Apple will use OLED displays on its next-generation iPad Air models next year, according to a new report from Korea’s ET News.
From Google Translate:
Apple is switching the display of next year’s ‘iPad Air’ to Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED). With the Air following the iPad Pro and Mini, Apple will adopt OLED across its entire tablet lineup, excluding the standard model, which is expected to expand benefits for domestic display companies that supply OLEDs to Apple. According to industry sources on the 15th, Samsung Display plans to begin mass production of OLEDs for the iPad Air around the end of this year or January of next year.
The outlet says its sources tell it that Samsung Display will begin mass production of OLED panels around the end of 2026 or January 2027, to provide display panels for Apple’s 2027 iPad Air. Apple last updated the iPad Air in March 2026 with an M4 chip.
While Apple’s iPad Pro lineup already boast OLED displays, the iPad Air lineup still uses the cheaper LCD displays that Apple calls Liquid Retina. The Liquid Retina displays are limited to 60Hz refresh rates, not the 120Hz ProMotion display technology used in the iPad Pro display.
OLED display panels provide better image quality compared to LCD displays. OLED displays provide more vivid colors, higher contrast ratio, and wider viewing angles, and in many cases can be more power efficient. Since OLED panels individually control each pixel, resulting in more precise color reproduction and deeper blacks compared to LCD.
However, the iPad Air is expected to use single-stack low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) panels, not like the iPad Pro models, which feature two-stack low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) OLED panels. This means the new OLED panels may be dimmer and will still lack ProMotion.
As we reported in October 2025, Apple is also rumored to be working on bringing OLED displays to its iPad mini lineup, likely using the same lower-priced single-stack LTPS panel.
Once the iPad Air and iPad mini have made the transition to OLED display, that will leave the entry-level iPad as the sole Apple tablet without an OLED panel.
