While smartphones are enjoying this trend, foldable screen PCs haven’t hit mainstream yet, in part because there’s only one option available. But as HP is expected to take the stage, perhaps “foldable OLED”will become more common laptop jargon.
Lenovo has taken a bold first step towards foldable laptops with the 13.3-inch ThinkPad X1 Fold. According to South Korean electronics website TheElec, HP uses foldable OLED displays with a 17-inch panel from LG Display that measures 11 inches when folded. HP hasn’t publicly announced or commented on the PC rumors, but a couple of details make the machine at least somewhat plausible. First, in January, LG Display confirmed work on a 17-inch foldable OLED laptop.
Most recently, TheElec revealed on Monday that South Korean company We IE Technology will produce transparent polyimide films to cover flexible 4K OLED panels. The publication also claims that LG Display currently plans to manufacture up to “about 10,000″foldable OLED panels for HP starting in the third quarter.
If HP’s foldable becomes a reality, it will have a couple of direct competitors. The ThinkPad X1 Fold is getting old: a 2020 machine with a 2048×1536 foldable OLED screen is currently available, up to an Intel Core i5-L16G7 with one high-performance core, four efficient cores, and a clock speed of 1.4 to 3 GHz. 8 GB LPDDR4X-4267 memory and 256 GB SSD.
In January, Asus also announced the Zenbook 17 Fold OLED for mid-2022. The machine looks like a stronger competitor to HP’s alleged device, with a 17.3-inch flexible OLED touch screen, 2560×1920 resolution and an Intel i7-1250U processor clocked at 1.1-4.7GHz, with two performance cores and eight efficiency cores. Asus also announced the laptop with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Asus hasn’t confirmed, but TheElec said on Wednesday that Asus’ foldable machines will also use polyimide films as well as OLED panels from BOE.
Beyond image quality, performance, price and durability, features that enhance the usability of the new design (such as Asus’ detachable physical keyboard) will be key differentiators for enthusiasts.
While Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold came out two years ago, we’ve yet to see a direct competitor launch. But if another one of the world’s top three PC makers enters the space, don’t be surprised to see more laptop-sized OLED screens in the future that fold in half and are surrounded by a chassis with ports.