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MacBook Air is getting OLED, but you’ll be waiting a few more years

Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says MacBook Air won't get OLED until 2028 at the earliest, with MacBook Pro set to lead the upgrade cycle.

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M4 MacBook Air
M4 MacBook Air Fionna Agomuoh / Digital Trends

MacBook Air is getting an OLED screen, but not anytime soon.

Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo puts the Air’s OLED move at 2028 or 2029 at the earliest. That’s a significant gap behind MacBook Pro, which Kuo expects to land a major display upgrade, complete with a touch panel, in late 2026 or early 2027. Apple hasn’t confirmed either timeline, but Kuo has a strong track record on Apple supply chain calls.

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For anyone holding off on a purchase in hopes of an OLED Air, the wait is real. Two to three years is a long time to sit on the sidelines for a display upgrade that isn’t guaranteed to arrive on schedule.

MacBook Pro leads the OLED upgrade cycle

The Pro is expected to be the first Apple laptop to make the leap, with Kuo targeting late 2026 or early 2027. The upgrade isn’t just a display swap. Adding a touch panel would mark a meaningful shift for a product line that has kept touch largely off the table since Apple pulled the Touch Bar from MacBook Pro in 2021.

Someone using a MacBook Pro M4.
Chris Hagan / Digital Trends

That positions the Pro as the test case for OLED on Apple laptops. If the rollout goes smoothly, the Air’s own shift could follow sooner than the 2028-2029 window suggests. But Apple has slipped display upgrade timelines before.

Why the gap between Pro and Air?

The staggered rollout isn’t surprising. Apple has historically used MacBook Pro to introduce new display technology before bringing it downstream to the more affordable Air. Retina displays followed the same pattern. So did ProMotion.

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M5 MacBook Air Apple

Cost is the other factor. OLED panels are more expensive to produce than the LCD and mini-LED displays Apple currently uses, and keeping the Air’s price competitive is a much tighter constraint than it is for the Pro. Kuo doesn’t specify what’s driving the delay, but the economics aren’t hard to read.

What to do if you’re shopping now

If you need a MacBook Air today, waiting for OLED isn’t a practical strategy. The current Air is a capable machine, and holding out two to three years on a maybe isn’t a great trade.

The smarter watch is MacBook Pro. If Kuo’s timeline holds, an OLED Pro could arrive within the year. Depending on your budget, that’s a more realistic upgrade to plan around.

Paulo Vargas
Paulo Vargas
News Writer
Paulo Vargas is an English major turned reporter turned technical writer, with a career that has always circled back to…
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