Will the screens of AI PCs undergo a major shift in 2026? Is OLED becoming even more appealing?

Opening a laptop on the subway to watch a video for a while, whether the screen feels comfortable or not is something you can genuinely tell at a glance. For a light user like me, processor specs are too convoluted; the screen experience feels more like something I actually use every day. I recently came across a set of laptop display data, and it feels like high-end laptops are about to get even more competitive, with a very clear direction for that competition.

First, looking at the overall trend, global laptop display panel shipments are expected to grow 7% year over year in 2025. Among them, high-end MiniLED and OLED panels are growing even faster, reaching 19%. The reasons driving this wave of growth are quite practical as well: advance orders before memory price hikes, enterprise device upgrades, the expansion of AI PCs, and the concentrated launch of new products—all of these forces are pushing things forward together.

The most critical factor here is still the AI PC. Gartner’s forecast is pretty aggressive: AI PC shipments will reach 77.8 million units in 2025, accounting for 31% of the entire PC market. By 2026, that number will rise further to 143 million units, with market share climbing to 55%. Put simply, many new computers will use AI as a selling point, and high-end displays will naturally become standard along the way—kind of like casually upgrading your milk tea to a large size when you place the order.

But by 2026, the picture changes. Overall laptop panel shipments are expected to decline 5% year over year, and the broader market will begin to cool. Yet high-end displays won’t slump along with it; instead, a clear split is emerging. MiniLED is expected to drop sharply by 43%, while OLED will continue to grow, with an estimated year-over-year increase of 33%.

The logic behind this isn’t hard to understand. On the MiniLED side, affected by model refresh adjustments and cost control, manufacturers will be more cautious and won’t charge ahead as aggressively as they did in the past two years. On the OLED side, amid cost pressure and rising memory prices, it will continue to take premium market share away from LCD and MiniLED. For ordinary consumers, this change is pretty straightforward: when looking at high-end thin-and-light laptops in the future, the chances of running into OLED will only get higher and higher.

There’s another point as well: the MacBook Pro may add even more fuel to this trend. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has reiterated that the MacBook Pro equipped with an OLED touchscreen will be launched between late 2026 and early 2027. If this product line does materialize, Apple’s ability to drive the market will very likely be significant, and the high-end laptop market’s acceptance of OLED could accelerate even further, spreading all at once like a viral short-video meme.

If you’re thinking about replacing your laptop soon, my advice is actually very simple. If you care about stable brightness and the experience of certain specific models, you can still keep an eye on MiniLED, but don’t assume it will remain the mainstream forever. If you care more about visual experience, thin-and-light positioning, and the comfort of everyday binge-watching or photo editing, then OLED deserves priority attention—especially if you don’t like obsessing over specs and just want something that looks pleasing the moment you open it.

At the end of the day, this wave of change isn’t just about competing on specs; it’s about manufacturers choosing sides again when it comes to premium experience. AI PCs have given high-end laptops an extra push upward, but what really keeps users around is still the screen they stare at every day. For people like us, who scroll a bit during the commute and casually watch some content at night, the more hassle-free the screen is, the more worth buying the laptop becomes.