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

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 (Buy Now)
Related Forum: iPad

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

XciteMePls Avatar
52 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 Avatar
52 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 Avatar
52 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 Avatar
52 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)
Metrosey Avatar
52 months ago

So now the air will have a better display than the pros don’t get it
In your opinion
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Kylo83 Avatar
52 months ago

In your opinion
Oled is better why do you think Oled TVs are more flagship
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)