MacBook Air With OLED Display is Still Years Away

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Said this on the other day on the Macbook 'ultra' thread...

I would be interested to see what implications of this are down the line.

This seems to suggest the current Macbook Pros won't get OLED diplays which in turn suggests the Air probably isn't getting an update in display tech anytime soon either.

I think the Air display in particular is in need of an update. It's starting to become what the standard iPhone was before the 17 launched, it's not wowing anybody given the price point.

 

[W2u7Yw4HaD]

Then how in the world does LG, Samsung etc. offer huge OLED TVs?

Your not comparing apples to apples.. The 4k or higher display needs to fit int a small smaller footprint.. Pixel density matters and many examples cited here aren't retina displays.. I do not see so many retina displays in most other laptops either, so the windows camp is far behind in that space..

There is also a burn in issue which is very real on oled desktop and not much of an issue on a tv with moving images.. So I suspect they want to deal with that issue more then anything else.. menu bars, docks and things like that could burn into the oled displays.. I think this is the deal breaker with apple.. phone's/watches/iPads have more changing elements vs a desktop display..

 

[tomtad]

I hope you like that massive notch! 😂

 

[tim0409]

I own a M3 MBA and a M4 11” iPad Pro with magic keyboard, but the iPad Pro is the one I use every day and one of the main reasons is the screen. When I switch back to the MBA I really notice the difference. I don’t need the power of a MPB and much prefer the MBA form factor, so in the absence of a premium replacement of the 12” (which was my all time favourite macbook) I just wish Apple would introduce a display upgrade option for the MBA.

 

[svish]

Think it will take 2 to 3 years after the OLED MacBook Pro launches, which might launch towards the end of 2026 or early 2027. So most probably first half of 2029 might be the earliest the Air could get OLED. Don't think touch screen will come to Air. Meanwhile would like to see ProMotion in the Air. In fact I would not mind the Air not getting OLED but would definitely like it to have ProMotion. Along with OLED update, would like to see cellular connectivity also.

 

[leman]

This is so ridiculous.

It doesn't need a whole bunch of "development" or "figuring it out" or "more time to mature" -- none of that.

Lenovo, this very moment, sells a whole range of machines with the exact 15.3" OLED panel that would be perfect in an MBA.

I myself am sitting, typing this, in front of a $250 16" 3K 120HZ OLED portable monitor whose panel would also be perfect here.

It's breathtaking, with per pixel lighting, perfect blacks, "ProMotion" ... just the bees knees.

There's just no good reason for any of this to be taking years and years on Apples part.

How about offering screen options as a BTO choice?

I wonder about supply constrains. Lenovo sells dozens of models, most of them cheaper, low-spec units. I’d be surprised if OLED models account for even a fraction of their sales. If you have a low-volume product, it’s easier to use cutting-edge tech.

 

[clg82]

Why would Apple give consumers what they want at a price they can afford when they can upsell users on things they don’t want or need for several years instead?

Because "Apple" that's why, they offer polishing cloths at an Apple premium lol

 

[derek1984]

This is so ridiculous.

It doesn't need a whole bunch of "development" or "figuring it out" or "more time to mature" -- none of that.

Lenovo, this very moment, sells a whole range of machines with the exact 15.3" OLED panel that would be perfect in an MBA.

I myself am sitting, typing this, in front of a $250 16" 3K 120HZ OLED portable monitor whose panel would also be perfect here.

It's breathtaking, with per pixel lighting, perfect blacks, "ProMotion" ... just the bees knees.

There's just no good reason for any of this to be taking years and years on Apples part.

How about offering screen options as a BTO choice?

Because Apple can get away with it.

 

[abowlby]

Okay cool, but can they at least give us a MacBook Air with ProMotion?

The M5, which some people would have you believe is as powerful as an RTX 5090, unfortunately is also - as counterintuitive as it may seem, incapable of 120Hz when scrolling "web pages."

Seems made up to me, but I need to focus on reasons I should be defending this and not criticizing it. I'm the problem that stands between Apple and my money. Hrmph!

 

[HouseLannister]

I think Cook read an article about burn in from 2015 and it just stuck in his head, hence the slooooooow OLED adoption.

 

[abowlby]

Because Apple can get away with it.

Any other tech company that would try stuff like this would have their social channels flooded with plebs (me) yielding pitchforks.

Apple does it and their YouTube sales force drums up "actually you don't deserve nice things" videos and the lesser thralls come scrambling out of a cloud of Fel magic to say things like "actually this objectively lesser hardware is better than better hardware because better hardware has had instances of failing in the past, and while lesser hardware has as well I choose to ignore that. Also, this starts at "free" because someone could just steal one! Heckin puppers! Starts at free!"

