Apple will launch two new models of iPads that use OLED panels in 2023, TheElec has learned.
Cupertino will launch its first ever OLED iPad in 2022. The tablet will sport a 10.86-inch OLED screen. Samsung Display will be the sole supplier of the OLED panels.
The following year, in 2023, Apple is planning to launch an 11-inch OLED iPad and a 12.9-inch OLED iPad.
There is a strong chance that the company will apply different OLED structures for the iPad launching next year and its successors in 2023.
The 10.86-inch OLED iPad launching next year will use rigid OLED and thin-film encapsulation (TFE). TFE is a technology usually reserved for flexible OLED. It stacks organic material and inorganic material in alternatively in layers to protect the organic material from water and oxygen. Rigid OLED usually use glass substrates and glass encapsulation.
Next year’s iPad will also use low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) thin-film transistor (TFT) and red, green and blue emission layers. This is the same as the OLED structure Apple uses for its iPhones.
For the iPads launching in 2023, Cupterino could use flexible OLED over rigid OLED. It could also change the TFT from LTPS to low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO). The RGB emission layer could also be the “tandem” structure where two layers of them are stacked together.
Flexible OLED, which uses polyimide instead of glass for its substrate, is more expensive than rigid OLEDD but offers more design freedom for vendors and the bezels can be made thinner.
Apple had used flexible OLED for its iPhones since the iPhone X debuted in 2018.
The company is likely using rigid OLED first for the iPad as the larger 10-inch range OLED panel size means it will have a low yield rate during production compared to the smaller 6-inch OLED panels it sues for phones.
LTPO TFT offers 120Hz refresh rate. Apple is planning to apply the technology first on its upper tier models for its upcoming iPhone series launching later this year.
What technologies Cupertino plans to apply for its OLED iPads going forward will determine spending plans to Samsung Display and LG Display for their OLED production capacities.
