Apple’s latest iPad Pro models recently adopted tandem OLED panels, which provide extremely high levels of brightness, contrast, power efficiency, and color accuracy. We’ve been expecting both the mid-range iPad Air and iPad mini to follow suit in adopting this advanced display technology. This would make sense as new technology is featured in flagship devices first before it trickles down to the lower-end models.
Now, according to The Elec, Apple is planning to choose Samsung Display, which already supplies Apple with tandem OLED panels for the latest iPad Pro, as the main supplier of OLED panels for future models of the iPad Air. The source also declares that the iPad Air will adopt OLED panels alongside the iPad mini in 2026.
However, there are other reports that conflict with this report in terms of the tablets’ launch timeframe. One source, Omdia, claims that the iPad Air will adopt OLED displays in 2026, and the iPad mini will receive the same treatment in 2027. ZDNET Korea suggests that both models will move to those displays in 2026 simultaneously with a possibility of a delay for the larger 13-inch iPad Air’s OLED upgrade until the following year. Only time will tell which source will be correct.
It’s also worth pointing out that unlike the two-stack LTPO (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide) OLED panels the latest iPad Pro uses, sources expect both the iPad mini and iPad Air to feature single-stack LTPS (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon) panels to reduce manufacturing costs. This means that those future tablets could retain similar brightness levels and continue to lack ProMotion technology as the current models.
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