Development of Apple's rumored OLED MacBook Pro took another forward step this month when the next-generation production line responsible for manufacturing its displays commenced operation.

Samsung Display is expected to make the panels for Apple's MacBook Pro, and has invested heavily in an 8.6-generation OLED production line located at its Asan campus in South Korea.

An 8.6G fab uses much larger glass substrates than the OLED lines used for smartphones, which allows multiple laptop-sized panels to be cut from a single sheet. This improves yields and lowers costs, which is just what Apple needs if OLED is to replace mini-LED in the MacBook Pro.

The line is designed around rigid OLED panels with oxide TFT backplanes and advanced tandem OLED structures. These are better suited to laptops, and offer higher brightness, improved power efficiency, and longer lifespan compared with conventional single-stack OLED panels.

According to the account yeux1122 on the Naver blog, Samsung has now begun producing panels from the line, suggesting Apple and other customers have completed qualification and reliability testing.

Apple's first OLED MacBook Pro will also feature a touchscreen display, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The claim has been corroborated by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman, who also said the laptops will have "thinner and lighter frames." Apple is apparently focusing on delivering the thinnest possible device without compromising on battery life or major new features.

The redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models are also expected to have a hole-punch camera at the top of the display, and it could potentially be housed in a pill-shaped cutout similar to the iPhone's Dynamic Island, rather than the notch MacBook Pro owners are accustomed to.

Gurman says the machines will be powered by M6 chips and are being readied for a late 2026 or early 2027 launch, following the expected introduction of 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips in the next month or so.

It would be unusual for Apple to introduce two ‌MacBook Pro‌ refreshes in the same year, but there is precedent for it: Apple updated the MacBook Pro lineup twice in 2023, first with M2 Pro/M2 Max chips in January and then with M3/M3 Pro/M3 Max chips in late October.

Source: Macrumors