Samsung to Debut First OLED Laptop Display With Integrated Touch Sensors Next Week

[MacRumors]

Samsung says it is set to begin mass producing OLED laptop displays that integrate touch sensors directly into the panel, with the technology expected to make a debut in new Galaxy Book models next week (via ZDNet).

The panels use OCTA, or on-cell touch AMOLED technology, to achieve the feat, which allows them to be thinner than solutions that use a separate touchscreen panel film. Samsung claims that it is the world's first laptop OLED panel with an integrated touchscreen.

Previously only used in smartphones like the Galaxy S series and Apple's iPhones, the panels are expected to come in 13-inch and 16-inch sizes, and are capable of supporting 3K resolution and up to 120Hz refresh rates.

The Korean company did not say which laptop would debut the technology, but it is expected to unveil updated Galaxy Book laptops with OLED touchscreens at its Unpacked media on February 3. Samsung also plans to mass produce the OLED touchscreen panels for other laptop brands and partners as more makers transition to them.

Samsung has been supplying Apple with OLED displays for high-end iPhone models since 2017, and its latest announcement comes on the back of recent rumors that Apple is planning to launch its first MacBook with an OLED display in the next couple of years, potentially followed by an OLED touchscreen MacBook. Samsung is also said to be prioritizing the development of specific types of OLED displays that Apple plans to use in upcoming iPad Pro models.

According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple could release the first OLED MacBook as early as next year. Kuo did not specify whether the OLED MacBook would be a Pro or Air model, but last month display industry analyst Ross Young said Apple plans to introduce a new 13-inch MacBook Air with an OLED display in 2024.

All existing MacBooks have LCD panels, with the latest 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro featuring mini-LED backlighting and ProMotion. Unlike LCDs with mini-LEDs, OLED displays have self-emitting pixels and do not require backlighting, which would give MacBooks even better contrast ratio and allow for longer battery life.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is also working on adding touchscreens to Macs, beginning with a MacBook Pro with an OLED display in 2025. The first MacBook Pro with a touchscreen would retain a traditional laptop design with a trackpad and a keyboard, but the display would gain support for touch input like an iPhone or iPad.

For years now, Apple has maintained that adding touchscreen technology to laptops results in a poor user experience ergonomically, so if Apple does go ahead with the plans it would be a major reversal for the company. The launch of a touchscreen OLED MacBook could arguably help consolidate Apple's Mac sales, which have been particularly strong since the transition to Apple silicon, but face a challenging couple of years ahead as demand for consumer electronics drops amid the global economic downturn.

Article Link: Samsung to Debut First OLED Laptop Display With Integrated Touch Sensors Next Week

 

[Kylo83]

Samsung laptops have a horrible display panel the colour is always over saturated and not true natural colour so even with OLED it will still be bad, they just look at apple leaks and try to be quicker

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I’m happy about the OLED display Macs. But a Touch Screen Mac? Not so much. I don’t find them appealing and it will be a fingerprint disaster. In addition, Productivity wise, I don’t find them useful either. It becomes a distraction.

 

[sorgo †]

The PWM gonna be sizzling! 🤩

 

[NightFox]

Samsung laptops have a horrible display panel the colour is always over saturated and not true natural colour so even with OLED it will still be bad, they just look at apple leaks and try to be quicker

Those OLED displays in iPhones... you're going to freak when you learn who makes them.

 

[atomic.flip]

Just a bit of feedback for the editorial team. You should probably change the phrase “Samsung to Debut First Laptop….” to “Samsung To Debut Their (or Its) First Laptop…” as there definitely have been other OLED touchscreen laptops made for over three years now. (Razer offered just such a device with a 15” 4K OLED touchscreen and I also happen to own one.)

I honestly can’t recall who the manufacturer of their displays were but if this is a first for Samsung then I can only assume LG or maybe Sharp…. Anyway 😅

Edit: one more thought… Samsung is pretty specific when they pull out the “first” to market card…. Perhaps they mean first fully integrated OLED touchscreen. It’s a bit of a tough concept to communicate when integrations can be done many different ways. They might be splitting hairs on how many sub components or integrated circuits are used in their displays vs others. This might offer a cost advantage for production…. Either way more options are welcome.

 

[everlast3434]

Apple will be hot on their heels doing similar in the next 5 years LOL

 

[vegetassj4]

Now one of them needs a commercial to the Joan Jett tune

 

[now i see it]

For those who can’t tolerate the PWM flickering on the little OLED iPhones - how on earth are they going to be able to get NEAR an OLED laptop?

 

[maflynn]

I hate laptops with numpads and trackpads that are off centered to thelaptop.

 

[JM]

It’s a pointy finger go point point screen point finger computer world out there.

Apple needs to have a hand in it.

 

[atomic.flip]

Those OLED displays in iPhones... you're going to freak when you learn who makes them.

Yeah… not every product from Samsung is put through the same calibration or uses the same standards for compliance during manufacturing and assembly.

But they are very competent and capable of making the wonderful displays we get in many Apple products. (LG and Samsung have both been their primary suppliers for Apple display tech for well over a decade and a half.)

It’s just that Apple demands displays be configured for and capable of the outputs they produce. Where-as Samsung’s other divisions don’t put the same requirements on their own peer company’s products.

I can tell you from personal experience working in product development at the big S that years ago we just didn’t have the volume of sales or internal budget allowance to buy many components of the same caliber as those made for Apple from our own sister companies. Sigh…. I hope they’ve changed their ways…. But sheesh… I’ve been using LG OLEDs for years now. So there is that. LOL.

 

[UltimateSyn]

The ergonomics of a touchscreen on a traditional laptop form-factor are so awful.

 

[maflynn]

The ergonomics of a touchscreen on a traditional laptop form-factor are so awful.

