Oliver Haslam on January 11, 2022, 8:03 pm

An iPad With Samsung’s 8.5 Gen OLED Display Could Arrive In 2024

Apple has moved to using mini-LED on its iPad Pro but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t space for OLED in the lineup. Now, according to a new report, Samsung is being touted as the potential supplier of displays that will be used in a 2024 OLED iPad.

According to a report by The Elec, Apple and Samsung were working on a deal that would see the former supply a 10.86-inch OLED panel at some point last year but discussions came to a close in the third quarter of the year.

At the time the project was deemed too costly for Samsung with Apple seemingly not requiring enough units to make the numbers work in Samsung’s favor.

That could change if Apple makes a “large enough order” according to the report. It’s thought that a deal could be struck in time for Samsung to order the required equipment for delivery towards the end of this year, allowing for it to be delivered in 2023. That would in turn allow Apple to launch an OLED iPad the following year — in 2024.

The same report says that Samsung is already working to expand its Gen 8.5 IT OLED panels to be able to provide the displays that Apple requires, but that new machinery will be required to make it happen.

The South Korean display panel maker’s development of a vertical deposition machine, in collaboration with Japan’s Ulvac, for use in Gen 8.5 IT OLED panel that started last year was ongoing as of January 2022, sources told TheElec.

The equipment, along with fine metal masks (FMM) used to deposit organic materials precisely on the substrate, is a key technology needed to commercialize Gen 8.5 IT OLED panels.

It isn’t obvious which model iPad this display would be destined for, although an 11-inch iPad Pro does seem most likely.