LG Working to Bring OLED Displays to Future iPad and MacBook Models

LG is working to supply Apple with OLED display panels for two iPad models before providing larger panels for the company's first OLED MacBook around 2025, The Elec reports.

Oled iPads and MackBook Pro Notch
LG Display is reportedly aiming to supply Apple with Gen 8.5 OLED panels for Apple's first OLED MacBook. The device is said to be scheduled to launch "around 2025."

LG has been evaluating the deposition process to manufacture Gen 8.5 OLED panels at its Paju facility since December 2021, The Elec claims. The evaluation procedure will purportedly take up to a year to complete. Previous reports have indicated that LG's factory in Paju, South Korea, is instrumental in Apple's plans to offer iPads with OLED displays, as well as to increase its supply of OLED displays for future iPhone models.

The Elec also explained that LG is planning to use its Gen 6 OLED production lines for 11-inch and 12.9-inch ‌iPad‌ models, which will debut at some time earlier than the first OLED MacBook. Since the launch of the OLED MacBooks around 2025 will come after Apple's first two OLED iPads, LG is planning to use larger substrates such as Gen 8.5 since more panels can be cut out per substrate in less time.

Yesterday, renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted that the launch of Apple's first MacBook with an OLED display is dependent on the launch of 11-inch and 12.9-inch OLED ‌iPad‌ models in 2024, which correlates with today's report from The Elec:

LG is believed to be planning to begin mass production of LTPO OLED panels for iPads between 2023 and 2024, making the rumored 2025 timeframe for the launch of the first OLED MacBook plausible.

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Top Rated Comments

xxray Avatar
31 months ago

I don't understand why OLED is on the roadmap. I thought mini-LED was the path forward, since it has the vast majority of the contrast advantages of OLED without sacrificing brightness or the risk of burn-in.
There has been no history of burn-in on any Apple OLED display. OLED brightness levels are already not far from brightness on mini-LED displays, and non-HDR content is actually brighter on iPhone and Apple Watch OLED displays than the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro mini-LED displays.

It doesn’t bother some people, but for me, blooming is a major issue on mini-LED displays. It’s my biggest complaint about my 2021 12.9 iPad Pro. I’d choose OLED over mini-LED anyday.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wxchaser Avatar
31 months ago
Good! - LG makes quality products and offers upgrade options for panels other than Apple.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
senttoschool Avatar
31 months ago
I don't ever see it coming.

An OLED panel needs to be bright, 120hz, LTPO, large, super high resolution, and cheap enough. I think we'll switch to Micro-LED before this happens.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Tozovac Avatar
31 months ago

2025?! technology is moving at a snails pace these last few years
Interesting response. Were you around just over 2 decades ago when an $900 27" Sony CRT 480p TV was just INCREDIBLE? Or ~15 years ago when an iPad was unimaginable?

How many here can honestly say they'd see/feel an appreciable benefit beyond the screens we have today in our MB's and iPads beyond the satisfaction of having the latest/greatest (which I don't mean to discount).

Sure there's personal "value" in knowing you got the latest, but for the vast majority of us, at what point is the benefit of a "better" screen than what we have today any different than finding a penny on the street?

Sometimes the hard push to OLED chatter feels like the quest for zero bezels. What's the real, tangible benefit most of us will see beyond what we have now on our desks or in our hands?

I'm all for stretching because that leads to the next great thing that becomes "the norm," but I'm honestly curious to hear of examples of how the next-gen screens will help those here, maybe the professionals in Media.


LED, OLED, miniLED, microLED, at this point all good screens look well; my iPad Pro from two years ago has an awesome screen, my iPhone 13 pro too, and the same is true of my M1 MacBook pro; very hard at this point to care about new fanged display technologies.
Exactly!
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darngooddesign Avatar
31 months ago

There has been no history of burn-in on any Apple OLED display. OLED brightness levels are already not far from brightness on mini-LED displays, and non-HDR content is actually brighter on iPhone and Apple Watch OLED displays than the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro mini-LED displays.
Mac screens are regularly on for a full day, phones and watches are not. The chances or laptop burn-in are far greater.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xxray Avatar
31 months ago

Mac screens are regularly on for a full day, phones and watches are not. The chances or laptop burn-in are far greater.
My Apple Watch has a more static and turned-on screen than any computer, phone, or tablet I use. Yes, it’s LTPO and on lower brightness when you don’t have wrist pointed at your face, but my watch is pretty much always displaying the same screen except for when it’s charging. No signs of burn-in, nor has there ever been a history of burn-in on Apple Watches.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)