MacBook Air With OLED Display Reportedly Delayed

[Reason077]

I don't care if they call it a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air. So long as it's thin (thinner than the current chunky MBPs), and has OLED and 120Hz, I'm sold!

 

[Reason077]

The OLED panels planned for the MacBook Air are different (cheaper) from the ones in the iPad Pro as well:

The foldable 20" iPad sounds interesting. That might actually make more sense than a foldable iPhone, IMO.

 

[W£S]

Or maybe the iPad Pros with OLED are are not selling because they're too expensive

And Apple’s refusal to bring Mac features to it. If it becomes a touchscreen Mac, I will pay the price they asking for. What for buy a powerful M4 which is so crippled that you don’t feel much difference when compared with previous generations.

 

[W£S]

I guess this will be good timing for me since I’ll be buying my first MacBook Air in a few weeks. By 2030, I’ll probably upgrade again, or wait until my MacBook dies on me.

Am getting too, once the M4 MBA is released.

 

[Momof2.1107]

Am getting too, once the M4 MBA is released.

I just have to be patient. It’s taking everything in me not to throw this Windows PC out the window.

 

[kiranmk2]

My read is this is that it comes down to cost. The M4 iPad Pro came with a $200 increase in the base model over the M2 version. Now, it could be argued that the M4 base model came with 256 GB storage, but (i) there was a $100 increase in price over the M2 version with 256GB (ii) Apple makes a large profit margin on storage upgrades (iii) the M4 model has one less camera, so has a lower component cost for this aspect (iv) othe Apple devices maintained their price points, so inflation can't be blamed.

Essentially, people would be happy to get a better (world class) display for the same price, but are not happy to pay a higher price for one. Look back to the earlier days of iPad - with the 3rd generation, Apple gave us the retina display (at the time, a completely new type of panel to hit retina iPad ppi levels) and did not increase the price ($499).

I suspect the MacBook air sells in much larger numbers than the iPad Pro and Apple doesn't want to disuade users by increasing the price beyond $1099. Of course, the mystery is that, as has been pointed out above, it wasn't a tandem OLED panel that was destined for the MacBook Air, but a regular RGB OLED panel, which shuld have a much lower cost (more mature production, less OLED materials usage etc). Would this really necessitate a price increase? Was it likely Apple was planning a price rise for an OLED MacBook Air (even without the tandem panel)? Seems likely...

I don't think the MacOS/iPadOS is not really an issue as the iPadOS limitations have not changed, but iPad Pro sales are down.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

Hopefully Apple will develop some robust burn-in protection because the OLED iPads don't have any. Phones dont suffer from it because the screens generally aren't on 8+ hours a day.

ASUS OLED laptops have a built-in anti screen-burn-in tech called ASUS OLED Care. After 30 minutes of inactivity the screen goes into about a half dozen pretty cool, very colorful screen animations. Sometimes, it seems, Apple over-engineers itself to the point of not releasing tech that is standard in Windows world for YEARS after. It's too bad (for the Apple consumer). OLED doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg...I've got 2 ASUS laptops with 3K 120Hz OLED (Less than $600) and had 16" and 14" ThinkPads (64GB RAM) with 2.8K OLED (around $1K). I just have to laugh that Apple can't manage something so simple.

Apple's problem is their gear is already on the edge of unaffordability so adding something like OLED would push it over the edge for most people as Apple would never use it with no price increase. And, of course, instead of just OLED like everyone else, they have to use some super-expensive dual tandem technology that just makes things even more expensive.

I love OLED displays (especially 3K 120Hz) and have a hard time going back to IPS. It's bright, clear, sharp with real blacks and colors that pop.

 

[AlexESP]

The real reason iPad Pro sales were not what Apple had anticipated is because they're still running a gimped OS, thus limiting the full potential the hardware is capable of. Why spend $1,000 on an iPad Pro ($1,298 with keyboard) when you can buy a 13-inch MacBook Air 16/256 for less.

1. We don’t know if iPad Pro sales are what Apple had anticipated. There’s a report saying that, and we know the accuracy of this kind of reports with Apple. What is clear is that iPads are sold in much bigger volumes than the Mac.
2. iPadOS is basically the only tablet OS that really uses the full potential of that class of hardware. Of course it could be improved, but it already excels at many creative/complex use cases (3d scanning, modelling, medicine…). Most “tabletPCs” are gimped by a desktop OS, so user experience is very bad.

 

[platinumaqua]

ASUS OLED laptops have a built-in anti screen-burn-in tech called an automatic screen saver. After 30 minutes of inactivity the screen goes into about a half dozen pretty cool, very colorful screen animations. Sometimes, it seems, Apple over-engineers itself to the point of not releasing tech that is standard in Windows world for YEARS after. It's too bad (for the Apple consumer). OLED doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg...I've got 2 ASUS laptops with 3K 120Hz OLED (Less than $600) and had 16" and 14" ThinkPads (64GB RAM) with 2.8K OLED (around $1K). I just have to laugh that Apple can't manage something so simple.

