The upcoming MacBook Ultra was never going to be cheap, with an all-new sleeker design, OLED, and touchscreen – even before the price increases driven by higher memory costs. A new report now suggests the manufacturing cost could be pushed yet higher
Apple typically likes to have multiple suppliers for components in order to maximize the reliability of display and allow it to negotiate the best possible prices, and it had hoped to do so for the MacBook Ultra. However, a supply chain source says Apple has decided to use just one display supplier …
Apple has three display partners across its product range: Samsung, LG, and BOE. The latter has so far only made displays for the company’s lower-end products, leaving higher-end screen orders split between Samsung and LG.
The MacBook Ultra will require the most sophisticated display ever fitted to an Apple product. Combining tandem OLED and a touchscreen into the larger sizes needed for laptops is no easy task, and a new supply chain report indicates that Apple has made the decision to exclusively source these from Samsung.
The Elec reports that LG hasn’t been able to hit the volume requirements Apple sought.
