iPad mini – Image credit: Apple
Apple’s next iPad mini update will include OLED, but given Apple’s typical lag between releases, that could be years away.
Apple has just released the seventh-gen iPad mini, which uses an LED-backlit LCD screen. While there’s no immediate possibility of a change in display technology for the model, the next update could make the switch to OLED.
In a reply to a post on X discussing the iPad mini, Display Supply Chain Consultants CEO Ross Young said late on Wednesday that the “Next iPad mini will have OLED.”
Aside from the six-word reply, Young doesn’t go into any further detail about the claim. However, it’s a proposal that could end up being correct.
Young, and by extension DSCC, is pretty accurate when it comes to display-related rumors and analysis. With the relatively limited detail of the post, as well as other previous rumors and reporting, his post reply is highly plausible.
A reasonably safe bet
Rumors have repeatedly put forward the narrative that an OLED iPad mini is being developed and is on the way. In 2023, there were rumors insisting that a new iPad mini display and iPad Air screen using OLED will arrive in 2026.
By May 2024, it was reported that major display partner Samsung Display was working on a new display for the iPad Mini, again due by 2026. Samples using OLED were allegedly sent to Apple in April for consideration, with mass production set to start in late 2025.
It also helps the “next iPad mini” claim that Apple’s release schedule for the model’s updates isn’t exactly rapid. There was a three-year gap between the seventh generation and the sixth, 2.5 years between the sixth and fifth, and 3.5 years between the fifth and fourth.
A release in late 2026 would make the gap between the current gen and the next model just two years.
It is entirely possible for Apple to introduce a new iPad mini more regularly, especially following the latest’s spec-bump update as a plan. Based on the last four generations, it seems unlikely that a much faster update of the smallest Apple tablet will materialize earlier than 2026.