Apple uberanalyst Ming-Chi Kuo says mass production of a new iPad Pro with Mini LED display is set to begin in mid- to late-April and that Apple’s iPad lineup will adopt OLED screens in 2022.
Mikey Campbell for AppleInsider:
“According to our latest survey, the current production yield and quality have reached Apple’s high standards, so it is expected that assemblers will start mass production of mini LED iPads after mid-to-late April,” Kuo said in Thursday’s note.
Echoing months-old predictions from Kuo, Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that the new tablets, including a 12.9-inch model with Mini LED screen, would be introduced as soon as April. DigiTimes sources cited a similar production schedule.
Looking ahead, Kuo sees potential integration of OLED screens in the iPad line in 2022, though Mini LED will remain an exclusive feature of Apple’s high-end tablets… “However, according to our latest industry survey, if the iPad adopts an OLED display in 2022, it will be the mid-/low-end iPad Air, while the high-end iPad Pro will still use a mini LED display,” Kuo writes.
MacDailyNews Take: Last month, DigiTimes reported that Apple is expected to unveil 14- and 16-inch Mini LED-backlit MacBook Pros this year with displays supplied by Radiant Opto-Electronics.
Costs for Mini LED backlighting is at least 20-30% higher than that for regular LED backlighting, but, for Apple’s Macs, the company will be enjoying significant savings by upgrading to Apple Silicon, offsetting the higher Mini LED costs.
We’ll be interested to see how Apple handles Mini LED iPad Pro pricing which have always run on ARM-based silicon.
In December 2019, Kuo reiterated that Apple was planning four to six products with mini-LED displays over the next two to three years.