 

[acader]

Is this OLED thing even real?? This "rumor" has been circulating for nearly 5 years and now it is "several" years away? Maybe OLED itself will be obsolete by that time.

 

[foxtictac]

I mean yeah okay, but surely there are still other improvements that can be made to the screen before they switch to OLED? 120Hz refresh rate / ProMotion can still work on an LCD screen (see iPad Pro history). I could see that happening once the Pro gets OLED. Maybe higher brightness too?

 

[Darajavahus]

Lol there are reviewers that compared Neo with windows laptops for same price and some of them have OLED screens...

 

[snipr125]

Apples display tech is so far behind everyone else. Amazing 200hz+ OLED screens have been out for years and Apple's stuck in like 2020.

In their entry level and midrange offerings yes definitely, but at the high end they have the best display tech. The Mini LED in the MBP and especially the Tandem OLED in the iPP M4/M5 are the best in industry right now, but they will cost you of course.

 

[abowlby]

It makes a lot more sense when you interpret the word "development" in the marketing sense rather than the technical one. Putting a larger OLED display into a laptop is a solved problem.

The real "development" effort is simply these two things:
1) Coming up with some expensive-sounding edge-case feature that probably benefits less than 0.001% of laptop users
2) Building the marketing narrative to convince the common masses that they are part of that 0.001%

I like to call this the "2000 nits" plan.

Operation Nitwit 😂

 

[platinumaqua]

Might be an unpopular opinion I have, but I’m done with Apple laptops if they switch all of them to OLED. I’m not willing to pay a premium to have a ticking time bomb (burn-in) when there are perfectly fine LCDs available.

 

[Abydos]

'its not a perfect world, there are no perfect solutions' live with it, kvetch as desired

 

[iMac The Knife]

Called it, once again!

 

[Parowdy]

At least some of the blame is probably on the color accuracy they aim for. Not everything needs P3 color space or whatever, but since most of their current displays have it they won’t just dial it back on anything except new, low end stuff like the Neo.

Exactly. Not all OLEDs are the same.
Another thing to consider besides quality is quantity. A reason for why Apple‘s integration of OLED in iPhones took several generations and years longer than we hoped, was sourcing millions and millions of displays that have Apples specs from suppliers.
You can’t compare compare Lenovo to Apple in that regard.
But honestly, if Apple wanted to add OLED to the Mac, they could do so within 3 years tops I assume.
Bit considering OLED Mac‘s have been rumored since before Apple Silicon, it seems clear what their priorities are.

 

[Parowdy]

Called it, once again!

You called that the MacBook Air will only get OLED years after the MacBook Pro‘s get it?
Impressive.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I own a M3 MBA and a M4 11” iPad Pro with magic keyboard, but the iPad Pro is the one I use every day and one of the main reasons is the screen. When I switch back to the MBA I really notice the difference. I don’t need the power of a MPB and much prefer the MBA form factor, so in the absence of a premium replacement of the 12” (which was my all time favourite macbook) I just wish Apple would introduce a display upgrade option for the MBA.

Comparing that beautiful OLED to the MBA must be absolutely painful.

I’ve been doing a similar side-by-side and it’s incredible how old and tired the MBA screen looks in comparison.

 

[jakey rolling]

Each rung gets the technology at the moment it can be justified at their price point.

It would be more accurate to say "Each rung gets the old technology until the moment comes when it cannot be justified at their price point."

The Air keeps its LCD until OLED can fit at $1,099 without raising the price.

Considering there are sub-$1000 laptops on the market today, OLED can fit within that price point right now. Easily.

 

[ProMotionPotato]

It would be more accurate to say "Each rung gets the old technology until the moment comes when it cannot be justified at their price point."


Considering there are sub-$1000 laptops on the market today, OLED can fit within that price point right now. Easily.

On the first point the distinction matters less than it might appear. Whether Apple withholds technology until justified or introduces it when justified, the outcome is the same. A coherent ladder where no rung gets disrupted before the margin supports it. The direction of the logic doesn't change the architecture.

On the second point. OLED at sub $1,000 on Windows laptops exists. OLED at sub $1,000 on a MacBook Air doesn't. Those aren't the same thing. Apple isn't pricing against Windows components. They're pricing against their own margin requirements, their own supply agreements, and their own support commitments. An OLED Air at $1,099 that raises the price or cuts the margin isn't OLED fitting the price point. It's OLED breaking it.

 

[jakey rolling]

Can it do 1000 nits like the MBP? How thick is it? How much power does it require? Will there be any image retention over a 6-7 year period? How color accurate is it? How is the panel uniformity across individual batches?

As long as Apple loyalists keep pushing Apple's edge-case specs as absolute must-haves (especially on entry-level laptops), you will always be stuck with yesteryear's technology. Your comment illustrates exactly why Apple's so-called "professional" products are still using 15-year-old display tech.