Apple’s rumored MacBook Ultra is shaping up to be one of the most significant Mac redesigns in years, and a fresh industry report suggests it could land sooner than anyone expected. Research firm Omdia has released a new study on OLED adoption in laptops, and buried inside it are some very specific details about Apple‘s next MacBook.

What screen sizes will the MacBook Ultra come in?

According to the report, Samsung Display will begin supplying OLED panels for Apple’s new MacBook series as early as July 2026, with the devices expected to launch in Q3 2026. That almost certainly means a September debut, likely alongside the iPhone 18 series and the foldable iPhone Ultra.

The Omdia report points to two screen sizes for the MacBook Ultra: 14.3 inches and 16.3 inches. The current MacBook Pro comes in 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch configurations, so the slight size bump likely comes from slimmer bezels and a redesigned chassis.

What makes the OLED display so different?

Apple is not using the same OLED technology found in most laptops or even its own iPhone displays. According to Omdia’s Jerry Kang, the MacBook Ultra will use a hybrid OLED architecture based on oxide TFT and RGB tandem OLED technology.

This combination has never been used in a laptop before, but it’s similar to the display technology already found in the iPad Pro. It is specifically designed to consume less power than both LTPO and single-layer RGB OLEDs. That matters because the MacBook Ultra is also rumored to be significantly thinner than the current MacBook Pro.

Apple would need a major efficiency jump to maintain the battery life its laptops are known for. This new display tech is reportedly how it plans to pull that off. The MacBook Ultra is also expected to be a new tier in Apple’s lineup, sitting above the current MacBook Pro rather than replacing it.

By the end of 2026, Apple could have its MacBook lineup running from the entry-level Neo all the way up to the Ultra, covering more ground than ever before.

ASUS has officially unveiled the new Asus Pad, and honestly, the inspiration is impossible to ignore. From the flat metal chassis and symmetrical bezels to the magnetic keyboard accessories and stylus support, the tablet looks heavily influenced by Apple’s iPad lineup. But underneath the familiar design language sits what could actually be one of the more compelling Android tablets launched this year.

The Asus Pad arrives at a time when Android tablet makers are aggressively trying to close the gap with Apple in premium productivity-focused hardware. While many Android tablets still struggle with app optimization and ecosystem polish, companies increasingly realize that buyers care just as much about display quality, battery life, and hardware design as they do about software exclusives.

And on paper, the Asus Pad checks several important boxes.

An OLED Android tablet focused on entertainment and productivity

The biggest highlight of the Asus Pad is its OLED display. ASUS has equipped the tablet with a high-refresh-rate OLED panel designed to compete directly against premium tablets focused on media consumption, creative work, and productivity.

The company says the tablet supports HDR content, wide colour gamut coverage, and enhanced contrast performance typically associated with OLED technology. Combined with quad-speaker audio and slim bezels, ASUS is clearly positioning the device as both an entertainment machine and a lightweight work companion.

Internally, the Asus Pad uses Qualcomm Snapdragon hardware paired with AI-focused software features integrated across the operating system. ASUS is also heavily emphasizing stylus functionality, multitasking support, and keyboard accessories designed to make the device function more like a laptop replacement.

The design itself feels deliberately premium. The aluminum construction, flat edges, rounded corners, and accessory ecosystem immediately invite comparisons to Apple’s iPad Air and iPad Pro lineup. Even the naming strategy – simply calling it “Asus Pad” – feels unusually direct.

Still, there are meaningful differences. ASUS appears more focused on flexibility and open Android workflows rather than locking users into a tightly controlled ecosystem. The tablet also supports broader file management and sideloading capabilities that some users still prefer over Apple’s more restrictive approach.

Why this tablet actually matters

Android tablets have long suffered from an identity problem. Many devices either target budget buyers or attempt to mimic iPads without offering enough refinement to truly compete. The Asus Pad, however, feels more intentional. Instead of trying to radically reinvent the category, ASUS appears focused on delivering premium hardware at what will likely be a more competitive price than Apple’s OLED iPads.

