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Report: MacBook Pro With OLED Display to Launch Late Next Year

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Apple will launch its first MacBook Pro models with OLED displays in late 2026, according to a new report out of Korea discussing the supply of OLED panels.

Apple-MacBook-Pro-M4-hero.jpg

Dealsite.co.kr reports that Samsung Display will be the sole supplier of OLED panels for the new MacBook Pro models, thanks to its heavy investment in Gen 8.6 OLED production lines.

Gen 8.6 lines use larger glass substrates conducive with laptop and monitor panels, and combine oxide TFT technology for low power consumption and scalability, while reducing manufacturing costs. The investment means Samsung is expected to comfortably meet Apple's demand next year for OLED MacBook panels.

Several previous rumors have indicated that Apple is developing MacBook Pro models with OLED displays. Last month, Omdia doubled down on its 2026 timeframe for the first MacBook models with OLED displays. That report did not mention the "Pro" moniker, but it is widely expected that OLED displays will debut in Apple's higher-end MacBook Pro models before coming to MacBook Air models.

When the MacBook Pro moves from mini-LED 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.

The switch to OLED is expected to accompany the MacBook Pro's first major redesign since 2021. Apple is reportedly focusing on delivering the thinnest possible device without compromising on battery life or major new features.

It has also been reported that the OLED MacBook Pro could feature a pill-shaped or hole-punch cutout in the display instead of a notch. This rumor is from December 2024, so it is unclear if it remains accurate, or if the change remains on Apple's roadmap.

Last month, some uncertainty emerged around whether the first OLED MacBook Pro would launch in 2026, after Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported – without offering a reason – that Apple doesn't plan to update any Macs with M5 chips in 2025. However, Gurman noted that the timeline is still subject to change.

The current M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max ‌MacBook Pro‌ models were announced in October 2024 and released in November 2024, so pushing the M5 models back to 2026 would see Apple skipping a yearly refresh.

If Apple planned to launch the M5 ‌MacBook Pro‌ models in 2026, that could see the OLED model pushed to 2027. Alternatively, Apple could debut the M5 ‌MacBook Pro‌ in early 2026 and the OLED version with M6 chips in late 2026, but that would be unusual. Gurman has so far kept quiet on whether the redesigned OLED MacBook Pro timeline has shifted as well, but hopefully there's an update coming from him soon that will corroborate this latest report.

Article Link: Report: MacBook Pro With OLED Display to Launch Late Next Year
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/07/macbook-pro-oled-display-launch-late-next-year/
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Still on M1 Pro 16" MBP. Won't upgrade without the OLED panel and matrix multiplication acceleration in Apple Silicon GPUs.

Tandem OLED would actually yield a difference in everyday computing experience.

Matrix multiplication acceleration in Apple Silicon GPUs means local LLMs will run much faster. Right now, Apple Silicon machines can run very large LLM models locally decently due to high bandwidth unified memory, but the experience is often poor because processing the prompts is very slow. IE., you could be waiting minutes before the AI starts to return tokens if your context is high and the model size is large.

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to invest in a 128GB VRAM Macbook Pro if the LLM model is going to take minutes to process my prompt.

Nvidia and AMD GPUs already have matrix multiplication accelerators. They're called Tensor Cores on Nvidia GPUs.
 
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Please fix Mac laptop display sizes while you’re at it. MBA, 13” and 14.5” … MBP, 14.5” and 16.2”. And fix MBA port variety problem, users would like full interoperability between MBA and MBP in all situations, MBP can have its three or four Thunderbolt 5 as its distinction, whereas MBA can have a Thunderbolt 4 on each side, but it should also have one of each other port MBP has. Death to dongles and adapters. And don’t make MBP thinner, make it a powerhouse with power cooling, the more airflow the better, along with that full capacity battery. There’s no need to go thinner, MBA covers thin, both should remain dramatically distinct in thickness to help clarify the thin vs power customer marketing communication.

Do you want portability or do you want power? That should be the opening question Apple staff asks a customer who is asking about their laptop offerings. MBA doesn’t need to be gimped, MBP just needs full commitment to its pro-ness. Further, get rid of any MBP model without at least a “Pro” chip to clarify what the machine is.

