Huawei’s not just dropping a new laptop—they’re rewriting the rulebook on what a laptop can do. The MateBook Fold Ultimate Design claims the crown as the world’s first 18″ foldable PC you can actually buy, a bold swing into the future that pairs a jaw-dropping design with Huawei’s own HarmonyOS 5. It’s a device that feels like it’s been plucked from a sci-fi novel, yet it’s real, and it’s here.
The star of the MateBook Fold is its 18-inch dual-layer LTPO OLED display, a technological feat that unfolds to a 4:3 aspect ratio with a crisp 3.3K resolution (3296 x 2472 pixels). When folded, it transforms into a 13-inch screen with a 3:2 ratio (2472 x 1648 pixels), perfect for tablet-like tasks or compact productivity. This isn’t just big—it’s the largest foldable screen ever put into a commercial laptop. With a peak brightness of 1600 nits for HDR content, a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio, and support for the P3 wide color gamut, visuals pop with cinematic vibrancy. The LTPO tech, a first for laptops, slashes energy consumption by 30%, meaning you get stunning visuals without draining the battery.
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The display’s flexibility is matched by its toughness. Huawei’s basalt water drop hinge, the largest of its kind at 285mm, is a marvel of engineering. With a three-stage shaft and mortise-and-tenon structure, it ensures smooth opening and closing, even at angles as low as 0 to 20 degrees, while staying rock-solid from 30 to 150 degrees for hovering modes. This hinge boosts hovering torque by 400% and load-bearing capacity by 100% compared to standard designs, making the MateBook Fold feel both delicate and indestructible. At just 7.3mm thick when unfolded and 1.16kg, it’s lighter than many traditional laptops, slipping into a bag as easily as a hardcover book.
Under the hood, the MateBook Fold runs HarmonyOS 5, Huawei’s bold answer to Windows and macOS. HarmonyOS 5 isn’t some recycled phone software—it’s a legit PC operating system crafted to tie Huawei’s gadgets together like a perfectly choreographed dance. Your phone, tablet, watch, even headphones? They all sync up with the Fold in a way that feels effortless. Want to slide a file from your Mate 70 to the Fold? It’s so smooth you’ll wonder how you lived without it. SuperHub makes it a breeze. Want to mirror your tablet’s screen or extend your phone’s apps? It’s all built-in, with over 1,100 external devices supported and 1,000+ ecosystem apps already adapted, from China’s WPS (a Microsoft Office rival) to Alibaba’s DingTalk. Huawei claims 2,000+ apps will join by year’s end, signaling a growing software playground.
The OS shines with intuitive touches. A three-finger swipe tosses windows across screens, while a five-finger spread maximizes apps to half or full screen, morphing into a “waterfall” mode when folded for immersive browsing. An eight-finger tap summons a virtual keyboard with customizable skins, adjustable key spacing, and haptic feedback via a linear motor, making typing feel natural. HarmonyOS 5’s AI, powered by Huawei’s Pangu model, is woven into the system. The XiaoYi assistant (Celia globally) can summarize documents, create slides, or pull data from multiple files in a snap, all locally for privacy. This system hums with energy, molding itself to your work style in a way that’s downright captivating.
Performance? The MateBook Fold brings it. It’s driven by Huawei’s Kirin X90 chipset, a 100% Chinese-made ARM processor, backed by 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD storage. Whether you’re slicing through video edits or juggling a dozen apps, this thing doesn’t flinch. The 74.69Wh battery keeps you going all day, juiced up by a 140W USB-C charger. And for a device this slim, cooling is key—Huawei nails it with diamond aluminum dual fans and a super-thin antigravity VC heat sink. A copper-steel composite 3D vapor chamber and distributed layout keep heat in check, ensuring the Fold stays cool under pressure without sounding like a jet engine.
Priced at 23,999 yuan (about $3,328) for the 32GB/1TB model and 26,999 yuan ($3,740) for 2TB, it’s not cheap, but it’s competitive with high-end foldables like Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Fold. Available now in China with no word yet on global release, it’s a tantalizing glimpse of what’s possible.
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