Apple will not be able to acquire OLED panels for its iPad lineup until 2023, making 2024 the earliest the technology could hit the shelves in the company’s tablets, according to a new supply chain report. The potential upgrade in display technology, which has been rumored for over two years, would offer better color accuracy and battery life. Since organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays generate light on the pixel level, each pixel could be ‘turned on’ or off as needed. Dark modes on smaller devices with OLED displays have proven to improve battery life, but on a screen as large as an iPad, the technology could greatly affect daily use.
Despite the long-rumored OLED technology coming to the iPad lineup, Apple ditched the traditional LCD screens for a different technology at the company’s April 2021 event. Instead of moving to OLED, Apple offered mini-LED technology with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The display inside last year’s iPad Pro refresh, which included an M1 laptop-class processor, is a scaled-down version of the company’s Pro Display XDR. The premium desktop display, still a small fortune years after its release, is one of the best choices on the market with a 6K resolution. When the tech was scaled down to iPads, some flaws were clear, like an issue with light blooming in local zones when the screen showed a mix of black and white imagery.
A new supply chain report by The Elec confirms previous speculation that the OLED iPads in the pipeline — once expected to appear in 2022 — are facing considerable delays. The report claims that the production issues for OLED iPad screens result from disagreement between Apple and Samsung. While Apple has tried to make as much of its internal components as possible, namely with the production of its in-house Apple Silicon, the company has regularly outsourced to Samsung for its premium displays. Apple’s standards for OLED displays cannot be met by current Samsung production lines, so the South Korean electronics company would need a large pre-order from Apple in order to upgrade its factories.
Apple Is Looking For Brighter OLED Panels
Apple is looking for a specific type of OLED display for its iPad lineup, instead of the common design used in its iPhones and Apple Watches, in order to increase the display’s peak brightness. “Apple had wanted panels with a two stack tandem structure — where it has two emission layers — instead of the conventional single stack structure,” the report states. Due to the current manufacturing processes used by Samsung, the cost per panel would not be financially possible for either company. Without investment or a pre-order of a large number of iPad displays from Apple, Samsung would not be able to produce an OLED iPad display.
Even if a significant order for OLED displays was placed today, it would take time for the new manufacturing equipment to be ordered, received, and put in use. If an agreement is reached between Samsung and Apple, Samsung is prepared to upgrade its facilities in 2023. That means the earliest that an OLED iPad could be in the hands of consumers is most likely mid-to-late 2024. The delays come at a time when Apple is expanding its mini-LED lineup and looking ahead to the possibilities of micro-LED technologies. Apple might just leap from traditional LCDs to the more advanced micro-LED tech if advancements are reached before OLED displays can be produced to scale.
