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Before Apple can build an iMac with an OLED display, a supplier must solve a problem that has plagued the technology for years. The answer could be an additional light-emitting layer – and that makes the panel more expensive.
It has been known since the end of 2025 that Apple is working on an iMac with an OLED display; previous reports on this are compiled in the overview of the OLED iMac. What remained unclear until now was what such a panel would technically need to look like to withstand the demands of a computer that displays the same menu bar and dock for hours every day.
A report by the Korean trade publication The Elec now describes what LG Display is working on. The Elec specializes in display suppliers and has a reliable track record in panel development; however, this report describes a development stage, not a finalized specification.
Key Facts at a Glance
- LG Display is reportedly developing an OLED structure with five light-emitting layers that could end up in a future iMac.
- The fifth layer is a third blue layer and is intended to distribute the electrical load.
- This should make burn-in effects less frequent and increase brightness.
- More layers mean more organic material and a more complex manufacturing process – cost is the main problem.
- Finished panels are targeted for 2028, with a market launch no earlier than 2029.
Five shifts instead of four
OLED panels do not consist of a single luminous layer, but rather of several stacked on top of each other. For high-resolution monitors, LG Display already manufactures a four-layer structure, arranged as blue, green, blue, red.
The variant currently under development adds a third blue layer, resulting in a blue-green-blue-red-blue color scheme. It's not about a new color, but rather about additional brightness in a range that is particularly stressed in OLED technology.
Why the extra layer helps prevent burning
The benefit lies in the distribution of the electrical load. At high pixel density, each pixel becomes smaller – and with it, the portion of the surface that actually emits light. To achieve the same brightness from this smaller emitter, more current must be sent through it.
According to the report, this is precisely what shortens the panel's lifespan and makes image retention more likely—that is, the afterglow of static elements, commonly referred to as burn-in. If the load is distributed across more layers, each individual layer has to do less work.
For a desktop computer, this is not a minor issue. The menu bar, dock, and window frames remain in the same position for hours – significantly more static than the image on a television or smartphone.
What Apple has asked its suppliers
At the end of 2025, information requests were sent to Samsung Display and LG Display. The key specifications mentioned therein can be compared with today's model:
| Feature | 24-inch iMac today | Requested OLED specification |
|---|---|---|
| Display technology | LCD | OLED |
| Brightness | 500 nits | 600 nits |
| Pixel density | 218 ppi | 218 ppi |
The pixel density would remain unchanged, while the brightness would increase by a fifth. Separately, LG Display has showcased a 27-inch panel with 5K resolution and 220 ppi in an RGB stripe configuration. However, this panel utilizes a four-layer structure and is therefore unlikely to be intended for the iMac – it serves more as a benchmark for whether high-density RGB stripe panels can even be mass-produced.
The cost issue is a hindrance
Each additional phosphor layer means more organic material and a more complex vapor deposition process. LG Display therefore faces a dual challenge: meeting Apple's specifications for brightness and lifespan without compromising manufacturing yield.
For the same reason, Samsung Display is pursuing a different approach and developing QD-OLED for this application. The fact that both of Apple's major OLED suppliers are working on solutions in parallel demonstrates, above all, that the problem is not yet considered solved.
Both companies aim to have the first iMac OLED panels fully developed by 2028. A market launch would then be realistic no earlier than 2029.
The iMac remains the worst performer in OLED technology
Within Apple's transition to OLED displays, the iMac is lagging behind. The MacBook Pro is slated to receive the technology significantly earlier, with the MacBook Air expected by 2028 – and even then, the iMac would still be behind. The overview of Apple's OLED plans shows how the transition is distributed across the product lines.
The reason is plausible: A desktop display runs for longer periods, shows more static content, and is replaced less frequently than a notebook. Therefore, the demands on its lifespan are greater than for any other Mac.
In practical terms, this means that if you're waiting for an iMac with an OLED display, you're waiting for a device that, as things stand, won't be available in stores for at least three years. Until then, the LCD model remains the only option – a refresh with a new processor is planned for later this year. Our Mac buying guide will help you determine whether an iMac is even the right form factor for your workspace, or whether a Mac mini with its own monitor would be a better fit.
What's remarkable about this announcement is less the timing than the direction: Apple is apparently demanding specifications for a screen type that the industry considers mature, specifications that are unattainable with currently available technologies. (Image: Apple)
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