Apple plans to release new iPad and MacBook models with OLED screens by 2022, according to industry sources quoted by Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes. The information was shared in the “Before you go” section of the website, so there are no further details yet, but the full report should be released tomorrow.
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Apple gradually increased the use of OLED screens, with the Apple Watch in 2015. Two years later, the iPhone X became the first iPhone with an OLED screen, and Apple has since expanded the screen technology throughout the entire iPhone 12 series . OLED screens have several advantages over LCDs, including higher brightness, improved contrast with deeper blacks, wider viewing angles and more.
Macs and iPads still use LCDs, perhaps due in part to the fact that large OLED screens are expensive to manufacture. High-quality OLED TVs, for example, cost thousands of dollars, for example, with LCD versions at equal screen sizes, usually cheaper.
In November, Korean website The election reports that Apple plans to release new iPad Pro models with OLED screens in the second half of 2021, claiming that Samsung and LG were already developing the screens. However, the rumor was quickly followed by a research note from Barclays analysts who said that an iPad with an OLED screen is apparently not running this year.
In a research note shared with MacRumors in December, Barclays analysts said an iPad with an OLED screen is unlikely to launch in early 2022, based on their talks with Apple vendor sources in Asia.
Assuming Apple actually plans to release iPad and MacBook models with OLED screens, 2022 certainly sounds like a more likely time frame, as Apple’s iPad and MacBook models with Mini are widely expected this year. LED backlit LCD screens will release, and it would certainly be quick for Apple to switch display technologies twice within the same year.
Since Mini-LED lighting displays offer many of the same benefits as OLEDs, such as high brightness and high contrast, one possibility is that Apple will eventually use a mix of both display technologies in its iPad and Mac range, based on price points. Apple’s exact plans have yet to be seen, but there is growing evidence that OLED screens will be somewhat involved within the next year or two.