Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Mini-LED display will be launched in the first quarter of 2021, according to a new report from DigiTimes. The report alleges that Apple has diversified its supply chain for displays and touch panels, with BOE finally getting permission to provide OLED panels for the iPhone and GIS moving to provide touch panels for both iPhone and the upcoming iPad Pro.
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GIS agreed investments of NT $ 2.198 billion (US $ 76.3 million) and NT $ 1.421 billion proposed by its subsidiary in Chengdu, China in August and November 2020 respectively, with the fund to focus expanded production capacity for integrated friction models used in tablets, the sources. said. The subsidiary will invest a further NT $ 753 million to improve product line automation. The subsidiary is currently making integrated touchscreen models for iPads and MacBooks, the sources said.
In addition to iPhones, GIS will release integrated touchscreen models for 9iPad Pro 12.9-inch miniLED-backlit panels that will launch in the first quarter of 2021, the sources noted.
Apple has been rumored for a while to prepare a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display, which will bring several improvements over standard iPad displays, including darker smokers, brighter scenes, richer colors , and better differentiation. Using thousands of individual LEDs to illuminate the display, the technology should deliver many of the advantages that OLED displays offer but without some of the disadvantages of that technology.
Previous reports, including from renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, have revealed that the Mini-LED iPad Pro will launch sometime in the first half of 2021, but a report today from DigiTimes indicates that the first debate is expected early in that period.
Looking beyond the next-generation iPad Pro, a couple of reports have said that Apple is looking at switching the line to OLED display technology, although it looks like Apple will only be moving briefly to Mini-LED before switching to OLED. One rumor said that the OLED will launch the iPad Pro in the second half of 2021, but a more recent report maintains that the switch to 2022 is unlikely to happen at the earliest.