The iPad Air Will Go OLED Next (But Not Anytime Soon)

While Apple is expected to unveil the bulk of its 2024 iPad lineup in the next week or so, industry analysts are already anticipating what future generations of Apple’s tablets will offer.

After years of rumors, it’s all but certain that Apple’s highest-end iPad Pro models will finally embrace OLED screens this year. This will once again bring the two sizes back into harmony after Apple’s 2021 decision to adopt a better mini-LED screen solely in its larger 12.9-inch iPad.

That left the 11-inch iPad Pro behind on the older Liquid Retina LCD. While it retained its Pro-exclusive 120Hz ProMotion refresh rate, the screen technology wasn’t otherwise much different than the panels used in the mid-tier iPad Air lineup.

This dissonance continued into Apple’s 2022 M2 iPad Pro lineup, so this year’s rumored switch to OLED should be exciting news for fans of the smaller pro tablet. The new display technology will also likely result in an even thinner design for both tablets.

Meanwhile, the iPad Air is expected to retain the Liquid Retina LCD that’s been used since that model’s 2020 redesign. The biggest change for Apple’s more affordable tablet lineup will be a literal one — a larger 12.9-inch version of the iPad Air is expected to debut alongside a new version of the current 10.9-inch form factor. However, we’re expecting few other changes beyond a bump to Apple’s M2 chip and a move to a landscape camera similar to what Apple did with its late-2022 entry-level iPad.

However, it seems that OLED panels won’t remain exclusive to the iPad Pro forever. As with Apple’s iPhone lineup, it’s inevitable that the company will eventually bring these to its lower-end tablets. Now, a new supply chain forecast is putting a new timeframe on that.

A new report from research firm Oldie shared by The Elec and MacRumors expects the iPad Air to move to OLED within four years.

In a presentation at the 2024 Korea Display Conference in Seoul yesterday, Omdia researcher Kang Min-soo pegged 2028 as the expected timeframe for the iPad Air to gain the new display technology.

In 2028, we expect the iPad Air to go OLED as well, with the iPad Air using single-stack and the iPad Pro using two-stack tandem OLEDs.

Kang Min-soo

What’s notable about this is that analysts had previously drawn up a much more optimistic timeline for Apple’s OLED iPad plans. Several sources drew up a roadmap in November that predicted we’d see a new iPad mini and 10.9-inch iPad Air with OLED by 2026, followed by an OLED 12.9-inch model by 2027. That was roughly echoed by Omdia last month, only pushing the iPad mini to 2027.

The problem with predictions that run this far into the future is that anything can happen between now and then. While it’s possible Apple could accelerate its plans, it seems more likely that we’ll hear about additional delays that could push other OLED iPad models even further out.

To put this in some perspective, Apple released its first OLED iPhone in 2017, the iPhone X, alongside the LCD-equipped iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus. That trend continued for another two years with the iPhone XS/XR and iPhone 11 models before the entire iPhone 12 lineup shifted to OLED.

In fact, 2020 was an unusual year as it was the first and only time both standard and pro models have effectively had the same screens. It’s widely believed that Apple wanted to go to 120Hz ProMotion displays that year, but pandemic-related supply chain problems put those plans on hold . The faster displays didn’t arrive until the iPhone 13 Pro the following year.

Nevertheless, the iPhone’s transition from the first OLED panel to full OLED support took about three years and four iPhone generations. With a much longer release cycle between iPad models, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a similar amount of time elapse before the iPad Air gets the OLED treatment.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]