The rumored iPad Air 5 may not have an OLED panel after all

According to Mac Rumors, this is according to claims by trusted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo In a note to investors, Kuo said that Apple will forgo production plans for the rumored OLED-equipped iPad Air "because the cost and performance do not meet the company's expectations"

This news comes shortly after a report from The Elec suggested that Apple may not release an iPad with an OLED panel until at least 2023 And while both sources appear to be in agreement, the reasoning behind The Elec's claim seems to differ slightly from that of Kuo

Apart from "quality and cost concerns," Kuo claims that Apple canceled the rumored OLED iPad Air because it "could have negatively impacted sales of the upcoming 11-inch iPad Pro with mini LED display"

The analyst had previously stated that Apple could launch an 11-inch iPad Pro with a mini LED display, similar to the one currently implemented in the 129-inch iPad Pro 2021, as early as next year Therefore, Apple has reportedly decided not to interfere with sales of the smaller upgraded iPad Pro model by releasing an OLED iPad Air

Meanwhile, The Elec claimed that Apple's decision not to adopt OLED panels was related to a disagreement Cupertino has had with Samsung Display, the rumored iPad Air 5 display manufacturer

According to "a person familiar with the matter," The Elec claimed that Apple's partnership with the Korean company was "called off due to either the single-stack structure of OLED panels or profitability issues, or both"

In short, Apple was reportedly not satisfied with the "single-stack structure" used in the display and suggested a "double-stack structure" instead to ensure longer use and higher brightness levels However, Samsung Display insisted on the former and pointed out that it has only commercialized single-stack OLED panels so far

"Single-stack" is a common term for the structure of an OLED panel, in which red, green, and blue pixels are stacked to form a single emitting layer, whereas the "double-stack structure" forms two emitting layers and can extend panel life four times, according to The Elec

However, according to Mac Rumors, even if Apple chooses an LCD display, Kuo claims that "the company is continuing to research and develop newer display technologies for the iPad line," meaning that some upgrades may be underway This means that some sort of upgrade may be underway Previous reports also suggested that the iPad Air 5 could feature an upgraded dual-camera system, 5G connectivity, and a LiDAR scanner It may also feature the A15 Bionic chip found in the current iPhone 13 lineup