Apple appears ready to broaden its use of OLED displays beyond the iPhone and Apple Watch, but the rollout will be deliberate rather than immediate. According to a new report and posts from Mark Gurman, the MacBook Air, iPad Air, and iPad mini are all on track to adopt OLED in future generations, alongside durability upgrades that could bring iPhone-style water resistance to iPads.
Here’s what’s taking shape:
– MacBook Air: An OLED version isn’t expected until around 2028 at the earliest. Apple is expected to keep the current display approach on MacBook Pro models powered by the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips and target a broader display redesign for MacBook Pro with the M6 Pro and M6 Max chips in 2027. With the MacBook Air yet to receive the M5 chip, an OLED Air remains further out on the roadmap.
– iPad mini: A refreshed model is reportedly slated for spring 2026, with OLED on the table. Pricing is said to increase by about $100, moving the starting price to approximately $599, which mirrors the current entry point for the iPad Air.
– iPad Air: Like the mini, Apple is preparing to bring OLED to future iterations of the iPad Air, elevating image quality on its mainstream tablet line.
Beyond display tech, Apple is testing design changes aimed at water resistance for iPads, starting with the iPad mini. The company is said to be working on a new casing and speaker system that mitigates vibration and uses seals and adhesives around openings—similar principles used in iPhones—to enable an official IP water-resistance rating. If adopted, this approach could expand to other iPad models over time.
Why OLED matters: OLED panels can deliver deeper blacks, higher contrast, and potentially slimmer, lighter designs. They also allow for fine-grained control of brightness at the pixel level. While Apple’s exact feature set will depend on model and generation, the shift signals a push to bring more premium display quality to its most popular devices.
Key timeline at a glance:
– 2026: New iPad mini expected; OLED under consideration; starting price around $599
– 2027: MacBook Pro display overhaul aligned with M6 Pro/M6 Max generation
– 2028 (earliest): OLED MacBook Air
As always with long-range hardware plans, details and dates can change. But the direction is clear: Apple is moving its mainstream Mac and iPad lines toward OLED, while exploring water resistance for iPads to make them more durable for everyday use.
