iPad mini with OLED screen on course for 2026 launch

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An OLED screen intended for iPad mini is active development, according to an unconfirmed report coming out of Asia. Apple’s smallest tablet will get the improved display in a couple of years.

The news comes on the heels of the launch of the M4 iPad Pro, the first in this line of tablets with an OLED screen.

OLED iPad mini is in development

With OLED (short for organic light-emitting diode) displays, each pixel glows on its own. The result is a bright, even image with strong contrast. This type of screen looks so good, it’s already used for iPhone and Apple Watch. And, as noted, it the newly-launched M4 iPad Pro has one, too.

And the advanced screen type is coming to an additional Apple model. “Samsung Display started developing samples for Apple’s new OLED tablet, the iPad mini, last month,” reports ZDnet Korea via a machine translation.

But development of the 8-inch panels will apparently take quite some time. “The industry’s estimated target for mass production is the second half of 2025,” ZDnet reported. That will lead to a release in 2026.

This type of screen costs more to produce than traditional LCDs — the new iPad Pro models went up $20 — so it’s possible that future version will get a price hike.

Samsung Display, along with LG Display, already supply OLED panels for the new iPad Pro.

The future is small

This is not the first we’ve heard of an OLED iPad mini — the initial report came in late 2023. And the previous leak had some extra detail, indicating that this version of the iPad mini will have an 8.7-inch display. That’s up from the current 8.3-inch one.

That one also said the improved version of tablet would launch in 2026.

But fans of small iPadOS devices won’t have to wait until then. Apple is expected to release an updated iPad mini 7 later this year with a faster processor. It’ll replace the current model, which launched in 2021.