Leak reveals which iPad tablets will be upgraded to an OLED display and when it will happen،
Korea
ETNews (via
AppleInsider) has let the cat out of the bag regarding Apple’s plan to equip some of its iPad tablets with an OLED screen. And that naturally leads us to three questions: which iPad models can we expect to be so equipped, when can we expect these tablets to be released, and who put a cat in a cat anyway? bag ? It looks like next year we can expect the next iteration of the iPad
Pro slates to feature OLED panels, the first time one of Apple’s tablets will feature an OLED display.
In 2026, Apple is expected to equip the iPad Air and iPad mini with single-stack OLED displays. A single-stack OLED display uses a single emitting layer while a dual-stack, dual-emitting OLED panel doubles screen brightness and increases screen life by up to four times. These two tablets should be refreshed next year with the iPad Air (2024) integrating its M1 chip for a faster and more energy-efficient M2 SoC. The iPad mini (2024) could end up next year with the A16 Bionic or A17 Pro chipset to replace the A15 Bionic running the current version of the tablet.
ETNews says that in 2027, we should expect OLED displays to be used on a new iteration of Apple’s high-end iPad Pro
series and the new 12.9-inch iPad Air. None other than TF International’s Ming-Chi Kuo recently announced that the larger iPad Air model will begin mass production in the first quarter of 2024. Kuo expects the display to use an Oxide backplane , the same technology used on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro mini-LED. .
iPad mini 2026 expected to feature an 8.7-inch OLED display
Speaking of the iPad Pro, when the 2027 models ship, the OLED displays could be made of the dual-stack variety which, as we mentioned earlier two paragraphs above, will make them brighter and more durable than the single-stack OLED panels that ETNews says Apple will use on the 2026 iPad Air and iPad mini. The 2026 iPad mini will sport an 8.7-inch display according to the report, slightly larger than the current 8.3 inch screen.
Although the report does not specifically mention dual battery, using a translation app indicates that the 2027 iPad Pro will use a “next-generation panel that improves the panel’s luminous efficiency thanks to the color filter on the encapsulation (CoE). “Not only will this technology reduce power consumption by up to 20%, but it could also allow Apple to use an under-panel version of Face ID on the tablet.
Apple wanted dual-stack OLED so badly that it forced Samsung to produce the panels. After Samsung Display initially refused to develop the dual-stack OLED panels requested by Apple, Apple dismissed the supplier from its iPad OLED projects like a hot potato. Samsung Display realized that losing Apple’s tablet business might not be good for the bottom line and a few months later it was hard at work developing dual-stack OLED panels just to get back into good graces with the Apple iPad team.
