The MacBook Pro offers some of the best displays in the entire computing industry, with Apple’s mini-LED tech shining bright against its competitors. Despite that, we’ve often wondered just how good Apple’s laptops would be if they switched their screens to OLED goodness.
Well, it looks like we’ll have to wait a little longer, as the OLED MacBook Pro has reportedly been pushed back to 2027. The news comes from Korean outlet The Elec, which cites sources in the display industry as the bearers of this bad news.
According to a machine-translated version of the report, OLED panels made by Samsung Display are heading to Dell and HP laptops “ahead of Apple,” meaning a setback for anyone hoping to see an OLED Mac sooner rather than later.
Samsung Display has been investing in OLED manufacturing equipment, The Elec states, which is expected to come online in the second half of 2025. However, this will not be “a line exclusively for Apple,” and it appears that Dell and HP have jumped to the front of the queue.
OLED vs mini-LED
The excitement over the prospect of an OLED MacBook Pro comes down to the display tech’s distinct advantages over the mini-LED panels used in Apple’s current high-end laptops.
Compared to mini-LED, OLED offers much better per-pixel lighting, improved viewing angles and deeper blacks. It’s a superb way to enjoy all the best Mac games and TV shows on your computer.
That said, it’s not cakewalk for OLED. Mini-LED takes the lead in other areas, such as brightness and longevity. Apple’s mini-LED screens – called Liquid Retina XDR by the company – are some of the best in the business, outshining almost every rival laptop (including those boasting OLED displays).
That means Mac users are unlikely to be desperate to switch out their mini-LED screens for OLED equivalents, as the MacBook Pro already offers true excellence in this area. But the delay is still disappointing given Apple’s well-known reputation for meticulous quality and attention to detail. Considering all that, we doubt Apple’s OLEDs will be anything but extraordinary.
Still, all of that will have to wait, it seems. With an OLED MacBook Air also supposedly in the works, we’ll have to see if this postponement has a knock-on effect on Apple’s other laptop plans.
