OLEDs for laptops - introduction and industry news. - Page 14

Dell started shipping its XPS 15 2019 laptop with the 15.6" UHD (3840x2160) OLED display (produced by Samsung Display). The price of the OLED models starts at $1,799.

The Verge recently reviewed another OLED laptop, the HP 2019 Spectre x360 15, which uses the same SDC 15.6" display. The Verge says that the OLED is tremendous, and the reviewer sees "no reason why someone would pick an LCD over this OLED, given the option".

The Verge posted a review of one of the world's first 2019 OLED laptops, the HP 2019 Spectre x360 15. The reviewer loves the OLED display: "The Spectre x360 15’s display is tremendous, and I see no reason why someone would pick an LCD over this OLED, given the option. It’s absolutely worth the higher cost (Ed: around $400)."

HP's Spectre x360 15 features an Intel Core i7 CPU, 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage. The OLED display is a 15.6" 3840x2160 panel produced by SDC. HP's Spectre x360 15 laptops are now shipping, the OLED models start at $2,299.

Gigabyte's AERO 15 OLED, the world's first Microsoft Azure AI laptop which sports a Samsung's 15.6" 3840x2160 AMOLED display will ship within 1-3 months (according to Amazon.com) - and has a price tag starting at $1,699 for the i7-9750H|8GB|256GB model.

Last week we reported that Asus demonstrated an OLED gaming laptop - even though it still has some concerns with OLED displays and is not ready to release such a device commercially.

It turns out that Asus has another OLED laptop in the works - the ZenBook Pro Duo which actually features two screens - an SDC 15.6" 4K AMOLED main display and another, smaller 14" LCD that is placed above the keyboard. This is just a prototype, but according to reports this seems like a finished product, and it could reach the markets soon.

Asus recently launched a new gaming laptop, the Zephyrus S GX502, which uses a 15.6" 4K 120Hz LCD IPS display. At Computex 2019 in Taiwan, Asus demonstrated one of these laptops with an 15.6" SDC AMOLED display.

Asus OLED laptop (left) vs LCD one (right)

Asus says it has no immediate plans to release an OLED gaming laptop as it still has concerns over the shorter lifespan of OLED displays, image retention (burn-in) and long-term color accuracy. As soon as these concerns are resolved, Asus says it will push forward with incorporating OLED panels in gaming laptops.

In February 2019 Samsung Display started to mass produce its new 15.6" 3840x2160 OLED display panels, and some of the first 2019 OLED laptops are already shipping.

Korea-site The Elec says that according to its sources, Apple is "considering adoption" of OLED displays in its Pro laptop and tablets lines. The iPad Pro will adopt an 11" OLED while the MacBook Pro will adopt a 15.6" one.

Earlier this month Lenovo demonstrated a prototype 13.3" foldable OLED ThinkPad laptop. We speculated that LGD is the display supplier, and yesterday LGD's CTO confirmed this.

Lenovo said that it developed this device for over three years, and hopes to launched a commercial one in 2020. In October 2018 it was first reported that LG Display is working together with Lenovo on a 13.3" foldable OLED laptop device, but that was not confirmed until now.

Update: LGD confirms it is supplying the 13.3" foldable OLEDs to Lenovo's prototypes.

Lenovo demonstrated a prototype foldable ThinkPad laptop, that features a 13.3" foldable OLED display. Lenovo says that it developed this device for over three years, and hopes to launched a commercial one in 2020.

The reporters at The Verge really liked the device, but noted that the hardware is clearly not finished - the folding mechanism for example did not feel sturdy (and we all know this is critical in a foldable device) and the display itself suffers from "remarkably poor viewing angles".

GizChina reports that senior executives at Intel said that the company is looking at laptops with foldable OLED displays, working together with LG Display, Samsung Display, BOE and Sharp. There are many challenges to overcome, and Intel estimates that such foldable laptops will not arrive before 2021.

In October 2018 Samsung Electronics said that it is developing laptops with foldable displays, while other reports suggested that that LG Display is collaborating with Lenovo to develop a 13" foldable tablet.

In February 2019 Samsung Display started to mass produce its new 15.6" 3840x2160 OLED display panels, and finally we have the first laptop to ship with such a panel - Dell is now offering its 2019 Alienware m15 laptop. The 15.6" OLED display is a $350 extra compared to the regular 15.6" FHD LCD (according to Digitimes, the price gap between these two displays should have been closer to $60).

SDC is targeting premium laptops, as these ultra high resolution panels are optimized for gaming, graphic design and video streaming. At CES we saw three companies that announced 15" OLED laptops - HP with its Spectre x360, Lenovo with the Yoga C730 and Dell with the XPS 15, Dell G7 15 and the Alienware m15 which is indeed now shipping.