Rumor | Apple's upcoming OLED iPad is one of the latest victims of the global supply-chain crisis

Apple is currently rumored to switch to OLED for the display of its next-gen tablets. These iPad variants are, however ironically, expected not to be of the Pro series, which may carry on with their mini-LED trend instead. Now, TheElec claims that the panels on these upgraded vanilla slates are to be of 10.86 and 12.9 inches in diagonal length. However, it now seems one of these has met with some adversity.

The Korean media outlet asserts that both rumored OLED iPads are now in the works; however, this process has recently been suspended in the case of the smaller model, as Apple is less than happy with the supplies available for its production.

It seems that Samsung, charged with the supply of both next-gen iPads' premium displays, is unable to provide the exact type of 10.86-inch panels Apple would prefer. They are made of "dual-stack tandem-structure" OLED, as opposed to the single-stack counterparts typically found in other products such as smartphones.

Apple has reportedly specified this type of OLED as it is rated to enhance brightness and display longevity in the resulting iPad. Furthermore, the Cupertino behemoth wants the same panels to be LTPO, for improved power efficiency, on top of that. 

Therefore, the alleged 10.86-inch iPad's production is now at risk of "significant" delays until Samsung can turn up the OLED sheets that match Apple's exacting ideals for its oneday tablet. Meanwhile, its putative larger sibling's development is apparently free of similar issues. 

Both new iPads are said to launch in 2023 at the earliest, although it is now possible one of them at least will arrive even later along this projected timeline.