Apple Likely to Use Samsung's Tandem OLED Displays for Future iPads and Macs

Samsung has begun developing more advanced OLED panels that should meet Apple's requirements for use in future iPads and Macs, according to a new report from The Elec.

OLED iPad Pro and MacBook Pro
Previous reports have suggested Apple intends to release an iPad with an OLED display provided by Samsung in 2024, but Apple is seeking OLED panels for larger displays that have a "two-stack tandem structure," which have two emission layers, thus doubling brightness and quadrupling OLED display lifespan.

All Apple's iPhones use a single-stack structure, and Apple's rationale for requiring two-stack panels is that iPads tend to be used for longer. The expectation is that these more advanced panels will also eventually make their way into MacBooks and iMacs. Apple currently only uses OLED displays for the iPhone and the Apple Watch, but Macs and iPads are limited to LCD and mini-LED.

Apple and Samsung were reportedly working together to create a 10.86-inch OLED panel in 2021, but work on the display was halted in the third quarter because the project was said to be too expensive for Samsung, and Samsung was not able to manufacture enough of the panels at the right price.

With Samsung now actively developing the two-stack panels, which Samsung is calling the T Series (T for tandem), the Korean company's display arm is aiming to develop the T1 material set to get customer evaluation, and is aiming to apply the material for commercial production in 2023.

With the necessary manufacturing equipment in place, Samsung will then move on to developing the set's successor, T2, for which it aims to start commercial production in 2024. Given this timeline, it's the T2 material set that will likely be the first panels used by Apple for its iPads, according to today's report.

In the meantime, Samsung is expected to first use the more advanced OLED panels in its Galaxy Tab and Galaxy Books series, allowing it to maintain hardware leadership over Apple in the display hardware space.

Recent rumors have suggested that Apple is also working with BOE on larger-sized OLED panels destined for Macs and iPads, with BOE's recently converted factory able to manufacture OLED displays that are up to 15 inches in size.

Tags: OLED, Samsung

Popular Stories

iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
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. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

Leaker Reveals Amount of RAM in iPhone 17 Through iPhone 17 Pro Max

Wednesday July 9, 2025 8:08 am PDT by
Three out of four iPhone 17 models will feature more RAM than the equivalent iPhone 16 models, according to a new leak that aligns with previous rumors. The all-new iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with 12GB of RAM, according to Fixed Focus Digital, an account with more than two million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The...
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card Expanding to More Countries

Tuesday July 8, 2025 7:34 pm PDT by
Apple is expanding the ability to add an Apple Account Card to the Wallet app to more countries, according to backend Apple Pay changes. With iOS 15.5, Apple updated the Wallet app to allow users to add an Apple Account Card, which displays the Apple credit balance associated with an Apple ID. If you receive an Apple gift card, for example, it is added to an Apple Account that is also...
macbook pro blue green

M5 MacBook Pro No Longer Coming in 2025

Thursday July 10, 2025 12:38 pm PDT by
Apple does not plan to refresh any Macs with updated M5 chips in 2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Updated MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are now planned for the first half of 2026. Gurman previously said that Apple would debut the M5 MacBook Pro models in late 2025, but his newest report suggests that Apple is "considering" pushing them back to 2026. Apple is now said to be...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive These Five Perks

Wednesday July 9, 2025 9:20 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, did you know that Apple offers you five perks beyond the extra storage space, at no additional cost? Here are the perks included with all iCloud+ plans:Private Relay keeps your Safari browsing history entirely private from network providers, websites, and even Apple. Hide My Email generates unique, random email addresses whenever needed. Hom...

Top Rated Comments

Pezimak Avatar
44 months ago

Can’t wait for the day Apple stops using OLED any uses anything else that doesn’t suffer from burn in. o_O
What have the reports on OLED iPhones been on burn in issues? I don’t recall hearing about any big problems with it but was curious to know.
All screen technologies have pluses and minuses though.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
troublador Avatar
44 months ago

Can’t wait for the day Apple stops using OLED any uses anything else that doesn’t suffer from burn in. o_O
Have you not read the article? You're in for a long wait. Why not just get over your burninphobia?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
falainber Avatar
44 months ago

people don't keep iPhone screens continuously on as long as they keep TVs and Monitors on.
And phone OLED screens use completely different tech than TV screens.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fraserh02 Avatar
44 months ago

“Quadrupling the lifespan.” What is the ”lifespan” of a screen?

I have a Mac Classic that still works. Pretty sure it doesn’t have an OLED screen…
Even LCD’s suffer from long term brightness degradation. My iMac G4 has noticeably reduced brightness than when it was new. Displays have half lives.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CWallace Avatar
44 months ago

I wonder when Apple will start designing and building their own displays.
They design them now and have been for years.

Building them? Never. It's not a core-competency for Apple and never will be with their current functional organization structure. So even if they emptied their bank account to build out the infrastructure, the results would likely be inferior to what they are getting now from their suppliers (where building displays is their core competency).



How far is microLED to get into iPhone,iPad,MAC.
Likely a decade or more away. The size of the sub-panels that make up such displays is falling, but it still is designed around massive wall-sized displays.



It could be a QD-OLED screen.
QD-OLED is intended for monitors and televisions and is a different technology than the RGB PenTile matrix that the iPhone OLED displays use (and what an iPad OLED display would use).

QD-OLED would be suitable for something like an iMac display, but even there, if Apple ever goes OLED for Mac displays I would not be surprised if they went with the JOLED RGB process developed by Japan OLED rather than QD-OLED.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bobcomer Avatar
44 months ago

Can’t wait for the day Apple stops using OLED any uses anything else that doesn’t suffer from burn in. o_O
I'll take an OLED over anything else currently. I've never seen any burn in...
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)