Apple to ship OLED display in new iPad models launching in 2022 and 2023

A new report by The Elec claims that Apple is going to update the iPad lineup, consecutively, in 2022 and 2023. Starting with a new 10.8-inch iPad with OLED display, the Cupertino tech company is reported to launch two 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad with OLED displays in 2023. The report does not mention which iPad model will be upgraded but based on previous reports, it can be assumed that it is detailing the new iPad Air lineup.

Previously, Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple will replace the currently used Liquid Retina LCD display technology with OLED display technology in the next-generation iPad Air, launching in 2022. The company unveiled the 4th generation 10.9-inch iPad Air in 2020 with a Liquid Retina display, A14 Bionic chip, a fingerprint sensor embedded into a button on the side, and more.

Apple to offer OLED display is new iPad models launching in 2022 and 2023

As per the report, the OLED panels for 2022 tablet models will use TFE technology and for the 2023 iPad models, the company will use LTPO technology.

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.

While explaining the benefits of LTPO TFT panels which offer a 120Hz refresh rate, the report mentioned that the same technology will be used in the upcoming iPhone 13 series.