Rumor: OLED MacBook pushed to 2027 due to manufacturing challenges

AppleInsider

Apple has long been rumored to be developing its first MacBook featuring an OLED display, but it might not see daylight until 2027. Here's why.

Apple pushes back OLED MacBook timeline

Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo made a prediction in January that Apple might introduce a MacBook model with an OLED display by the end of 2024. Kuo suggested that this shift could create a wider range of design options.

A new report on Friday suggests that Apple's launch of its first OLED MacBook is being delayed until 2027. For companies like Samsung Display to manufacture OLED panels for MacBook with eighth-generation OLED technology, it needs to use oxide TFT technology, according to The Elec.

Apple intends to prioritize OLED technology for the MacBook Pro models, which currently use liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. OLED offers advantages in terms of response time and contrast ratio.

However, due to the higher manufacturing cost associated with OLED, transitioning from LCD to OLED might only be considered when substantial consumer demand exists to support it.

Currently, the sixth-generation OLED line uses LTPO TFT technology for large-scale production. However, the development of low-temperature multi-crystalline silicon (LTPS) TFT technology for the eighth-generation OLED line is still pending. The implementation of LTPO TFT can only occur once the LTPS TFT technology is successfully developed.

LTPO TFT stands for Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistor. It's a display technology that combines the benefits of both LTPS (Low-Temperature Polysilicon) TFT and IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) TFT technologies.

The technology offers several advantages, including lower power consumption and improved energy efficiency compared to traditional TFT technologies. It allows for variable refresh rates, which means the display can adjust its refresh rate based on the displayed content, leading to better device battery life.

LTPO displays are commonly found in high-end smartphones and smartwatches, such as the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro models, along with the Apple Watch.

Read on AppleInsider

Skeptical

Shock horror. Oh the tragedy of first world problems. 

mushmash

4 years? That's gotta be some serious problems

coolfactor

Skeptical said:

Shock horror. Oh the tragedy of first world problems. 

Just goes to show how long Apple's product pipeline is. They plan for years in advance, not weeks or months.

AppleZulu

Wait. Ming-Chi Kuo is wrong? Or do we just go ahead and keep assuming he's correct until sometime in 2026 when we've forgotten that he predicted this for '24?

omasou

I'm more interested/waiting for microLED, not OLED or miniLED. The latter two are just stop gaps

saarek

“the MacBook Pro models, which currently use liquid crystal display (LCD) devices”

I thought the MacBooks were all on LED’s? In fact I’m 99% sure my 13” Aluminium MacBook from 2008 uses LED.


** Ignore me, they are LED, but that does not mean that they are not LCD**

9secondkox2

LOL at manufacturing challenges. 

it’s more a matter of what Apple wants to do and how it fits in with the overall strategy. 

Personally, I’d rather not have OLED if it can’t last as long, be left on a static image without burn-in, or be as bright. 

There are only a few scenarios where you’d notice a difference and they don’t outweigh the cons as of yet. 

So if 2027 is the time it all comes together in an OLED tech advancement, so be it. 

9secondkox2

coolfactor said:

Skeptical said:

Shock horror. Oh the tragedy of first world problems. 

Just goes to show how long Apple's product pipeline is. They plan for years in advance, not weeks or months.

Most of the time. 

40domi

AppleInsider said:

Apple has long been rumored to be developing its first MacBook featuring an OLED display, but it might not see daylight until 2027. Here's why.

Apple pushes back OLED MacBook timeline

Apple Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo made a prediction in January that Apple might introduce a MacBook model with an OLED display by the end of 2024. Kuo suggested that this shift could create a wider range of design options.

A new report on Friday suggests that Apple's launch of its first OLED MacBook is being delayed until 2027. For companies like Samsung Display to manufacture OLED panels for MacBook with eighth-generation OLED technology, it needs to use oxide TFT technology, according to The Elec.

Apple intends to prioritize OLED technology for the MacBook Pro models, which currently use liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. OLED offers advantages in terms of response time and contrast ratio.

