece of evidence: There is code within iOS 27 beta 1 that, according to Gurman, directly references a foldable device. It notes a product with “multiple displays,” more sensors, and the ability to detect how “open” a device is. Unless Apple is making a MacBook that runs iOS, this sounds undeniably like a foldable iPhone.
If you’re brave enough to test out the macOS 27 beta on your Mac, you may notice a quirky new feature: Apple now lets you pull down on different pages to refresh their content, similar to how it works on iOS and iPadOS. You can use your trackpad or mouse to drag down your inbox in Mail, for example, and look for new messages. It’s a convenient way to simplify UI across devices, but it also seems like Apple is porting a touch-based gesture to macOS…perhaps in anticipation of a touchscreen Mac? This is Gurman’s first piece of evidence.
Second, there’s Sidecar, which lets you turn your iPad into an external display for your Mac. This is nothing new, but what is new is that the macOS window on your iPad is now touch-sensitive. Previously, you needed to use an Apple Pencil, mouse, or trackpad to interact with macOS on your tablet, but with the beta, you can interact with macOS via touch for the first time.
Finally, Siri’s “Search or Ask” interface appears as a pill on macOS, just as it does on iOS. On the latter, this is because this function lives in the Dynamic Island, something the Mac does not have. Gurman says he has reported that Apple’s touchscreen MacBook will come with a Dynamic Island; therefore, this design choice supports his overall hypothesis.
Apple typically never officially releases news about its forthcoming products until they are formally announced, so we can’t say for sure when these devices might arrive. Still, rumors of the foldable iPhone’s imminent arrival have been omnipresent this year, and the iOS 27 beta only seems to bolster them. You can expect the company’s first foldable to debut as part of Apple’s annual iPhone event, likely to occur in September.
Predicting when a touchscreen MacBook might drop is tougher, as Apple has never had a set schedule for its laptop announcements. For his part, Guman expects it to arrive in late 2026 or early 2027.
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