A significant improvement to Apple’s tablet lineup might not be too far off if the OLED iPad rumors we’ve been hearing are true. However, you could be better off investing in one of the greatest iPads right now.
According to recent allegations from experts like Ross Young and Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is likely to go all-in on OLED iPads in 2024, as evidenced by its components partner Samsung Display expanding its production capacity (via The Elec(opens in new tab)).
OLED panels are already available from Apple on the iPhone 13 series and the Apple Watch 7, but they aren’t yet available on tablets. Building on the present tiny LED display in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the first OLED iPads will probably be a future iPad Pro. Though it appears likely that this technology would eventually appear on the iPad Air and maybe trickle down to the iPad mini and ordinary iPad in the future, given that the aforementioned report mentions second-generation OLED iPads arriving in the same year.
How will the inclusion of OLED panels make the iPads better given that they already hold numerous positions in our list of the best tablets? Below, we examine why it could be preferable to purchase a new iPad right away as well as how to do it.
The best iPad to buy right now
The best iPad bargain right now
The OLED advantage
To summarize our general explanation of what OLED is, OLED displays outperform conventional LCD displays in terms of contrast, responsiveness, and power efficiency for their size. Both of these are due to the fact that OLED panels, as opposed to backlit LCD screens, may turn off individual pixels to display “true black.” This is useful for always-on screens as well, ensuring that they may be utilized effectively without having the entire panel lit up.
These are the general advantages of OLED use. However, a rumor from the previous year regarding plans for “double-stacked” OLEDs suggests that Apple’s OLED screens might possibly provide greater brightness.
There aren’t many OLED tablets available right now, but the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and Galaxy Tab S8 Plus both include OLED displays. Both of them exhibit all the advantages we listed before, showcasing your material in vivid colors and providing always-on displays to show the time or other widgets, at your discretion.
In other words, an OLED iPad would be a general improvement over the present selection. Yet there are still reasons to stay away from it.
Why OLED iPads may not be worth the wait
The first thing is that there is a year and a half gap between now and 2024. At Apple’s customary spring product show that year, or at WWDC in the summer, we might see some new iPads appear. However, it’s also conceivable that we wouldn’t learn about new iPads until the fall of that year, which would entail a delay of more than two years.
Given that you might not be in a rush to upgrade, this might not be an issue for you. But if you do feel that your iPad is going slow and dated, sticking with it for another two years can irritate you more than it’s worth.
Furthermore, utilizing OLED displays instead of LCD has several drawbacks. For instance, while OLED is more effective at displaying blacks, it is less effective at presenting brighter images, particularly all-white ones like those found on word processors or web browsers. As we discovered while contrasting the Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra and the iPad Pro, they can also be darker than LCD panels. If you wish to use the Tab S8 Ultra in harsh workplace lighting or outside on a sunny day, this would make it more difficult to see in bright light.
If Apple is able to reduce these issues to a minimum, and if it is actually working on OLED iPads, we’ll have to wait and see during our review testing. However, it’s possible that the battery life of iPads adopting this technology would decline in comparison to earlier generations, which might annoy even the most discerning customers.
Be aware that adding an OLED display can result in a price increase, as OLED screens are more expensive to produce and purchase than LCD screens. By 2024, let’s hope that big inflation and the cost of living crises have passed, making it easier to justify spending money on expensive items like new iPads. However, that price might end up being far higher than paying for a comparable device today, and we are unsure of whether there would be any extra advantages to help offset the increased price.
Final thoughts
The addition of OLED panels would seem to be a terrific way to advance the iPad line and keep the iPad family ahead of the top Android tablets. By improving their color and contrast, it would let Apple’s tablets compete with the best products from companies like Samsung. It would also make always-on screens possible for added benefit.
However, new technology comes at a cost, both literally and metaphorically. OLED display panels have more expensive component costs, so you’ll probably have to spend more for them. Additionally, OLED isn’t always going to be brighter or more efficient than LCD. Furthermore, a quicker update would better suit your needs if the two-year wait was too long for you to wish to continue using your present tablet.
The existing and next range of iPads, which already do an outstanding job functioning off of LCD (or small LED) displays, aren’t to be ignored, even though we’re excited about these rumored OLED iPads. Consider the Galaxy Tab S8 Plus or Tab S8 Ultra if you’re set on acquiring an OLED device straight away to watch your content instead of skipping tablets altogether and looking for the best laptops or displays that support the technology.
Take a look at the greatest iPads now on the market if you’ve decided an immediate iPad upgrading is ideal for you. To find out what’s most likely in store for the following iteration of these iPads, if you’re willing to wait a little while, read our rumor hubs for the iPad 2022 and iPad Pro 2022.