Last month we posted that the Korean Elec publication claims that Apple is aiming to adopt OLEDs in its next iPad Pro devices - and as Apple wants extended lifetime from these panels, the Korean panel makers are developing tandem OLED devices (easier for LG as it is already producing such panels for automotive applications).
Today another Korean publication, ETNews, has posted that Apple is aiming to start using OLEDs in its iPads in 2022. According to ETNews, Apple indeed reached out to both LG Display and Samsung Display for these OLEDs.
Interestingly the report suggests that Apple wants to have thinner OLEDs than what currently is available, and to achieve that the Korean makers will adopt a new kind of OLED which is based on ultra-thin glass and thin-film encapsulation, a combination of rigid (glass) and flexible (TFE) technologies. This should, according to the report, enable a thinner OLED than a completely flexible one made on Polyimide. Finally the reports suggests that Samsung will be ready to produce these panels in 2022, and LGD in 2023.
It could also be that one of the reasons this design (so called Hybrid OLED) will be adopted is that costs could be cheaper as these can be produced in Samsnung's rigid OLED lines using rigid OLED technologies (except for the TFE), without the need for carrier glass and de-lamination.
