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OLED MacBook Pro Could Launch as Soon as 2026
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I think they are less of perfectionists and more of "late stage capitalists"
It's about money -- nothing else
The appropriate OLED displays literally did not exist at the time…
Their recent use of Dual-layer OLEDs was driven by the deficiencies of previous OLED panels for brightness, longevity, stability, and resistance to burn-in. Those are still concerns for panels of this size and for OSs that display a lot of non-moving content. Until recently that technology was not available.
That is one of the reasons that Apple went with the tandem OLED panels on the iPad Pros this year. A tandem OLED only needs to drive each pixel pair emitter about half has high to get the same brightness. Brightness levels are the main contributor to burn-in. When an OLED emitter is driven with high power to get high brightness it tends to fade more quickly. By splitting the pixels between two layers, each one can run at a lower power level and last longer.
Not all OLEDs are the same tech.
Standard OLEDs are dimmer than miniLEDs, tend to dim and color shift over time, and are at risk for burn-in. Retina Macs have existed at for at least 10 years and none of the OLEDs were good enough then. The iPad Pros that Apple brought out a couple of weeks ago use a tandem OLED with overlapping layers and doubled emitters. This addresses both the brightness and burn-in issues. That type of OLED has not been available until now.
Apple had been pursuing microLED with is better than OLED but no one has been able to produce displays in the sizes that Apple’s devices need so Apple appears to have settled on OLED as second best tech.
There are also many Apple users who just don’t care about specs like OLED on their laptop because it makes little to no difference in how they use it.
I’m sure there is an Apple cult, but there is also a specs cult. And then there are reasonable people who simply have different values.
"...as early as 2026..."
Just goes to show how little we now expect from Apple. Forever a day late and a dollar short. Anyone would think OLED is brand new display tech the way these clowns are carrying on.
Just goes to show how little we now expect from Apple. Forever a day late and a dollar short. Anyone would think OLED is brand new display tech the way these clowns are carrying on.
I believe that's Samsung OLEDs [1]? They tend to design their hardware to have larger numbers in whatever current marketing is about and to achieve that they make compromises in stuff that is hard to quantify, like color accuracy, text sharpness etc.
[1] Yes I know they also make panels for Apple but those are made according to Apple's specs.
My ASUS Zenbook 15 OLED already has an OLED, and if a sub £1k asus laptop can have it, I can't see why macbooks can't. Oh wait Apple.
How about different level OLED displays for different users? I know it sounds crazy that Apple actually gives the buyer a choice, but like literally all other laptop makers who do, Apple could offer different screens for different model lines. MBA could get a normal OLED screen you might find on a sub $1000 Windows PC. Lower-end MBP could get OLED with 120 or 144 (or higher) refresh rates. MBP with m-Max or m-Ultra chips could get the high end Apple OLED display as an option.
Instead, like the "soup Nazi" on Seinfeld, it's NO OLED FOR YOU, period. I just think Apple could think differently.
Apparently Apple users DO care about specs like OLED since Apple went through all the trouble of putting one in the latest iPad Pro and they're selling like hotcakes (9M did I read?)
If you don't need or want or can't have an OLED then Apple has an iPad Air for you. MacBook should have options for OLED and options without. I can configure a Dell or an HP or a Lenovo with or without an OLED depending on whether I prioritize battery life or display quality. Can you even imaging Apple giving the customer a choice like that? I can't.
It doesn’t matter what’s the base scenario, it’s about thicker+bigger battery vs thinner+smaller battery. And iPhones have been getting thicker for years. And about making the iPhone thicker in order to make it flush, I can’t agree, that would be a very unpopular decision (only popular in forums before the actual device was released).
Apple is rarely the first to market with something, they usually refine it first and do it better rather than first, I think tandem OLED is what they needed to feel OLED was ready for devices with more static UIs typically present (ipads because a lot of the target markets use the same apps constantly and could have burn in, and macs for obvious reasons) as well as excellent brightness that doesnt compromise longevity, and with that tech in large size panels. I suspect that kind of R&D was also delayed because they were counting on uLED to be their next jump, but it's not ready, so they had to go back to the drawing board and work on using OLED without some of the major drawbacks most implementations have.
Still unconvinced about the long term 9 hour per day use of an OLED laptop screen, with a lot of static content displayed. I wouldn't be first in line to buy one of these, and would rather someone else beta tested the concept for me for 4+ years...
Also, as iPad Pro testing has found, the display doesn't look as sharp at the same resolution, so you'd need to raise the PPI. I'm not a huge fan of the current screens with their blooming and edge shadow, though. Roll on micro-led...
I'd love FaceID on Mac, however.
Also, as iPad Pro testing has found, the display doesn't look as sharp at the same resolution, so you'd need to raise the PPI. I'm not a huge fan of the current screens with their blooming and edge shadow, though. Roll on micro-led...
I'd love FaceID on Mac, however.
9M is one company's suggested shipment target for iPad Pros for 2024. Other companies estimates fall in the 4.5-5M range.
A 500 nit OLED display is grossly inferior to the miniLEDs in today's MacBook Pros.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I appreciate this post but the current variation of this exact rumor revolves around the rumored iPhone SLIM, rumored to be a slimmer iPhone. The crowd with this want tends to spin "thin enough NOW, how about more battery instead?" I do NOT see many people saying: "make it thicker and add more battery." The want is usually "slim enough now, how about more battery instead of even slimmer."
When Apple can slim iPhone, I always expect "same great battery life" because they don't have to spend money on more battery for that. To actually opt to leave it the same thinness but fill freed-up space with more battery would cost them a few nickels in added battery. So the choice is an easy one for them: "same great battery life" but not necessarily what the buyer wants.
Buyer may buy anyway for "the rest" of the benefits but it's quite easy to grasp how MANY consumers would like longer battery life over an even thinner phone.
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This is what current MacBook Pros have, and they are absolutely needed for HDR.
Well, iPhones have had OLED for a few years now and those sell even more than iPad Pros, but one doesn't prove the *other, because 1) it's a different device with a different use case (eg. I value OLED on my TV but not on my iPad), and 2) Apple will continually add new features but not every feature is one that all of its users necessarily care about specifically--eg. they just want the camera, or they just want "the best".
*(remember, I was challenging the implication that Apple users in general would care about specs like OLED in their laptop if they were only educated enough to know about it)
I'm not saying there are no Apple users who want OLED in their laptop, nor that Apple shouldn't offer one--only that there is no evidence to imply that because Apple hasn't offered one up until now that Apple users are too uneducated or brainwashed to realize that they are missing out.
I had an HP ZBook Fury 16" mobile workstation with an OLED screen. The screen was fantastic, but was harder on the battery than a standard LCD panel would have been. Also, maximum brightness was less than an equivalent LCD panel. Apple just wants to eliminate these drawbacks before implementing the OLEDs into their own laptops. Despite the increased colour gamut, and the deeper blacks of the OLED, I didn't really notice too much difference between my current MacBook Pro screen and the HP.