We’ve long been dreaming of an OLED MacBook Pro model, though if recent reports from industry analysts are correct, it will either be two or four years before we’ll see Apple-brand organic displays in the waking world.
As noted by AppleInsider, Samsung could be developing OLED screens for Apple’s laptops to be released from mid-2025 through 2026. The news comes from a report from South Korea-based TheElec, which quoted industry analyst Choong Hoon Yi of UBI Research speaking at a seminar last Wednesday. The analyst claimed that while Samsung’s rivals LG and BOE had suffered delays in their display manufacturing moving from LCD to OLED, Samsung has already started spending on its Gen 8 OLED production.
The report notes LG may be able to come through with OLED panels by 2026, though it has yet to buy any Gen 8 manufacturing equipment. BOE is taking up the rear after having reportedly struggled with iPhone SE 4 OLED production. iPhone OLED uses Gen 6 screens, but Gen 8 can make much larger organic light-emitting diode sheets.
Routine Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted all the way back in January that we would see an OLED MacBook by the end of 2024. He claimed that Samsung Display would be making a massive jump in OLED panel shipments by the end of this year.
Some Apple suppliers were spooked after initial reports showed the company had shipped 40% fewer Mac products in the first few months of 2023 than the previous year. Apple debuted the quality 15-inch MacBook Air during its latest WWDC conference, but the Cupertino company dropped no hints it was planning to get an OLED MacBook Pro model out the door.
A separate report from TheElec cited a market research firm study that claimed while the iPad may see its first OLED version next year, the MacBook OLED release was being delayed to 2027 due to the lack of back-end technology needed to create Samsung’s 8th gen displays.
Gizmodo reached out to Apple for comment, but we did not immediately hear back. Whichever side of the analyst fence you fall on, one consistent rumor is that we shouldn’t expect OLED Apple brand laptops anywhere for at least another few years. It’s a shame, since the iPhone and soon the iPad are both sloshing around in the OLED gravy pool.
If you’re not totally up on the difference between LCD, min-LED, and OLED, the latter remains lighter while providing (usually) better picture quality than its fellows, all while consuming less power on the whole than other backlit screens. It’s also more expensive than the other primary display materials. Most iPhones after the X contain an OLED screen, and some reports note all of the iPhone 15 models may contain Samsung’s latest generation phone-grade OLED screens.