People say that, but truth be told, it can be so useful. I have a touch screen Thinkpad and its touch screen it can be so helpful. I don't use that laptop any longer but when I did I liked having the touchscreen

 

[maflynn]

The ergonomics of a touchscreen on a traditional laptop form-factor are so awful.

Yet apple:

 

[UltimateSyn]

Yet apple:
View attachment 2147322

I really don't think this is going to end up being true, at least not in the 'take MacBook and add touch capabilities' sense. Will there be a hybrid iPad-and-Mac-like device with a detachable keyboard that runs macOS and has a touch screen eventually? Probably. But I very, very highly doubt they just add touch to the clamshell MacBook design.

 

[Nami~]

But can they really make the battery better than Mac with M1 and M2 ?

 

[MacWiz_007]

I would bet that 90% of touchscreen laptop users rarely use the touchscreen (if they ever use it), and I'm part of that 90%.

 

[laszlo182]

Those OLED displays in iPhones... you're going to freak when you learn who makes them.

calibration, my friend

 

[DeepIn2U]

Samsung laptops have a horrible display panel the colour is always over saturated and not true natural colour so even with OLED it will still be bad, they just look at apple leaks and try to be quicker

Yeah I'm not a fan of OLED screen burn in!

I’m happy about the OLED display Macs. But a Touch Screen Mac? Not so much. I don’t find them appealing and it will be a fingerprint disaster. In addition, Productivity wise, I don’t find them useful either. It becomes a distraction.

Personally not a fan for having screen burn-in on an OLED panel in a Mac.
I can see a number of photographers loosing their baskets with burn-in on their macs if they had OLED and this issue not fully resolved and tested over 'weeks' of testing a single picture on screen hundreds of times before rolling out such a product.

Agreed regarding no real use case and fingerprint magnet disaster - just blurring the display. THAT would be a great NEED for that Apple micro-fiber cloth on a real note.

Yet apple:
View attachment 2147322

Meh ... I hope not.

This makes no real sense on a laptop, unless it was doing to be used as a full 2-in-1, even then the iPad serves a significantly better experience to show content from 1 person to another or for on-screen direct manipulation and interaction. I think Mark has his info crossed on this one. I get the REAL feeling Mark does statements like this to throw off other rumorists if they're too close to real product information being leaked and Apple gets him to do this, JUST to throw him some 40 day juicy factual rumor bone.

Remember he DOES work for Bloomberg!

 

[russell_314]

The ergonomics of a touchscreen on a traditional laptop form-factor are so awful.

I don't get reaching over the keyboard to use the touchscreen. I like an iPad or tablet with a touchscreen because there is no keyboard but I have a touchscreen laptop and I don't use the touchscreen. Maybe if it folds in half but then the problem is the keys are on the bottom. You end up either holding the laptop by the keyboard or setting the keyboard on something. Either way it's not great. Maybe a detachable keyboard so you can use it as a touchscreen tablet or non touch laptop depending on the need.

Of course this is just my feelings about it. Maybe others don't have an issue reaching over the keyboard. The only way I would buy a touchscreen Mac is if it was not optional. At that point I would just have a touchscreen that I didn't use.

Clearly Apple is going for a touchscreen Mac. Just look at Ventura. It's a hybrid of iPadOS and macOS.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

I really don't think this is going to end up being true, at least not in the 'take MacBook and add touch capabilities' sense. Will there be a hybrid iPad-and-Mac-like device with a detachable keyboard that runs macOS and has a touch screen eventually? Probably. But I very, very highly doubt they just add touch to the clamshell MacBook design.

I disagree. Now that Macs can run iPhone and iPad apps, it’s a necessary first step. Apple doesn’t innovate in form factors anymore, that seems to have completely died with Steve (see every new aluminum slab that Apple has released since).

This would be the ideal scenario, but step one is getting touch into the Mac.

 

[UltimateSyn]

I don't get reaching over the keyboard to use the touchscreen. I like an iPad or tablet with a touchscreen because there is no keyboard but I have a touchscreen laptop and I don't use the touchscreen. Maybe if it folds in half but then the problem is the keys are on the bottom. You end up either holding the laptop by the keyboard or setting the keyboard on something. Either way it's not great. Maybe a detachable keyboard so you can use it as a touchscreen tablet or non touch laptop depending on the need.

Of course this is just my feelings about it. Maybe others don't have an issue reaching over the keyboard. The only way I would buy a touchscreen Mac is if it was not optional. At that point I would just have a touchscreen that I didn't use.

Clearly Apple is going for a touchscreen Mac. Just look at Ventura. It's a hybrid of iPadOS and macOS.

Yeah, I totally agree. I think the perfect hybrid type device would be what is essentially a regular iPad Pro that can be docked into a keyboard / trackpad / battery extender that is basically the bottom half of a MacBook. Ideally it would run iPadOS in tablet mode and macOS in laptop mode, but that gets tricky when you have differing available features and experiences for the user depending on the use case, so I'd be fine with just macOS (or iPadOS with a few more developments).

Edit: I think they are headed in the right direction with the iPad / Magic Keyboard combination. IMO the Magic Keyboard needs a better / bigger trackpad, a function row, greater range of motion in the hinge, and a way to integrate some sort of extra battery without making the whole package 5lbs. That's a lot to improve on, but at the same time I think they're close to providing a really compelling 'hybrid' type device that could feasibly run on macOS.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

I would bet that 90% of touchscreen laptop users rarely use the touchscreen (if they ever use it), and I'm part of that 90%.

And people that use their touchscreen think 90% of touchscreen users actually use the touchscreen.

 

[michelb76]

Apple will be hot on their heels doing similar in the next 5 years LOL

Honestly don't get the fixation people have with which billion-dollar company has a feature first.