LG and Samsung reportedly ink deals to supply OLED panels for 2024 iPad Pro

Apple is rumored to be releasing its first OLED-screened iPad in 2024. So which of Apple's suppliers will be contributing the OLED panels for the 2024 iPad Pro models? According to SamMobile, Apple has already decided to sign deals with South Korea's Samsung Display and LG Display. Samsung is already Apple's top supplier of OLED panels. Chinese firm BOE was also in the running for the order but was bypassed by Apple (more on that later).

The report says that Apple has already placed orders for 12.9-inch and 10.9-inch OLED panels from Samsung Display and LG Display. So which of the two firms will get the majority of the business? Reportedly, the orders will be equally divided between the two South Korean tech giants.

Highly accurate tipster Ross Young, co-founder and CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) says that the first OLED iPads will be released during the first quarter of 2024. The current iPad Pro tablets include a model sporting a 10.9-inch LCD display, and a model carrying a 12.9-inch mini-LED screen. Both feature a 120Hz refresh rate. A mini-LED panel uses thousands of small LED backlights that are divided into "dimming zones" behind an LCD display. This allows the display to deliver higher contrast, brighter screens, and blacker blacks.

Apple's decision to bench BOE and not have it supply any OLED panels for the 2024 iPad Pro tablets probably has nothing to do with the Chinese company's attempt to trick Apple by making unilateral changes to the OLED panels it shipped to Apple for the iPhone 13. To improve the yield on its production of these panels, BOE widened the width of the thin film transistors (TFT) used on the OLED panels without informing Apple.

While Apple found out and things got tense, Cupertino has since resumed a normal supplier relationship with BOE. So the decision it made to go with LG and Samsung to supply OLED panels for the 2024 iPad Pro models probably has nothing to do with BOE's bad behavior.