That matters because OLED tablets are still relatively rare outside the ultra-premium segment. If ASUS prices the device aggressively, it could appeal to users who want high-end display quality for streaming, gaming, creative work, and multitasking without entering iPad Pro pricing territory.

Of course, software optimization will still be the biggest challenge. Apple’s advantage in tablet apps, ecosystem integration, and long-term software support remains difficult to match.

But the broader tablet market is changing quickly. Android manufacturers increasingly understand that people no longer just want cheap tablets. They want premium tablets that happen to run Android.

And despite the very obvious iPad energy here, the Asus Pad might actually deliver exactly that.

The Apple Watch already has one of the best displays on any smartwatch, but the company is reportedly working on something that could make it meaningfully better. 

According to industry sources cited by The Elec, LG Display is currently developing and validating a new display backplane technology. It is called high-mobility oxide, or HMO, and the company is making it on its sixth-generation OLED production lines. 

How does HMO matter for Apple Watch battery life?

Every OLED display needs a backplane, which is the layer of transistors that controls each pixel. 

The current gold standard for Apple Watch panels is LTPO, which improves battery life by allowing the screen to dynamically drop its refresh rate to 1Hz when not being used actively.  

HMO, on the other hand, takes a different approach. It maximizes the inherent low-power advantages of oxide transistor technology without the complex manufacturing steps involved in making LTPO.

The new technology doesn’t require laser crystallization or ion implantation, which, in theory, should result in a display that draws even less power while costing less to produce. In simple words, the Apple Watch models using the technology could last substantially longer than the ones that rely on LTPO technology. 

Apple is evaluating HMO as a potential successor to its LTPO technology for Apple Watch displays. If everything pans out well, we might see the same technology on future iPhone displays. 

When could HMO reach an actual Apple Watch?

The challenge comes down to how quickly the transistors inside the display can switch on and off. 

Today’s mass-produced oxide panels aren’t fast enough for the kind of high-resolution, high-refresh-rate displays Apple demands, and LG Display needs to close that gap significantly before HMO is ready for production at scale. Getting there consistently across a full-sized panel, without sacrificing reliability, is the challenging part.

The report suggests that LG Display could supply the technology for smartwatch applications as early as next year, putting an optimistic timeline for an Apple Watch with an HMO display at 2027 or later. However, I won’t be surprised if it is delayed to 2028.

Keep in mind that everything here comes from industry sources cited by The Elec, and nothing has been confirmed by either Apple or LG Display.

Limited edition gaming hardware has a long history of slapping a commemorative color or accents on existing hardware and calling it a day. 

The ROG Xbox Ally X20 bundle, announced at Computex 2026 to mark the 20th anniversary of ASUS’s ROG brand, does not make that mistake. The upgraded design alone makes it worth a closer look.

What makes the Ally X20 different?

The most immediately visible change is how the handheld looks. The X20 features a translucent black chassis, a callback to the semi-transparent designs of the early 2000s, with a golden structure visible underneath. 

The effect is striking without being ostentatious, which is harder to pull off than it sounds for anything with gold on it. Yes, I’m talking about those limited-edition iPhone mods with unbearable gold designs. 

Beyond design, though, the X20 brings an OLED display, a first for the Ally handheld. The new Nebula HDR 7.4-inch panel supports a 120Hz refresh rate with FreeSync Premium Pro. It can also achieve a peak brightness of 1,400 nits. 

However, that’s not all. The handheld comes with Dolby Vision support and has a 0.2ms response time. Corning DXC glass with anti-reflective coating protects the display and reduces glare by 65%. The thermal design has been completely overhauled to handle OLED’s higher sensitivity to heat.

What else is new?

