With the release of the M4 iPad Pro, customers agree that its OLED display is its best feature. Fortunately, a new report corroborates that Apple will expand this panel technology for its forgotten tablet — but not until 2026.
According to ZDNet Korea, Samsung Display has started developing sample 8-inch OLED panels for an upcoming iPad mini. While a new model is expected later this year, Apple might give it a minor upgrade ahead of a bigger revamp a couple of years from now.
The publication says Samsung started developing this OLED panel for a future iPad mini in April. However, it’s unclear if the tandem technology might be available for this new iPad mini. The new two-tandem stack panels make the M4 iPad Pro so unique. Instead of a single OLED display, Apple applies two panels at the same time, maximizing colors, brightness, and HDR capabilities.
For Cupertino to release a tandem OLED iPad mini, Apple would have to offer an even better display technology for the iPad Pro, or the company might be planning a simpler display for its smallest tablet.
That said, a simpler display would still be great news, as Apple uses excellent panels. However, ProMotion and other fancy extra features, such as nano-texture, might be left out. The report also corroborates an iPad Air launch featuring OLED in 2026.
Although this information isn’t new, what’s changed is that Samsung has finally started developing the panel technology for these upcoming tablets.
In parallel, previous reports mentioned Apple wants to apply the eighth-gen OLED technology on its 2026 MacBook Pro models, which would mean a display even better than the one available on the current iPad Pro.
BGR will continue to follow the latest supply chain information as we learn more about Apple’s plans, including the upcoming specs of this OLED iPad mini.
