In 2021 Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple is in discussions to move to a new two-stack tandem structured OLED display for future MacBooks with both Samsung & LG Display. While that technology has been used in the new Apple iPad Pro, it's not to arrive on MacBooks until 2026-27.  Today we're learning that Dell has taken advantage of the new two-stack tandem structured OLED displays from LG in a new ARM based Notebook.

Today, The Elect reports that LG Display supplied two-tandem OLED for laptops to Dell. Although annual volume expectations are not high, we have achieved the milestone of mass production of the first two-tandem OLED for laptops. Dell's product was also the first laptop to use dual tandem OLED.

Dell's recently announced laptop XPS13 consists of a liquid crystal display (LCD) model and an OLED model. When folded, the product thickness is 15.3mm for the LCD model and 14.8mm for the OLED model. The minimum weight is 1.19kg for the LCD model and 1.17kg for the OLED model. The OLED model is thin and light, and supports a touch screen. The resolution is 3K+ (2880x1800).

Dell's XPS13 OLED model uses a two-stack tandem OLED with two light-emitting layers stacked on top of each other. Two-tandem OLED can theoretically increase brightness by twice and lifespan by up to four times that of single-stack OLED with one emitting layer.

Because IT products such as laptops and tablets have a long replacement cycle, it is expected that the two-tandem OLED penetration rate will increase in the future. The first OLED iPad Pro, which Apple unveiled earlier this month, is the first tablet to use dual tandem OLED.

LG Display has been making two-tandem OLEDs to supply to Dell at the E6-4 line in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, since the end of the first quarter. The expected OLED shipment volume for this model by the end of this year is approximately 100,000 units. Although the total volume is not large, LG Display has achieved a milestone in mass production of two-tandem OLED for tablets (Apple iPad Pro) and laptops (Dell XPS13).

LG Display is also mass producing the iPad Pro OLED on the E6-4 line. A total of approximately 3.4 trillion won was invested in the E6-4 line.  The Elec.

Interesting to note that the two-stack OLED panels for Dell from LG are also touch displays. Will Apple be adopting that as well in 2026-27? In an interview with the WSJ's Joanna Stern in October 2022, she asked "Will there ever be a touch screen on a Mac?" Craig Federighi answered, ever so thoughtfully, "Who's to say." Past replies were always a flat out "no."

In March 2024, an Apple patent that we covered about future MacBooks stated that "the display may have an integrated (on-cell) touch-sensing system. For example, an array of electrodes (or other touch-sensing components) that are integrated into the display may be time and/or frequency multiplexed in order to provide both display and touch-sensing functionality."

Apple is way behind the industry on this front and Apple fans would be thrilled with this addition. As the saying goes: "Better late than never."