The X20 introduces TMR joystick technology, which the company claims is more precise than Hall effect sensors, alongside a Transforming D-Pad that switches between four-way and eight-way configurations.

The rear grips get a rubberized coating for added comfort during extended sessions. Under the hood, the AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme processor is paired with 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD.

The X20 ships as a bundle with the ROG XREAL R1 Edition 20 Gaming AR Glasses, which connect via a single USB-C cable. For those catching up, the glasses project a 171-inch virtual screen at 4 meters via micro-OLED, refresh at 240Hz, cover 95% of the focused field of view, and include native 3DoF tracking. 

Asus is yet to announce the pricing and the availability of the new ROG Xbox Ally X20 bundle, but it sure looks like something gaming enthusiasts would want to get their hands on. 

Gaming monitors have spent years chasing one goal: higher refresh rates. Asus just pushed that race into new territory with what it calls the world’s first OLED monitor built specifically for esports players.

Unveiled under the ROG banner, the new Strix OLED XG259QWPG Ace combines a compact 24.5-inch panel with a staggering 540Hz refresh rate, bringing OLED’s rich visuals to a category that has traditionally favored speed over image quality. But that’s not the only unusual display Asus announced. The company also introduced a color ePaper monitor designed for productivity, reading, and low-fatigue viewing. It’s an odd pairing on paper, but both products show how display technology is moving beyond traditional LCD screens.

OLED finally enters the esports arena

For years, competitive gamers have relied on TN panels because they offered the fastest response times available. The trade-off was always image quality. The new XG259QWPG Ace appears to challenge that compromise. Its 1080p OLED panel delivers a 540Hz refresh rate and an ultra-fast response time while retaining the deep blacks and vibrant colors OLED technology is known for. Asus says the latest-generation panel also improves brightness, color volume, and longevity compared to earlier OLED implementations.

What’s particularly interesting is how much of the monitor’s design was reportedly shaped by feedback from professional players. Simple additions, such as measurement markers on the stand and quick-access display settings, may seem minor, but they’re exactly the kinds of details esports athletes obsess over when dialing in tournament setups. The result is a monitor that feels purpose-built for games like Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, and Overwatch 2, where every frame matters.

Asus wants to replace your second screen

The bigger surprise might be the ZenScreen Color ePaper MP13UC. Unlike a conventional portable monitor, this 13.3-inch display uses color ePaper technology, similar in spirit to what you’d find on premium e-readers. The difference is that Asus is positioning it as a secondary productivity display rather than a device solely for reading books. With a high-resolution panel, touchscreen support, and a smoother refresh rate than traditional ePaper screens, it could be an appealing option for reviewing documents, reading research material, or keeping reference notes visible throughout the day.

The absence of blue light and screen flicker is another notable advantage, especially for users who spend hours staring at displays. In an era when people regularly work across two or three monitors, a low-fatigue secondary screen starts to make surprising sense.

One product is built for split-second reactions. The other is designed to reduce screen fatigue. This shows Asus is experimenting with two very different visions for the future of displays — and both are far more interesting than yet another standard LCD monitor.

The battle for premium TV buyers has largely revolved around two technologies in recent years: OLED and Mini LED. OLED has earned a reputation for delivering exceptional contrast and viewing angles, while Mini LED has pushed brightness levels to new heights. The tradeoff has often been deciding which compromise makes more sense for your room and viewing habits.

Sony believes that conversation may be about to change. During a private media briefing in New York City, the company unveiled a new display technology called True RGB, which rethinks how a TV backlight works and aims to combine some of the biggest strengths of both OLED and Mini LED.

Sony says most TVs are designed for the wrong environment

One of the more interesting points Sony made during the briefing had little to do with specifications. According to the company, only 13% of viewers watch television in the kind of pitch black environment often used for product demonstrations, movie theaters, or professional color grading suites. The remaining 87% are watching in living rooms, family rooms, and spaces where lighting conditions constantly change.

