Apple planning MacBook switcheroo with double-layer OLED panels

By Alex Blake Published November 5, 2021

Over the last couple of years, Apple has been rolling out high-end mini-LED displays on its latest devices, including the brand-new MacBook Pro range and the iPad Pro. However, according to a new report from Korean website The Elec, Apple will replace these displays with OLED panels at some point after 2025.

The outlet says Apple had originally planned to debut the tech on its laptop range in 2025, but that this date is now likely postponed. The iPad range, on the other hand, could get OLED screens in late 2023 or 2024. The Elec states they will come to 12.9-inch and 11-inch iPads, which almost certainly means the iPad Pro.

Recommended Videos

It’s an interesting theory, not least because Apple’s mini-LED screens — dubbed Liquid Retina XDR by the company — have been touted as avoiding the burn-in problem that can afflict OLED displays. Mini-LED screens can also go brighter than their OLED counterparts, with the new MacBook Pros hitting up to 1,600 nits of peak brightness. Still, there are plenty of benefits that OLED can offer over mini-LED alternatives.

For one thing, OLED screens offer lighting and dimming down to the individual pixel, which allows for much more precise color and lighting control. Mini-LED panels, on the other hand, rely on much larger lighting zones, which can result in a “halo” effect surrounding bright areas on dark backgrounds.

Right now, though, the price of outfitting its products with OLED panels is thought to be too high for Apple. That could go some way to explaining the 2025 date, by which point the price might have dropped to a more palatable amount for the Cupertino firm.

The main driver of the cost is reportedly Apple’s desire to use an unusual double-stack structure in the panel. This means using two light emission layers, which “doubles luminance and extends the panel’s lifespan,” according to The Elec. Given OLED’s burn-in problems, and the longer product lifespan of MacBooks compared to iPhones, Apple considers this doubling necessary if it is to switch to OLED screens.

The displays in Apple’s MacBooks have always been found near the top of the laptop screen charts, and the company’s mini-LED Pro Display XDR, released with the 2019 Mac Pro, also rams home the company’s prowess in this area. Switching to OLED could strengthen Apple’s hand further.

The MacBook would not be the first Apple device with an OLED screen, though. The complete iPhone 13 range uses OLED panels, while the Apple Watch has done so since its very first version. Once Apple’s laptops and iPad Pro tablets make the switch, almost every Apple device with a display would use the tech.

Computing Writer

Alex Blake has been working with Digital Trends since 2019, where he spends most of his time writing about Mac computers…

Topics

Computing

Google Earth’s AI misadventure lasted only a day. It was a tale of dangerous ignorance.

Nuclear reactors, tanks, and historical destruction on a life-like satellite map? Yeah, that's bad.

Nano Banana AI image generator representation.

Technology behemoths are clearly not reading the room, or they are just moving faster than they should when it comes to AI deployment. Google has already stuffed its Gemini AI in every corner of its software stack, from Android to daily productivity tools like Gmail that are used by hundreds of millions of users every day. AI is everywhere. Not all of it is bad, mind you. But in a few places, it just feels forced.

In its latest AI-fication experiment, the company targeted Google Earth. The idea was to let the audience use its Nano Banana 2 AI image generator and make images that can be placed on the map view. On paper, it's a cool idea. What would the Colosseum of Rome look like in your urban neighborhood? Yeah, fun stuff like that.

Computing

AMD is apparently gearing up to raise GPU prices right after Nvidia’s steep hike

AMD has reportedly told AIB partners about a price hike that goes into effect in. August.

AMD RX 7800

AMD is next in line to raise the asking price of its Radeon GPUs, merely days after the news of a similar hike coming for Nvidia graphics cards started making waves. As per ChannelGate on Weibo (h/t VideoCardz), AMD has informed its board partners that the price of GPU and memory bundles will go up by at least 10% in August.

Is a similar price hike coming for standalone graphics cards? I won't be surprised if that happens. The situation is so bad that AMD is planning to bring back graphics cards with 4GB of onboard memory. AMD just introduced the RX 9050 GPU, which costs $279. Notably, it's just $20 less than the RX 9060 XT that offers double the graphics memory.

Computing

Microsoft will make Windows work well with just 8GB RAM. We desperately need it

The dream of a reliable and affordable Windows laptop hinges on the next milestone at Microsoft.

Surface laptop on wooden table

The year 2026 has marked a huge course correction for Microsoft after years of frustrating users with plenty of confusing processes, unoptimized UI elements, and just the generous bloatware that can bring any Windows system to a crawl. Microsoft has finally shifted into a new phase. From fixing the right-click behavior to speeding up the Search system, the company has fixed plenty of papercuts.

The next major milestone is making Windows 11 run smoothly on Windows PCs with just 8GB of RAM. That directly means entry-level and budget laptops will at least get the basics right, even if that means sacrificing the on-device AI bells and whistles. Let's face it. The increasingly AI-first approach to computing on a Windows 11 machine is a little too taxing on the hardware at hand.