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These 5 Apple Products Will Reportedly Be Upgraded With OLED Displays
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I will admit, that watching properly colour graded content on my large OLED TV is a nice experience. But I'm not sure if I really care about display technology as much on my Macs and even iPads. Would it be nice to have it? Sure. But it won't really influence my buying decision. In some ways I even prefer the "toned down" look of LCD screens when it comes to office work.
Well, Apple won't be able to stay in business without generating revenue for its major competitor, Samsung. The more Apple sells, the more money Samsung makes, before the actual sale of the Apple device. So, Apple's continued existence is beneficial for Samsung.
OLEDs have very high contrast, but the overall brightness tends to be lower in comparison to high-end LED displays. Running your OLED display at peak brightness for long periods of time will also wear it down pretty quickly. This might not be an issue for TVs which tend to be used for a couple of hours in the evening.
You are right about the viewing angle though.
Not good news for those sensitive to PWM on OLED displays, unless Apple start making a better effort with DC-like dimming like some of the Chinese smartphone manufacturers are doing - and no, the new PWM option on the iPhone 17 is not good enough for many people, I had to give my 17 Pro away to a family member due to the eye strain and migraines it caused.
The problem with larger OLED screens is they would need to be 5K or higher. I haven't seen a 5K OLED screen yet. Even a 24" iMac (currently is 4.5K) would take a special OLED to meet the same specs.
Student of Life
macrumors 65816
The iPad mini 7 was released in 2024, two years ago. The jump from 6 to 7 is substantial, you get 50% more ram and the base storage doubles from 64 gb to 128 gb. Wait for a sale and trade in your iPad mini 6 to Best Buy and the difference to upgrade might around 200 for a new machine. Remember release dates change, who knows if the iPad mini 8 is actually released this year or pushed back to next year.
zonemster
macrumors member
I believe the iPad mini and the MacBook Air will be the devices that receive OLED displays this year, with the MacBook Pro following in 2026 or 2027. These two products have the highest sales volumes and are within their typical update cycles. They are also the easiest and least expensive upgrades for Apple to implement while still justifying a price increase. By the end of February, we should have a clearer picture of whether this is accurate, since production planning and procurement generally need to be locked in to meet delivery schedules.
Agreed. For a company that purports to care about accessibility and health, this march toward OLED has been an insult on those of us who can’t use them.
goobot
macrumors 604
It’s a fact that oled uses less battery, I had a launch day iPhone X that I gave to my mom who then gave to my dad who only recently updated. No issues with the screen. It’s not 2010, oled is a mature technology now
FasterQuieter
macrumors 6502a
That mini would sure be tempting. I hope they make it magic thin as well. I feel like that device have should iPhone Air type beauty.
kiranmk2
macrumors 68020
You can get a macbook for the same price that has 100x the functionality.
Sowelu
macrumors 6502a
Apple must know that OLED already went mainstream, and that they are very far behind in this area for the MacBook and Apple Display lineup. So their hesitance on OLED must be due to either supply and or cost/profit margin concerns. OLED displays are in (some) lower and (many) mid-tier PC laptops now and have been for a while. This idea that OLED is tied to just premium and or 'pro' devices is an antiquated one.
As far as OLED limitations, Tandem OLED addresses most of the burn-in concerns (concerns that are often tied to legacy issues that have mostly been addressed with newer technology), as well as the brightness limitations as compared to miniLED and so on. I'll take OLED over IPS and miniLED any day, even if it's a year or 3 late.
Some OLED panels aren't calibrated well and look cartoonishly oversaturated with an eye-irritating fluorescent glow from some OEMs, but this is fixable within an OS's calibration tool, but if the iPhone and iPad Pro are any indicators, Apple will tone down these exaggerations on their OLED offerings and will ship stunning OLED displays, which is a good thing, of course.
As far as OLED limitations, Tandem OLED addresses most of the burn-in concerns (concerns that are often tied to legacy issues that have mostly been addressed with newer technology), as well as the brightness limitations as compared to miniLED and so on. I'll take OLED over IPS and miniLED any day, even if it's a year or 3 late.