Apple's problem is their gear is already on the edge of unaffordability so adding something like OLED would push it over the edge for most people as Apple would never use it with no price increase. And, of course, instead of just OLED like everyone else, they have to use some super-expensive dual tandem technology that just makes things even more expensive.

screen savers have been a feature in all modern operating systems for over 30 years, and isn't it better to turn off the display instead of using screen savers (since that will cause wear on all pixels of the OLED screen)?

 

[Lounge vibes 05]

Weren’t we just hearing that the OLED iPad pros were selling “better than expected) a couple months ago, something like 8 million units throughout 2024?
Also why on earth would Apple change the future plans of the MacBook Air because of anything related to the iPad Pro? They are fundamentally different products, and either way Apple knows that it’s not the exact screen tech being used to sell new products, that is all specification jargon and pretty much useless information to the majority of MacBook Air purchasers.

Something seems a miss with this report.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

screen savers have been a feature in all modern operating systems for over 30 years, and isn't it better to turn off the display instead of using screen savers (since that will cause wear on all pixels of the OLED screen)?

It up to the user to configure what they want. The point being, if something as simple as setting a screen-saver (it's an ASUS function, not Windows Screen saver) reduces screen burn in, then implement it on iPads and MacBooks! It's not rocket science and you don't need super-expensive OLED panels for MacBook Airs. For static images, isn't it better to refresh the pixels with other colors than just turning off the display? Turning off a OLED TV doesn't seem to correct the burn-in from static images.

Key points about ASUS OLED Care:

• Software-based: The primary way to access and manage OLED Care features is through the ASUS software interface.
  
  
• Protects against burn-in: The main goal of OLED Care is to mitigate the risk of image burn-in on OLED displays by dynamically adjusting screen content.
  
  
• Features include: Screen saver, logo brightness adjustment, pixel refresh, and more.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

1. We don’t know if iPad Pro sales are what Apple had anticipated. There’s a report saying that, and we know the accuracy of this kind of reports with Apple. What is clear is that iPads are sold in much bigger volumes than the Mac.
2. iPadOS is basically the only tablet OS that really uses the full potential of that class of hardware. Of course it could be improved, but it already excels at many creative/complex use cases (3d scanning, modelling, medicine…). Most “tabletPCs” are gimped by a desktop OS, so user experience is very bad.

#2 definitely isn't true. Compare what a MacBook Pro can do vs what an iPad can do. It's a joke for you to say iPadOS is maximizing the performance of the M4.

 

[jdclifford]

Why should anyone care about something maybe happening in 4 years? Will OLED still be a thing then?

 

[Biro]

Frankly, I’m growing bored with Apple and its cynical approach to product planning. What is so difficult about putting an OLED screen in a MacBook Air? While I appreciate the relative security of the Apple ecosystem and the quality of its hardware, my eyes are beginning to glaze over. The problem is Windows and Android are each worse in their own ways. I suspect I am about to become of of those people who will runs Apple devices until they fail instead of upgrading every three years or so.

 

[Joshuaorange]

but what work are you trying to do on one?

Yes iPadOS is limited. Always was.
Apple choose not to enable more functions and keep it a finger-first interface.

But if they did enable full fat OS and you got 2 hours from a recharge you wouldnt be happy either.

Pick the right device for the task.
And carrying around a Macbook Air is not that much harder really when you need to run something requiring grunt.

I run Fusion 360 which doesn’t run on iPad at all and Adobe apps that are nowhere near as capable on the iPad. My MacBook Pro only lasts 40 minutes running premiere pro anyway. There is no difference. But you could run it on an iPad if it was plugged in and wasn’t throttled by iOS.

 

[HiRez]

Mini-LED is useless for text (over plain LCD), which is an important use case for MacBooks. Mini-LED is really only an advantage for HDR photo and video (hence why the technology advances on TVs).

If they're "useless" for such a common use as text, then why is Apple using Mini LED screen tech for their high-end MacBook Pros? OLED is of course better for text because of individual pixel-level control, but I wouldn't say mini LED is useless, it can still make a great-looking computer display, and as the density of dimming zones increases (which is has been rapidly in the last 3 or so years), so does the quality, including micro contrast for more details such as text.

 

[klasma]

If they're "useless" for such a common use as text, then why is Apple using Mini LED screen tech for their high-end MacBook Pros?

Because owners of MacBook Pros still like to watch movies and TV series with black bars instead of gray bars, and with HDR highlights. A lot of people regularly watch streaming content on their laptop. In addition, because professionals want to be able to do HDR photo and video editing on their laptop to some extent. Lastly, mini-LED being a bit more energy-efficient might be a reason.

