Apple on track to release mini LED iPad Pro in early 2021
New supply chain reports back up previous claims that the iPad Pro will be Apple's first device to use a mini LED display, and that it will launch in the first quarter of 2021.
Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
Following previous rumors, and then subsequent reported delays, Apple again appears to be on course to release its first iPad Pro with a mini LED display.
At one point, Apple was expected to release an iPad Pro with mini LED before the end of 2020. Now, according to Digitimes, the launch was delayed by the impact of the coronavirus, rather than any technical issues.
Fan Chin-yung, president of display manufacturer Epistar, has reportedly said that the coronavirus has meant delays in getting devices approved.
"Large-volume shipments for mini LED chips will be deferred from the end of 2020 as originally scheduled," he said, "to the second or third quarter of 2021 due to delay in product certification."
Nonetheless, he also said that "shipments for mini LED chips will begin to contribute to consolidated revenues in first-quarter 2021."
Based on that and unspecified other industry sources, Digitimes concludes that Apple is expected to launch a 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit iPad Pro, possibly in first-quarter 2021.
Digitimes has an excellent track record with sources within the supply chain, though a much poorer one at extrapolating Apple's plans. This latest report does, however, fit with multiple previous ones that expect an iPad Pro with mini LED to launch in the first quarter of 2021.
Mini LED brings improved color reproduction and contrast ratios. It's also a more power-efficient form of backlighting.
Credit: Andrew O'Hara, AppleInsider
Following previous rumors, and then subsequent reported delays, Apple again appears to be on course to release its first iPad Pro with a mini LED display.
At one point, Apple was expected to release an iPad Pro with mini LED before the end of 2020. Now, according to Digitimes, the launch was delayed by the impact of the coronavirus, rather than any technical issues.
Fan Chin-yung, president of display manufacturer Epistar, has reportedly said that the coronavirus has meant delays in getting devices approved.
"Large-volume shipments for mini LED chips will be deferred from the end of 2020 as originally scheduled," he said, "to the second or third quarter of 2021 due to delay in product certification."
Nonetheless, he also said that "shipments for mini LED chips will begin to contribute to consolidated revenues in first-quarter 2021."
Based on that and unspecified other industry sources, Digitimes concludes that Apple is expected to launch a 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit iPad Pro, possibly in first-quarter 2021.
Digitimes has an excellent track record with sources within the supply chain, though a much poorer one at extrapolating Apple's plans. This latest report does, however, fit with multiple previous ones that expect an iPad Pro with mini LED to launch in the first quarter of 2021.
Mini LED brings improved color reproduction and contrast ratios. It's also a more power-efficient form of backlighting.
Comments
I have high hopes that micro-LED will give us all the best of both worlds. The contrast and color of OLED and the no burn-in of LCD. Here is to hoping anyway.
iPad Pro with miniLED and 8 GB of RAM are my minimum requirements to replace my 2017 iPad Pro 10.5. Would be cool if Apple offered a 16 GB RAM option. Also cool if they turned on the page file in iPadOS, among other things.
I ended up replacing my iPhone 6S Plus with an iPhone 12. The 12 is so so much better. It's been 5 years, so it should be better, but it also gave me some FOMO for not upgrading every 2 years like I used to. Also, it feels 10,000x better than the 6S Plus with its smaller size. But same. Looking much more forward to a new iPad Pro.
I have a 2013 iMac 27. Still going. Hope it goes until the Apple Silicon iMac or maybe an M1X Mac mini comes out. Maybe even this Mac Half Pro! Either way, hoping Apple returns to shipping a branded display. This time with miniLED, something like 21:9 220 ppi 32" display, with front cam, speakers, microphone, USBC and Ethernet in the back.
Yup. That's my assumption. The only drama is whether Apple will call it a A14X and not implement Thunderbolt, or if Apple is feely spiffy, leave it as an M1, implement Thunderbolt, and add extended desktop display features to the iPad Pros. A Smart Connector that can pass USB protocol would be great too.
8 GB will address some of these problems, but you know the drill. We will use all the compute resources available to us and hit the limits eventually. I've used the MagicPlan app that uses AR to map out a floor plan of a house. That's a monster app and process of using Files, spreadsheets, photos, camera, and so forth. MagicPlan can make the fidelity better and better, which requires more and more RAM.
Using a page file can solve some of these types of problems with 8 GB RAM where apps won't be killed, just paged out to storage. Apps that are properly code to freeze their state when killed would be nice, but you can't count on developers supporting everything. For 16 GB, it's aspirational. I want to use my iPad Pro like a PC, and be able to extend the display to an external display, be able to simultaneously display multiple apps at the same time, run as many applications deep as possible.
Photoshop is available for iPadOS. Illustrator is in beta. I use neither, but yes, there are classes of apps that need >8 GB of RAM. iPad Pros not having 8 to 16 GB of RAM is probably one of the reasons why FCP, Logic and Xcode haven't made it to iPads. You can have these kinds of apps including a web browser with web apps running in 8 GB, but without the page file, it will not be pleasant.
When they announced A12Z Bionic, I decided to wait. It looks like I can finally buy one by March.
Disclaimer: I do not need an iPad, I do not need A13X or A14 or whatever. I just want it!
me too.