Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that Apple's rollout of higher-quality OLED displays will include the MacBook Air, but may be later than expected.
Partly because OLED brings significant benefits such as thinner displays with higher resolutions, it's long been expected that Apple will eventually bring the technology to all or most of its devices. While one report predicted the MacBook Air would get OLED in 2027, most say 2028, but Ming-Chi Kuo now says it could happen later.
In an extended tweet about supply issues and expectations for the MacBook Neo, Kuo first repeats his prior prediction that the MacBook Pro will get an OLED screen in its next update. He has said before that this will be at the end of 2026, though he now amends that to say it could be early 2027.
Similarly, he now writes that the "MacBook Air is expected to adopt OLED panels around 2028 or 2029." He has no more details, nor does he comment on why the date is potentially slipping.
One possible factor is a need to differentiate between the MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air. There's no doubt that it will be the more expensive MacBook Pro that gets OLED first, but Apple may be looking to widen the gap before it's also in the MacBook Air.
However, OLED may also not be as significant a selling point as Apple appears to have previously assumed. It has already been launched on the iPad Pro, but reports at the time suggest it failed to spark the expected upgrade cycle.
Note that Kuo has often been a strong source for Apple news. However, in this report he again fails to distinguish between his own speculation and information he has received from the supply chain.
