iPad Air with OLED may come later than expected — here's when it could hit the market

iPad Air
(Image credit: Laptop Mag)

A refreshed iPad Air, packed with an OLED display, is reportedly in the works. Last month, we reported that the OLED-equipped iPad Air could hit the market as early as next year, but a new report predicts that the Apple tablet may arrive later than expected.

Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC), one of the top supply-chain consulting firms in the world, prophesizes that the 10.9-inch AMOLED iPad will be available to consumers by 2023.

iPad Air with OLED display release date may be two years out

Rumors about an upcoming OLED-equipped iPad Air flooded in this year from esteemed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Korean outlet ETNews, Taiwan-based Digitimes and other tech blabbermouths. All claimed that the refreshed iPad Air with OLED could hit the market in 2022, but DSCC foresees a different timeline.

The supply-chain firm predicts that Apple will make its first entry into the OLED tablet market in 2023, which will reportedly boost the tablet market to over $1 billion in 2014.

OLED technology is pricey, which is why they're currently limited to Apple products with smaller displays, including the iPhone, Apple Watch and the MacBook Pro Touch Bar. Speaking of the latter, according to DSCC's insider sources, Apple is discontinuing the Touch Bar — I don't think anyone will miss it.

Once Apple adopts OLED technology for the iPad Air, it should bring higher contrast, wider viewing angles, richer blacks and better brightness. Don't expect OLED to come to the iPad Pro, though. Leaks reveal that the iPad Pro will continue to use the recently introduced mini-LED display.

Kimberly Gedeon

Kimberly Gedeon, holding a Master's degree in International Journalism, launched her career as a journalist for MadameNoire's business beat in 2013. She loved translating stuffy stories about the economy, personal finance and investing into digestible, easy-to-understand, entertaining stories for young women of color. During her time on the business beat, she discovered her passion for tech as she dove into articles about tech entrepreneurship, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and the latest tablets. After eight years of freelancing, dabbling in a myriad of beats, she's finally found a home at Laptop Mag that accepts her as the crypto-addicted, virtual reality-loving, investing-focused, tech-fascinated nerd she is. Woot!