MBA, M6 (thin)
MBP, M6 Pro / M6 Ultra (chonky)
 
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Mac Fly (film) said:
Please fix laptop display sizes while you’re at it. MBA, 13” and 14.5” … MBP, 14.5” and 16.2”. And fix MBA port variety problem (full interoperability with MBP in all situations, just give MBP three or four Thunderbolt 5 as its distinction) and don’t make MBP thinner, make it a powerhouse with power cooling, the more airflow the better, along with that full capacity battery. There’s no need to go thinner, MBA covers thin and both should be a distinct dramatically different in thickness to help clarify the thin vs power customer communication.
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Disagreed. The screen sizes are fine. Make the MBP thinner and lighter. It's too damn heavy.
 
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Cool! Would love to see higher refresh rates for the display, too. The iMac is stuck at 60hz and the Macbook Pro maxes out at 120hz. If Apple wants the Mac to be a serious gaming machine as Apple claims, you aren't going to get gamers to switch with that.
 
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senttoschool said:
Air doesn't have ProMotion, OLED, Pro/Max chips. I need these but I don't want a laptop as bulky as the Pros anymore. It's heavy carrying it around. I'll compromise some power for lighter and thinner. Seems like Apple agrees with me and will go this direction.
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physics cannot be bend.. you want power but not a hot cake with overheating garbage and 2 hours battery life...you need thickness
We already have thin and power in the past with MBP intel i9....we dont want that again
Tell us when Apple will agree with you, because that is not apple doing it, its tech evolving in SoC industry...and lets wait until Apple make the choice..function over design, or design over function. For now this is rumours, is not Apple telling us.
 
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senttoschool said:
Air doesn't have ProMotion, OLED, Pro/Max chips. I need these but I don't want a laptop as bulky as the Pros anymore. It's heavy carrying it around. I'll compromise some power for lighter and thinner. Seems like Apple agrees with me and will go this direction.
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Pros doesnt have oled either...maybe Apple will make you an Macbook Air with mini-led and promotion when they move to tandem oled into the Macbook Pro
 
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MacRumors said:
Last month, … Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported – without offering a reason – that Apple doesn't plan to update any Macs with M5 chips in 2025. …
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It is ambiguous, but he may have suggested a reason, saying: "The company is also working on upgraded MacBook Pros and Airs... Though those computers were originally slated for a 2025 release, Apple is considering pushing them back to 2026... The new products are part of a push to get back to more consistent revenue growth following this fall’s iPhone launch..."

So, if it's about revenue flow, then a shift to a Spring launch window for the flagship Pro/Max silicon and the MacBook Pro might not be a one-off, assuming that it works — that it helps solve the problem.

Perhaps the Pro/Max MBP roadmap looks like this:

~ Early 2026 :: M5 Pro/Max MBP introducing SoIC (System on Integrated Chips)
~ Late 2026 :: M6 Pro/Max MBP introducing OLED
~ Early 2028 :: M7 Pro/Max MBP introducing SPR (Super Power Rail)
 
senttoschool said:
Windows OLED panels don't have the required brightness baseline that Apple wants in their laptops. So no, it's not the same thing.
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"required brightness"? How bright does a display need to be on a laptop? It can't be good for your eyes to have 1000 nits of brightness blinding you. Do you have Windows laptops with OLED displays? They are so night-and-day better than the typical display panel that now OLED is all I use. In the end, all this wait-and-see from Apple will surely produce a nice OLED, but it's a shame they can't use current OLED tech in current products and then transition to the better OLED as a feature upgrade in a new model.
 
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DEMinSoCAL said:
"required brightness"? How bright does a display need to be on a laptop? It can't be good for your eyes to have 1000 nits of brightness blinding you. Do you have Windows laptops with OLED displays? They are so night-and-day better than the typical display panel that now OLED is all I use. In the end, all this wait-and-see from Apple will surely produce a nice OLED, but it's a shame they can't use current OLED tech in current products and then transition to the better OLED as a feature upgrade in a new model.
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maybe he doesnt know how bright tandem oled can be
 
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