We are already in an age where gadgets like smartphones are no longer racing to see which manufacturer can produce the thinnest device. Instead each pursues smaller components, alternatives and others to maintain quality and reduce costs.
Apple recently reported that it will use a thinner hybrid OLED panel for the iPad Pro 2024. This does not mean that the iPad design is thinner, but the screen panel used is designed to be thinner, which combines an OLED rigid glass substrate with OLED thin-film encapsulation.
This method allows the production cost of OLED panels to be reduced because it no longer requires a backlight layer. Normally OLED panels use a rigid glass substrate on top and bottom but hybrid OLED replaces the top layer with OLED thin-film encapsulation. This makes the OLED panel as thin as 0.2mm instead of 0.5mm.
This hybrid OLED technology is produced by LG. To ensure that the panel is stronger, the technique of punching and cutting is done simultaneously. The current OLED technology is Gen 6 which LG will continue to use for the iPad and this hybrid Gen 8 will be used together for the iPad Pro 2024.