Thinner Hybrid OLED Panel Technology is Expected to Debut in 2024 iPad Pro Models

The Elec by Korea claims that Apple is going to take advantage of the new OLED panel etching technology developed by LG. Such technology will permit the development of slimmer devices at low production rates.

The latest hybrid technology is a combination of rigid glass substrates and flexible OLED thin-film encapsulation (TFE). In this way, thin panels are generated in contrast to the rigid OLED panels. The overall process is less expensive than the flexible OLED panels since it doesn’t need a backlighting layer. On the other hand, the rigid OLED panels utilize two glass substrates where the top glass substrate in a hybrid OLED panel is replaced by a TFE. It makes the glass thinner.

Furthermore, the rest of the bottom glass substrate is etched even thinner from 0.5mm to 0.2mm. The resulting product: ultra-thin glass is more exposed to breaking during the next phases of development. To cater to this concern, LG is working on an etch-and-cut process.

Back in August 2022, the first reference to hybrid OLED technology appeared from The Elec. The report suggested that Apple could utilize the hybrid OLED tech in iPads by 2024. Recent reports suggest that LG will use the new tech in its Gen 8 OLED line. Where its current Gen 6 OLED line will be used to produce iPad models into next year.

The report claims that Samsung started working on the hybrid technology before LG and will use it right away for the OLED iPad panels it will make on its Gen 6 OLED line. According to display industry expert Ross Young, Apple aims to release its first 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models with OLED panels in 2024. The report does not specify which iPad models will benefit first.