Waiting for an OLED MacBook or iPad Air? Rumored roadmap hints at when they could be coming

• A new roadmap has given dates for Apple’s upcoming OLED devices
• The MacBook Pro and the iPad mini are first in line
• Not every device will get Tandem OLED tech

We’ve long wondered when Apple will launch an OLED MacBook Pro, and a new product roadmap might have provided the answer. According to information shared by leaker Jukanlosreve on X, the switch might start happening by 2026.

But there’s more than just the MacBook Pro on the schedule. The roadmap suggests that the next Apple products to get OLED displays will be the iPad mini, which could debut alongside the OLED MacBook Pro.

While the former will use a single-layer panel (meaning no Tandem OLED like that found in the iPad Pro), the MacBook Pro will apparently come with Tandem OLED goodness. We’ll also see a slight increase in the MacBook Pro’s display size, the roadmap claims, going from 14.2 and 16.2 inches to 14.3 and 16.3 inches on the two MacBook Pro models.

In 2027, both sizes of the iPad Air will be outfitted with single-layer OLED panels (again, no Tandem OLED). Then in 2028, we will reportedly see both the iPad Pro and the MacBook Air get the OLED treatment – as expected, only the iPad Pro’s screen will feature Tandem OLED tech. The MacBook Air will slightly increase its display sizes to 13.8 and 15.5 inches, up from the current 13.6 and 15.3 inches.

That will leave the 10.9-inch iPad as the only Apple tablet not to get an OLED display of some form, but that shouldn’t be too surprising given its entry-level status.

Interestingly, the report alleges that Apple will finally launch its long-rumored foldable device in 2028. This will have an 18.8-inch Tandem OLED screen and ProMotion dynamic refresh rate, and it’s described as a “tablet/note PC/monitor” in the roadmap. It’ll therefore be very interesting to see how Apple positions this device and what sort of use cases the company envisions for it.

A plausible timeframe

OLED technology is currently entirely absent from the MacBook line, even as many of the best laptops boast fantastic OLED screens.

Yet it’s not Apple’s style to rush to market with new technology, and it instead prefers to wait until it thinks it can one-up the competition before revealing its hand. As well as that, the mini-LED displays in the MacBook Pro are some of the best on the market (OLED or not), which has given Apple more breathing room to research and design its OLED panels at its own pace.

Jukanlosreve says that its information was sourced from industry analysts Omdia, which means they didn’t get it directly from someone at Apple or one of the company’s suppliers. While that means it’s a little harder to know how trustworthy this information is, well-regarded Apple analyst Ross Young largely agreed with the forecast, which lends it some weight given how accurate Young has been in the past.

So, if you’re in the market for a new OLED-equipped Apple device, you now have a plausible roadmap for when these new devices might come to market. Don’t take it as gospel – it could well be wrong – but it’s our best guess yet.

You might also like

• OLED MacBook Pro: the latest rumors and everything we know so far
• The iPad Pro 2024’s new Tandem OLED screen explained: why it’s important, and why it took so long to come
• Apple’s foldable iPhone is now more than just a concept, according to new rumors

Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he’s learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That’s all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.