Some OLED panels aren't calibrated well and look cartoonishly oversaturated with an eye-irritating fluorescent glow from some OEMs, but this is fixable within an OS's calibration tool, but if the iPhone and iPad Pro are any indicators, Apple will tone down these exaggerations on their OLED offerings and will ship stunning OLED displays, which is a good thing, of course.
I've a MacBook Pro M1 Max and although it feels like I bought it only a few months ago (maybe six at most?), it's actually been 3 1/2 years! I recently replaced its battery and it has a few tiny nicks in the screen that got there somehow (no idea how).
As far as I can tell, the current models are literally exactly the same except with new chips and more modern I/O. I think they have exactly the same make and model LCD panels, for example.
So, these new OLED models late this year/early next might be viable candidates, giving me a reason to upgrade. I'd be looking for at least 32GB RAM to run local AI, though, and ideally 64GB. That might be a price challenge giving the shortages. But maybe the AI bubble will have burst by then.
Or I could just go old-school and go back to Linux, which I last used on the desktop back in 2005 or so. Why? I'm just less and less impressed with Apple's software as time goes on. I recently experienced the speed of a new Linux install and it's like greased lightning compared to macOS. Macs are just so slow in terms of user experience, as are iPhones. Everything takes a split second to happen. Macs spend a lot of time "thinking" before something happens. Click an icon, wait, something somewhere wakes up, then it kicks off, and a second or two later you get to use the app. That's crazy. I don't think we realise how bad it's getting. (Before you ask, I use two Macs daily -- one at work, one at home, and it's the same on both.)
As far as I can tell, the current models are literally exactly the same except with new chips and more modern I/O. I think they have exactly the same make and model LCD panels, for example.
So, these new OLED models late this year/early next might be viable candidates, giving me a reason to upgrade. I'd be looking for at least 32GB RAM to run local AI, though, and ideally 64GB. That might be a price challenge giving the shortages. But maybe the AI bubble will have burst by then.
Or I could just go old-school and go back to Linux, which I last used on the desktop back in 2005 or so. Why? I'm just less and less impressed with Apple's software as time goes on. I recently experienced the speed of a new Linux install and it's like greased lightning compared to macOS. Macs are just so slow in terms of user experience, as are iPhones. Everything takes a split second to happen. Macs spend a lot of time "thinking" before something happens. Click an icon, wait, something somewhere wakes up, then it kicks off, and a second or two later you get to use the app. That's crazy. I don't think we realise how bad it's getting. (Before you ask, I use two Macs daily -- one at work, one at home, and it's the same on both.)
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I7guy
macrumors Westmere
So are you proposing that Apple stay with lcd to support the minority of folks with sensitivities?
It took Apple a while to add a “PWM” switch. They must have reasons for proceeding slowly in this area.
Apple_Robert
Contributor
So, what. Not everybody wants a Mac or they prefer the form factor of the iPad, as well as the OS.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
The iPad Pro with tandem OLED does not have any trouble with brightness. I only run it around 60% brightness most of the time anyway. The double layers of that type of screen mean that each OLED emitter is only running at about half the power level to produce the same brightness level. That should mean a much slower degradation which increases non-linearly with power levels. It also means that burn-in is much less likely. All of the Apple OLED rumors involve tandem OLEDs like this.
mansplains
macrumors 68000
Where did OP put iPP or its buyers down? If anything, mini is being put down, highlighting a limitation.
The year of accessories! Until the products are released, I wouldn’t be concerned.
Tagbert
macrumors 604
The person being replied to had tried to imply that only 12 people were buying iPad Pros. It was a minor, and clearly untrue, cut. Best ignored at this point.
snipr125
macrumors 68030
Yep, you would be surprised from comments on MR how many people do not actually understand what Tandem OLED is.
I'm not sure I even want an OLED screen on my next macbook. Mini-LED is really great, and I use my laptop mostly for reading, web browsing, coding and just need really sharp text. I watch movies on a TV, not my laptop really.
OLED just seems to add risk for burn-in and fringing issues.
OLED just seems to add risk for burn-in and fringing issues.