After introducing the mini-LED technology on the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Apple is now planning to adopt OLED displays for some other iPads starting next year, according to Korea’s ETNews.
The publication says Apple “confirmed” OLED on the iPad as “the small and medium-sized OLED market is expected to enter the second growth phase.”
Samsung and LG are the current OLED supplier for the iPhones using that technology, and the report believes some iPads will also feature an OLED display as well starting in 2022.
According to the industry on the 31st, Apple decided to apply OLED instead of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) from some iPad models in 2022. It is reported that Apple and display companies have agreed on production and delivery.
In March, reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the 2022 iPad Air will feature an OLED display.
At that time, Kuo pointed out that although Apple would adopt Mini-LED displays for the new iPad Pro, other tablet models would switch to OLED displays, beginning with iPad Air next year. Mini-LED panels offer similar benefits as OLED, such as deeper blacks — since the backlighting is based on several small LEDs — but they don’t suffer from burn-in.
According to the analyst, Apple has no plans to bring OLED to its productivity devices because of burn-in concerns, which could be more noticeable by users who work with the same software for hours.
Another reason to use OLED rather than mini-LED in other tablets is the cost. Unlike the iPhone, in which Apple had to use a custom OLED panel that is folded at the bottom, the OLED displays that the company will adopt in the iPad are flat. This means that the cost for the new panels will be close to what Apple currently pays for each LCD panel used in the iPad Air.
