Oliver Haslam·

Apple May Use Samsung OLED Panels For Future iPad, Mac Models

Apple has been using Samsung exclusively for supply of the OLED panels that go into the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, and it also used the company for the iPhone X, too. However, with iPhone sales being lower than expected in recent quarters, Apple now finds itself having ordered fewer panels than it signed up for. That leaves the company with millions of dollars in penalties to pay.

However, instead of handing over cash, Apple is said to be offering Samsung some other options including using the company for the production of OLED panels to be used in “tablets and notebooks” according to a new report by Korea’s ETNews.

That could potentially mean that a future MacBook Pro and iPad will come with an OLED screen in tow. That would also jive well with existing rumours of a new 16-inch MacBook Pro featuring an OLED screen, and the logical place for such a panel in an Apple tablet would be a future iPad Pro. That’s largely driven by the cost, with Apple unlikely to be able to put such high-end screens in lower-margin products.

This all tessellates with claims that supply chain wizard Ming-Chi Kuo has been saying for a while, with him believing the aforementioned 16-inch MacBook Pro will feature an “all-new design,” although he didn’t specifically mention OLED. He’s also claimed that two new iPad Pro models will arrive later this year or the first quarter of 2020 at the latest.

Apple’s suggestion of simply moving production to Samsung rather than paying penalties makes sense, and we’re sure Samsung would welcome the business, too.

(Source: ETNews [Google Translate])

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