Sony’s argument is that many premium displays still struggle to balance brightness, color accuracy, and contrast once they move outside ideal conditions. That is the problem the company says True RGB is designed to solve.

What makes True RGB different?

To understand why Sony believes this technology is important, it helps to look at how most premium TVs currently create color.

In a traditional Mini LED or QLED display, a blue or white light source works alongside quantum dots, phosphor layers, and LCD structures to create the colors that eventually appear on screen. In simple terms, much of the color creation process happens after the light leaves the backlight itself.

True RGB takes a different approach. Instead of relying on a single color light source that is later filtered, Sony uses independently controlled red, green, and blue diodes directly within the backlight system. That means the desired color is created at the light source before it even reaches the LCD layer.

To make this possible, Sony’s professional monitor engineers worked alongside the BRAVIA consumer team to develop a new RGB Backlight Master Drive. According to Sony, the updated driver architecture allows individual control of millions of microscopic red, green, and blue diodes in real time.

The biggest improvement may be color volume

Sony set up a series of side by side demonstrations comparing True RGB against competing flagship displays, including tests using both 100% and 90% raster windows. While several differences were highlighted, color volume stood out as one of the most significant.

The key difference is that True RGB generates pure red, green, and blue light directly at the source rather than relying on a single backlight color that is later filtered through the display. Sony says this allows the system to produce significantly greater color expression while maintaining high brightness levels. According to the company, True RGB delivers twice the color volume of the BRAVIA 9 Mini LED and up to four times the color volume of the BRAVIA 8 OLED.

The result is a display that can become extremely bright while maintaining color saturation rather than washing colors out at higher brightness levels.

Viewing angles were another area Sony focused on

Viewing angles have traditionally been one of OLED’s biggest advantages. Mini LED displays can lose some color accuracy when viewed from the side because much of the color generation happens through the LCD structure.

Sony argues that True RGB helps address that issue because color is being created through both the LED layer and the LCD layer rather than relying on a single stage of the display pipeline. During the demonstrations, the company showed side by side comparisons where colors appeared more consistent when viewed from extreme angles.

Smooth gradation is designed to eliminate visible banding

The third major benefit Sony highlighted was gradation performance. Color banding can become noticeable in skies, sunsets, and other scenes with subtle color transitions, particularly on bright displays.

By combining its image processing technologies with independent control of the red, green, and blue backlight system, Sony says True RGB significantly reduces visible banding and creates smoother transitions between shades.

True RGB is coming to Sony’s flagship TVs first

The first True RGB model will sit at the top of Sony’s lineup as the BRAVIA 9 II. The flagship model will be available in 65, 75, 85, and 115 inch sizes and will feature technologies including RGB Backlight Master Drive Pro and Luminance Booster Pro. Sony says the TV is engineered to match the creative intent and brightness performance of its professional BVM studio monitors.

The technology will not be limited to the flagship tier. Sony also announced the BRAVIA 7 II, which brings True RGB to a broader range of screen sizes spanning from 50 inches to 98 inches. Below those models will sit the company’s OLED lineup, led by the BRAVIA 8 II and the standard BRAVIA 8.

Sony is also tackling reflections

Alongside True RGB, Sony introduced an optional premium anti glare technology called Immersive Black Screen Pro for the BRAVIA 9 II. The company says the patent pending nanostructure layer is designed to absorb reflections while maintaining deep black levels, even in brightly lit rooms.

That focus on real world viewing conditions ties back to the broader argument Sony made throughout the briefing. Rather than optimizing displays solely for ideal environments, the company is positioning True RGB as a technology built around the way most people actually watch television at home.

After seeing the demonstrations firsthand, it is easy to understand why Sony believes True RGB could become the next major step in premium display technology. Whether it ultimately lives up to that promise will have to wait for final retail units, but Sony is clearly betting that the future of TV performance lies somewhere between what OLED and Mini LED currently offer.