Future OLED iPads may land a durable display technology currently reserved for car screens
When iPhone 11 and 12 sales weren't going as well as expected, Apple was reportedly trying to appease Samsung with which it has fixed contracts for many millions of OLED display panels by expressing interest to order OLED screens for future iPads and Macs with the organic light-emitting diodes display technology.
The mid-size OLED panels that Samsung was able to supply at the time, however, were of the single-stack variety with just one layer of red, green and blue organic light-emitting diodes which shortens the diodes lifespan before burn in fourfold compared to the two-stack solution that LG uses in, say, its OLED screens installed in cars. For this or other reasons, the launch of the first OLED iPad has reportedly been postponed to next year.
While both Samsung and LG are working on mid-size dual-stack OLED displays for future tablets and laptops, Apple may land one unexpected third supplier, BOE, according to the Elec. The Chinese display giant already makes 6.1" screens for the more affordable iPhones that don't require LTPO panels with high refresh rate, but it is now equipping a whole production line for OLED panels up to 15 inches in size.
The phase 3 production line at its B12 factory in China will start being equipped in April for making OLED screens panels for phones, tablets, laptops and cars. The production is aimed to be on the 8.5-Gen method with larger substrates and if BOE succeeds in pulling it off, on the dual-stack method.
Such an expansion could only be possible if BOE has some big clients lined up with introductory interest to buy, and Apple is the main candidate here as it already has a working relationship with BOE on iPhone panels, and may now be planning to diversify its iPad and Mac display suppliers as well.
LG is reportedly already working on a 12.9" OLED panel with the new dual-stack technology to be supplied to Apple for the next iPad Pro generation, and BOE may supplement those shipments, or be given the task to equip the lowly iPad Air with OLED screens, too, provided that it manages to produce the next-gen panels with sufficient enough yield to satisfy Apple's quality demands.
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