However, due to the higher manufacturing cost associated with OLED, transitioning from LCD to OLED might only be considered when substantial consumer demand exists to support it.

Currently, the sixth-generation OLED line uses LTPO TFT technology for large-scale production. However, the development of low-temperature multi-crystalline silicon (LTPS) TFT technology for the eighth-generation OLED line is still pending. The implementation of LTPO TFT can only occur once the LTPS TFT technology is successfully developed.

LTPO TFT stands for Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon Thin-Film Transistor. It's a display technology that combines the benefits of both LTPS (Low-Temperature Polysilicon) TFT and IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) TFT technologies.

The technology offers several advantages, including lower power consumption and improved energy efficiency compared to traditional TFT technologies. It allows for variable refresh rates, which means the display can adjust its refresh rate based on the displayed content, leading to better device battery life.

LTPO displays are commonly found in high-end smartphones and smartwatches, such as the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro models, along with the Apple Watch.

Read on AppleInsider

Personally I think the MiniLed display is very good in the Pro Mac's, especially with the 1000 nits brightness for use outside, not sure Oled displays would get that bright? and the QD Oled TV panels from Samsung aren't as revolutionary as the hype would have you believe

tyler82

Perfect time to upgrade my 2017 MacBook Pro, since I upgrade Macs about every 10 years. 

Hopefully by then that weird notch will be gone. 

Marvin

tyler82 said:

Perfect time to upgrade my 2017 MacBook Pro, since I upgrade Macs about every 10 years. 

Hopefully by then that weird notch will be gone. 

The notch can be hidden really easily:



https://topnotch.app

The M-series Macs are so much better than the Intel models. I have a 2017 MBP and M1 Max and it's night and day. It doesn't matter what the M1 is doing - video encoding, rendering, emulation, virtual machines, AI - all for hours at a time and it doesn't even break a sweat, have never heard fan noise. The Intel model spins the fan up loud doing most things, I hear it every day.

9secondkox2

Marvin said:

tyler82 said:

Perfect time to upgrade my 2017 MacBook Pro, since I upgrade Macs about every 10 years. 

Hopefully by then that weird notch will be gone. 

The notch can be hidden really easily:



https://topnotch.app

The M-series Macs are so much better than the Intel models. I have a 2017 MBP and M1 Max and it's night and day. It doesn't matter what the M1 is doing - video encoding, rendering, emulation, virtual machines, AI - all for hours at a time and it doesn't even break a sweat, have never heard fan noise. The Intel model spins the fan up loud doing most things, I hear it every day.

Not without giving the appearance of a very thick and lopsided bezel. 

The notch isn’t that bad.  Especially with it basically just covering a tiny center portion of the menu bar. 

But it will be better once it’s gone. Same thing on the iPhone. 

Xed

9secondkox2 said:

Marvin said:

tyler82 said:

Perfect time to upgrade my 2017 MacBook Pro, since I upgrade Macs about every 10 years. 

Hopefully by then that weird notch will be gone. 

The notch can be hidden really easily:



https://topnotch.app

The M-series Macs are so much better than the Intel models. I have a 2017 MBP and M1 Max and it's night and day. It doesn't matter what the M1 is doing - video encoding, rendering, emulation, virtual machines, AI - all for hours at a time and it doesn't even break a sweat, have never heard fan noise. The Intel model spins the fan up loud doing most things, I hear it every day.

Not without giving the appearance of a very thick and lopsided bezel. 

The notch isn’t that bad.  Especially with it basically just covering a tiny center portion of the menu bar. 

But it will be better once it’s gone. Same thing on the iPhone. 

The existence of the notch without a real use for the notch's size at this point is enough evidence for me to assume that Apple has plans for the notch in upcoming Mac releases. I'm hoping it's Face ID sense being made small enough with enough and smart enough to work with the face much farther away than an iPhone/iPad, as well as with multiple users (although I could see it only working with a primary user) with the others needing to use Touch ID or just use a password every time).