LG Display unveiled a 17” foldable OLED panel at CES earlier this year and it already has its first client – HP will release a foldable laptop using the panel later this year, reports The Elec. LG also supplied the 13.3” panel for the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold from last year.
The display maker may have an even bigger client on the hook – Apple. The Korean publication writes that LG and Apple are working together to develop a new panel that will be used in a foldable MacBook-iPad hybrid. The panel will use Ultra Thin Glass (UTG) instead of polyamide.
Apple is expected to unveil its first foldable smartphone next year and rumors claim that will support a stylus. The foldable laptop should support a stylus as well – the panels LG is supplying to Lenovo and HP support both touch and stylus input.
The 17″ foldable OLED panel that LG introduced at CES 2022
The HP one in particular measures 17” unfolded and 11” folded and it has 4K resolution. LG will reportedly manufacture 10,000 units. It has already made 20,000 units of the panel for Lenovo, which is 13.3” unfolded and 6.2” folded (with 2,048 x 1,536 px resolution).
Apple will need much higher volume than that, of course, so LG Display’s will need time to expand its production lines. It sounds like it will have plenty of time, Display Supply Chain Consultants previously predicted that the foldable MacBook-iPad hybrid may not appear until 2025.