Apple's First OLED iPad Coming in 2023, According to Display Experts

Wednesday July 7, 2021 11:16 am PDT by Juli Clover

Apple is expected to release its first OLED iPad in 2023, Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) said today in its newest quarterly OLED Shipment Report. Apple will enter the market with a 10.9-inch AMOLED ‌iPad‌, which prior sources have suggested could be an iPad Air.

OLED iPad Pro Feature
There have been multiple reports about Apple's work on an OLED ‌iPad‌, and the sheer number of rumors all but confirm that the technology is in development. Right now, OLED displays are limited to Apple's iPhone lineup, the Apple Watch, and the MacBook Pro Touch Bar, but Apple has been working to bring OLED to Macs and iPads.

Most of the rumors that we've heard about an OLED ‌iPad‌ suggest that it's coming in 2022, which is earlier than the DSCC report predicts. The Elec recently said that Apple will release a 10.8-inch ‌iPad‌ with an OLED display in 2022, and back in March, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple is expected to start using OLED next year. DigiTimes has also predicted a 2022 release for an OLED ‌iPad‌, as have sites like ETNews, which rely on supply chain data.

Kuo also said that Apple's first OLED ‌iPad‌ would be an ‌iPad Air‌ rather than an iPad Pro, with Apple continuing to use mini-LED technology for the ‌iPad Pro‌ lineup. Several reports about the OLED ‌iPad‌ haven't specified that the device will be an ‌iPad Air‌, but that's the general expectation as Kuo often has reliable insight into Apple's plans.

OLED technology is expensive, which is a factor that has thus far limited it to smaller devices like iPhones and Apple Watches. When adopted in the ‌iPad‌, it will bring improved brightness, higher contrast, deeper blacks, and wider viewing angles.

The DSCC report also suggests that Apple will "cancel the Touch Bar" in the future, which is in line with ‌MacBook Pro‌ rumors. The new ‌MacBook Pro‌ models expected in 2021 will do away with the OLED Touch Bar, with Apple instead returning to a standard function row of keys.

Related Roundup: iPad Air

Buyer's Guide: iPad Air (Neutral)

Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol

iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, and Safari. More features and changes will follow in future versions,...

New iPhones See 'Stronger Than Expected' Demand With One Exception

Thursday October 2, 2025 7:26 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Nearly two weeks after the iPhone 17 series launched, analysts at investment banking firm Morgan Stanley said demand for the devices has been "modestly stronger than we originally expected," based on a combination of extended shipping estimates on Apple's online store and information it gathered from Apple's supply chain. There has been strong early demand for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro,...

• 247 comments

Here's Every New Apple Product That Leaked Yesterday

Wednesday October 1, 2025 8:27 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests. The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...

• 38 comments

Apple's 2025 Product Roadmap: What's Still Coming

Wednesday October 1, 2025 3:56 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Apple's two big yearly events, WWDC and the iPhone launch, are done and over with, but there are still some new products that we're expecting to see before the end of the year. Apple TV The Apple TV hasn't been updated since 2022, so it's due for a refresh. It doesn't look like Apple is going to change the design of its set-top box, but we can expect a faster chip Apple code suggests...

• 91 comments

M5 MacBook Air: Release Date, Features, and Performance Predictions

Friday October 3, 2025 3:39 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

The MacBook Air is Apple's most popular laptop – a thin, fanless machine that wields quiet power thanks to the efficiency of Apple silicon. While the M4 model isn't exactly old, attention is already turning to its successor. Apple doesn't telegraph new product launches ahead of time, but we can draw a surprisingly clear picture of what to expect by looking at Apple's silicon roadmap,...

• 65 comments

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...

• 63 comments

apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple's iPhone Driver's License Feature Now Available in 11 U.S. States

Tuesday September 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Apple recently revealed that the feature would soon be available in North Dakota, and starting today, the feature has officially gone...

• 54 comments

iPhone 17e: All the Rumors So Far

Thursday October 2, 2025 4:55 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Earlier this year, Apple released the $599 iPhone 16e – a budget-friendly late addition to its iPhone 16 series and a replacement for its long-running entry-level iPhone SE line. Given the iPhone 17 lineup has now launched, can we expect an iPhone 17e anytime soon? If you're holding out for a more affordable device with the 17 moniker attached, here's everything we know so far about the...

• 59 comments

26 Hidden iOS 26 Tricks to Change How You Use Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 9:16 am PDT by Tim Hardwick

Apple released iOS 26 in mid-September, bringing a range of new features and changes to iPhones across the globe. But not all of the included improvements have been showcased with Apple's typical fanfare, and many are likely to have been overlooked. Below, we've highlighted 26 lesser known additions and enhancements that could potentially change how you use your iPhone on a daily basis. Got...

• 40 comments

Top Rated Comments

XciteMePls

56 months ago

Hopefully I can say this without getting swarmed on like bees, but I'm tired of the whole "OLED = vastly superior, anything else = utter crap" narrative. And I own OLED displays, I've seen my friend's LG OLED in person many times. When I was looking to buy a new 4K TV two years ago, price was NOT a concern and I had narrowed my choice down to a 77" LG C8 OLED, or a 75" Sony Z9D LED. I chose the Sony Z9D and to this day the TV still amazes me, and I don't yearn for an OLED TV even though I know it gives better contrast.

Yes, they have perfect blacks. But take a look at rtings.com and see the difference in peak luminance and brightness between today's OLEDs and a good, high-quality LED TV with local dimming (Local dimming for LED is a must... if it doesn't have good local dimming, it WILL have crappy contrast). HDR movies are mastered at a minimum of 1,000 nits, the LG CX can only reach a max of about 650 nits on a small, tiny portion of its screen. As that portion gets bigger, the brightness gets even lower. OLEDS have ABL (Auto Brightness Limiter) so in large, bright scenes (think of a snowy arctic tundra, or a bright sunny desert, etc), it'll look dull and dim compared to an LED. Today's brightest LEDs can reach up to 1,800 nits. On my Z9D, I get a beautifully balanced combination of deep blacks, and bright highlights. It doesn't have to be one or the other, like some make it seem.

I'm not saying OLED sucks, quite the opposite. It's a beautiful display tech. But each display has its own pros and cons. With HDR material, LEDs will have more pop and impact. If you watch a lot of content at night with the lights off in a pitch black room, OLED will look better. In a bright living room with lots of windows, LED will have better visibility. If you game a lot (hours on end) and watch static logo TV channels, you won't have to worry about burn-in with LED. Let the people decide what's better for their needs.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

CWallace

56 months ago

Oled is better why do you think Oled TVs are more flagship

OLED is better for visual media consumption in a dark room (I have an OLED TV in a room I can control the light levels) which compensates for the lower peak brightness of OLED compared to (Mini)LED.

In my main room with large windows and a lot of natural light, my OLED TV would struggle with viewability. In that application, I have a MiniLED TV where the higher peak and sustained brightness makes the image more visiable.

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)

BornAgainMac

56 months ago

What about a classic Cathode-ray tube (CRT) iPad display? A nice throwback of the 1980s/1990s technology.

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

CWallace

56 months ago

So now the air will have a better display than the pros don’t get it

The OLED display will have some benefits over the MiniLED display, but the MiniLED display will have benefits over the OLED.

MiniLED's benefits like higher brightness levels, better off-axis viewing, lower off-axis color shifting and such are better suited to the iPad Pro's general use cases so it will remain on MiniLED.

Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)