Apple is expected to release an OLED iPad with Samsung screens in 2024

As per the latest news, Samsung Display will need a large order from Apple to expand the production of this year’s 8.5-generation (2200x2500mm) IT OLED panels. Sources told TheElec that the vertical deposition machine for 8.5-generation IT OLED panels developed by Samsung in cooperation with Japan’s Ulvac is still in progress from last year until January 2022.

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The device, along with fine metal masks (FMMs) for precise deposition of organic materials on substrates, is a key technology required for the commercialization of Gen 8.5 IT OLED panels. Samsung Display is developing the technology for Apple to meet their requirements for panel technology and price. Using Gen 5.5 (1300x1500mm) and Gen 6 (1500x1850mm) substrates would make the panel cost-prohibitive as fewer panel units can be cut per substrate.

Vertical equipment also prevents the FMM from sagging during production, which can further save costs. Samsung Display will need Apple’s approval to start spending in earnest on its Gen 8.5 IT OLED production facility. Apple also needs to decide, to make a lot of OLED iPads.

Apple and Samsung had cooperated last year to develop a 10.86-inch OLED iPad project, which was called off in the third quarter. Apple had wanted the panel to be a two-layer tandem structure, with two emissive layers, rather than the traditional single-layer structure. The source said the requirement was not economically viable because it would not produce enough panels at the right price.

If Samsung Display can get a large enough order from Apple this time around, it can finalize spending plans in the second quarter and start ordering the required equipment in the third quarter. Then, these devices may be delivered in 2023, it is expected to launch iPad commercial use OLED panels in 2024.

Samsung Display also plans to apply on-cell technology to its 8.5th-generation IT OLED panels, which will make the device thinner. The company is currently using its Gen 5.5 production line, the A2, to supply OLED panels for notebooks from Asus and Samsung Electronics.

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