Summary
E-readers are making a comeback with devices like the Kindle Colorsoft and Boox Note Air4 C.
An Apple e-reader could breathe new life into services like Apple Books and Apple News.
It doesn't seem to be too interested in a dedicated device, but a reading-optimized iPad isn't out of the question.
You might not have noticed, but e-readers -- and other e-ink devices -- have undergone a minor renaissance lately. Aside from a bunch of new Amazon Kindles, including the Kindle Colorsoft, there's now an assortment of full-on note-taking tablets like the reMarkable Paper Pro and the Boox Note Air4 C. There's even a handful of e-ink phones out there , the idea being that they're both better for reading and a way of imposing a "digital detox" on yourself.
You can't get trapped in a TikTok hole if videos play at an unwatchable refresh rate, right?
Thinking about that, it dawned on me that there's a company that could clean up in the e-reader market, but hasn't made a serious effort in years -- Apple. There's a reasonable business case to be made, although whether it's a priority for the company is another matter.
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It's almost difficult to remember, but when the original iPad shipped in 2010, e-reading tech was a major focus. It's the whole reason Apple Books (then the iBookstore) was born, and why the company later launched a Newsstand app to centralize third-party newspapers and magazines. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. went as far as launching an iPad-only news magazine, The Daily, which did about as well as you'd expect -- it folded less than two years later, given the entry price of a $499 tablet plus subscription fees.
Apple was so committed to e-books that it landed itself in legal trouble. Without getting into all the gritty details, it worked with publishers to skew industry models and inflate e-book prices, countering the main advantage of Amazon's Kindle Store. That got it sued by the US Department of Justice over antitrust allegations. Ultimately, despite putting up a fight, it was forced to pay out a $450 million settlement.
A dedicated e-reader would let Apple get around screen and weight limits and revive interest not just in Apple Books, but in Apple News.
Legal battles are probably one reason Apple's ebook commitment has faded; another is that iPads turned out to be inconvenient as e-readers. While iPad displays are large, bright, and colorful, they can be eye-searing in low-light, hard to read in the sun, and even the iPad mini weighs more than a Kindle Colorsoft. Bigger iPads can weigh a pound or more, making them two-handed devices that you wouldn't want to hold for 30 minutes, let alone an hour-long Tolkien session.
A dedicated e-reader would let Apple get around screen and weight limits and revive interest not just in Apple Books, but in Newsstand's successor, Apple News. On an e-reader those services would be the star of the show, both more enjoyable and free from the distractions (and competition) of games and social media. The public interest in digital detoxing shouldn't be underestimated. Even many Gen Zers are fed up with platforms like X and Instagram, given the social pressures they create and the controversial politics of their owners.
Apple is looking to reduce its dependence on the iPhone by generating more money from services. In that regard, it's going to have to do something with Apple Books and Apple News, which otherwise seem to be treading water. In fact, it's hard to see what alternatives it has to an e-reader short of creating an impossibly thin iPad.
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What would an Apple e-reader look like?
A speculative trip
Sketching in the Notes app on a 2025 iPad Air.
It's hard to say for sure, except that Apple would want to try something fundamentally different from its competitors, as demonstrated by the first generations of the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro. If the company follows its usual strategy, an e-reader could take the form of an ultra-thin iPad, perhaps exploiting the silicon-carbon batteries that are enabling some smartphones to shrink. That tech may be the basis for the rumored iPhone 17 Air.
There are risks to that approach, however. While the M4 iPad Pro has proven both thin and bend-resistant, bending can still happen, and there may be only so far Apple can push existing iPad designs without seriously compromising strength. For real readability, Apple would also need to use an OLED display with support for refresh rates below 10Hz, like the Apple Watch Series 10. That could make an e-reader-style iPad even more expensive than the current Pro.
If Apple does try an e-ink device, it would probably want to blow people away in terms of color, contrast, and responsiveness.
If Apple does try an e-ink device, it would probably want to blow people away in terms of color, contrast, and responsiveness, which are the weak points of its rivals. The Kindle Colorsoft , for instance, might be better than other Kindles for reading comics and graphic novels, but its colors are still muted, and swiping from pane to pane on one can be lethargic. A major leap forward would attract a lot of readers, especially now that Amazon is undoing any advantage it had in backing up ebooks.
Something I'd love to see is a more advanced e-ink tablet with notetaking tools, similar to the reMarkable Paper Pro. Integrated with multi-platform apps like Freeform and iCloud Notes, it could be a game-changer. Certainly, there are some students and professionals that would prefer an e-ink tablet with a bundled stylus to lugging around an iPad with a keyboard and/or Apple Pencil.
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What are the odds of an Apple e-reader?
Don't hold your breath on this one
The Boox Note Air4 C.
The likelihood of this actually happening is pretty low, unfortunately, unless Apple is exploring the idea in secret. As future products go, rumors suggest the company's interests are in augmented reality, robotics, health, and smart home tech, not necessarily in that order. That's a lot to juggle, even for a trillion-dollar mega-corporation, and it might be a daunting prospect to take on Amazon in one of its best-known businesses. For many consumers, Kindles and ebooks might as well be the same thing.
I'd put my money on the idea of a better-optimized iPad.
There is that services incentive, though, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility of an e-reader completely. If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on the idea of a better-optimized iPad. Current models are good enough for reading in the right conditions, and Apple's trajectory is already towards thinner and thinner iPads with state-of-the-art OLED screens. It's mostly a question of how long we'll have to wait for something that's friendly towards stashing in your school bag, or reading at night without the risk of a one-pound tablet smashing you in the face when you fall asleep.
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