Note that the reference to wide color gamut in your link refers to the type of LEDs used, which in conjunction with quantum dots increase the color gamut. However, local dimming is immaterial for that, and also wide color gamut doesn’t do much for text rendering.

OLED is of course better for text because of individual pixel-level control, but I wouldn't say mini LED is useless, it can still make a great-looking computer display, and as the density of dimming zones increases (which is has been rapidly in the last 3 or so years), so does the quality, including micro contrast for more details such as text.

There is nothing called “micro contrast” in mini-LED displays. Local dimming does zilch to improve quality of text display. Rather the opposite, due to blooming (for bright text on dark background in particular). There are differences in the quality of LCD displays as such that are relevant for text display quality, and the MacBook Pros do have great-quality LCDs, but that’s orthogonal to local dimming.

 

[Astuces iOS]

LOL YOU GUYS THINK OLED WILL COME BEFORE ON MACBOOK AIR THAN MACBOOK PRO !

 

[cforbesdesign]

The wait for a MacBook Air with an OLED display might take longer than initially expected.

Korean website The Elec yesterday cited an industry source who said the first MacBook Air with an OLED display will likely be released around 2029, instead of by 2027 as originally planned. The report said Apple made this decision as a result of lower-than-expected sales of the first iPad Pro models with OLED displays, which launched last year.

Essentially, the report claims that since OLED displays did not help to boost iPad Pro sales as much as Apple anticipated, the company has decided to delay bringing the expensive technology to the MacBook Air. However, it is unclear if there are any other reasons for the apparent delay that are not mentioned in the report.

While the MacBook Air will apparently stick with LCD technology for the next four years, the report claims that Apple plans to use "oxide TFT" technology for 2027 models. This upgrade would allow for improved color accuracy, higher contrast ratio, more uniform display brightness, and lower power consumption for longer battery life. So, while no OLED, the MacBook Air should still receive meaningful display improvements in two years from now.

MacBook Pro models with OLED displays are still expected to launch next year.

In the meantime, Apple will likely announce updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip within the next month or two.

Article Link: MacBook Air With OLED Display Reportedly Delayed

I can’t justify iPad Pro money when we still can’t get multiple user accounts.

The real reason iPad Pro sales were not what Apple had anticipated is because they're still running a gimped OS, thus limiting the full potential the hardware is capable of. Why spend $1,000 on an iPad Pro ($1,298 with keyboard) when you can buy a 13-inch MacBook Air 16/256 for less

The real reason iPad Pro sales were not what Apple had anticipated is because they're still running a gimped OS, thus limiting the full potential the hardware is capable of. Why spend $1,000 on an iPad Pro ($1,298 with keyboard) when you can buy a 13-inch MacBook Air 16/256 for less.

and locked to one user account. That’s the biggest reason for me to pause on the pro iPads.

 

[MacAddict1978]

As someone who’s been an Apple user for 20 years, had quite the fair share of devices, and understands the tech space pretty well, I see headlines like this and I just wonder, there’s so many OLED displays already, how the heck does it take so long to put one in a MacBook Air?

This is kind of ALL thing Apple.

It's bizarre. They'll be first to take something away.... but always last to put something new in. OLED isn't even knew, nor it is a complicated thing to add to a freaking laptop.

Most OEMS offer it as an option... god forbid Apple did that.

 

[v0lume4]

I just want to say that my $750 MSRP ($500 open box how I got it) laptop from two years ago has a Pantone validated OLED. 90Hz, too. What’s Apple’s excuse?

 

[CausticSoda]

The average consumer does not notice or care if displays are LCD, OLED or made from purple cheese, so I am not surprised introducing OLED had negligible impact on iPad Pro sales.

 

[HVDynamo]

Hopefully Apple will develop some robust burn-in protection because the OLED iPads don't have any. Phones dont suffer from it because the screens generally aren't on 8+ hours a day.

This is the big thing for me. I don't want OLED on a computer because it's on static images for hours a day typically. MiniLED is good enough for a laptop or iPad, seriously. Does OLED look a little better with the blacks, sure. But I don't think it's worth the tradeoff of worrying about burn in. I often leave youtube or some video playing on my macbook pro when I fall asleep many nights, sometimes I forget to turn off the auto play and it's on all night. with MiniLED I just don't have to worry about it wearing out because I forgot and left a static screen for hours or something.

 

[robfoll]

Lol. Everything is always “delayed” with Apple. Whenever a new date comes out for an unreleased product, just add one to three years to it.

These feature 'arrival' dates are made up clickbait and speculation. No reality at all

 

[Macalway]

OLED isn't that great. Bumping up the brightness makes them look better, imo. Also, they are me nervous.

Just do.