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OLED MacBook Air Expected to Follow Touch Screen OLED MacBook Pro

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Apple will update the MacBook Air with an OLED display for its 2028 incarnation, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.

m4-macbook-air-mint.jpeg

Writing in his latest "Power On" newsletter, Gurman says that he expects the MacBook Air's transition from LCD to OLED to occur with the product's 2028 update, as part of a larger migration to OLED across the company's flagship iPad and MacBook models that includes the iPad mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, and MacBook Air – and likely in that order.

Apple already uses OLED displays in the iPad Pro. There are apparently no plans to add OLED to the low-cost iPad. The ‌MacBook Pro‌ will be updated with an OLED display when it is next redesigned, perhaps as soon as late 2026, and it will include touch screen functionality, according to Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Apple is expected to update the MacBook Air with M5 chips early next year and that model will continue to feature an LCD display. If Apple follows an annual upgrade cycle, the first OLED MacBook Air will likely feature M7 chips. Gurman previously reported that Apple has already started early work on an OLED ‌MacBook Air‌.

When the MacBook Air moves from LCD to OLED display technology, it will gain several advantages – brighter screens, deeper blacks with higher contrast, improved power efficiency that can extend battery life, and other enhancements.

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Article Link: OLED MacBook Air Expected to Follow Touch Screen OLED MacBook Pro
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/03/oled-macbook-air-follow-oled-macbook-pro/
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Save the Notch!! Give me a Dynamic Island!!!

OLED will be nice, and while touchscreen seems inevitable I really don't see how it will be all that useful in the MB's current form factor. My experience with users that have touch screen is the one thing they do is scroll through pages instead of using the mouse. If you look at how touch is implemented on other Apple devices, it is a far different UI paradigm than on MacOS. Do we really want scrolling entry fields instead of drop downs?

It will be interesting to see how Apple implements touch if they decide to implement it.
 
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SvenLorenz1975 said:
I know that the "Steve Jobs would be rotating in his grave." phrase is overused, but every time I read the words "Touch Screen MacBook Pro" it comes to mind.
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I don't see a problem with it. If you want to use it, you will. If you don't, you won't.

Our laptops at work at all touchscreen, and people use it pretty heavily...I don't and keep it disabled, but it doesn't bother me to have it.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
I don't see a problem with it. If you want to use it, you will. If you don't, you won't.

Our laptops at work at all touchscreen, and people use it pretty heavily...I don't and keep it disabled, but it doesn't bother me to have it.
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Yeah, make people pay an extra $200, at least, for something they don't want and then tell them that they can just not use it...
 
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SvenLorenz1975 said:
Yeah, make people pay an extra $200, at least, for something they don't want and then tell them that they can just not use it...
Click to expand...

When it actually cost an extra $200, then we'll see. That's speculation just the same as actually coming out with touch screens. Perhaps it's be optional, like matte. I've heard residents at work complain that MacBook's aren't touch when doing rounds. Sometimes touch is quicker when using a laptop while walking and standing..which happens a lot in a hospital.

Fact is, younger people have grown up on touch screens, and they expect them.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
I don't see a problem with it. If you want to use it, you will. If you don't, you won't.
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The problem is that they will degrade the UI in order to accommodate it (arguably they already started with that), just like Microsoft did, and people will be affected by it even if they use macOS on a non-touchscreen device or with a desktop monitor.
 
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klasma said:
The problem is that they will degrade the UI in order to accommodate it (arguably they are already started with that), just like Microsoft did, and people will be affected by it even if they use macOS on a non-touchscreen device.
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Think so? Apple is pretty lazy with MacOS and might leave it as-is and just bolt on touch.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
I've heard residents at work complain that MacBook's aren't touch when doing rounds. Sometimes touch is quicker when using a laptop while walking and standing..which happens a lot in a hospital.
Click to expand...

Honest question - why use laptops instead of iPads or other similar devices instead of a laptop? Iy you want touch, that would seem like a better option, assuming whatever program you use has a version for the device.
 
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jlc1978 said:
Honest question - why use laptops instead of iPads or other similar devices instead of a laptop? Iy you want touch, that would seem like a better option, assuming whatever program you use has a version for the device.
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My view is it would be good as an option. Just as iPad is a touch first device, it offers a pointer experience.

It should be the same with a MacBook. It's pointer first but would be nice to sometimes touch what you see.
 
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No clue why everyone's so hyped about OLED. It's an inferior technology for laptops compared to Mini LED. I've had multiple experiences of using a Macbook just fine for 8-10 years, and I know other people who've had the same. That won't be happening with an OLED Macbook. Eventually the screen is going to look like garbage. It'll get burn-in, or one color is going to degrade faster than the others, or they're all going to degrade... LED-based screens, on the other hand, last forever.

The technology is fine for semi-disposable devices, but for something we should expect longevity out of it just isn't. Very sad to see Apple going in this direction.
 
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2028 thats so far away…
I have old touchscreen lenovo notebook with windows.
It reminds me that it is touchscreen when wiping dust off, this is my use case.
 
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