Apple’s iPad Pro 2021 is reportedly sporting a small LED display in 2021, but that could be a temporary update before it finally switches to OLED for the iPad Pro 2022.
We first heard that Apple will be moving iPads to mini-LED screens at the end of 2019, and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently noted that we will see them as early as 2021. But the rumor is new suggests that Apple will instead crack down on Samsung and LG to make a hybrid. OLED panels for iPads starting in 2022, according to SamMobile.
These hybrid OLED panels appear to be thinner than the standard OLED screens, with Samsung reportedly calling them ‘Ultra Thin’ (UT) panels, while LG calls them ATO (Advanced Thin OLED). Samsung is said to be already preparing to begin the rollout for Apple, a source told SamMobile.
Mini LED … and then OLED?
It’s no surprise that Apple is switching to OLED displays on its iPads, as it already uses Samsung OLED screens over the iPhone 12 line – the first iPhones to move away from LCDs.
But it would be interesting for Apple to switch from small LEDs so quickly. Apple reportedly invested in a new facility in Taiwan to make LED mini-displays in mid-2020, and we have yet to see a product reveal the new screens.
Instead, Apple may only use OLED screens in its high-end iPads and use mini LEDs in its cheaper tablets = or MicroLED, as SamMobile says, which is sort of variation of lighting technology, throwing more uncertainty about which will end in the iPad models.
Tro PhoneArena