Apple is rumored to launch a new iPad Pro in 2021, reportedly with a 12.9-inch mini LED display and a mini LED MacBook, potentially with Apple Silicon in the second half of the year.
DigiTimes claims Epistar will supply Apple with the 10,000+ mini LEDs used in each iPad, while Osram Opto is contracted to supply Apple with mini LEDs for use in a new high-end MacBook.
Osram Opto Semiconductors is expected to supply backlight-use mini LED for high-end MacBook in the second-half of 2021, becoming Apple’s second supplier of such chips next to Taiwan-based Epistar, according to industry sources.
Apple is expected to launch a 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit ”ŒiPad Pro”Œ in early 2021, with each tablet to use over 10,000 mini LEDs solely supplied by Epistar, the sources said. Epistar is ready to start production of mini LEDs by modifying its blue-light LED chipmaking equipment for producing such mini LEDs in third-quarter 2020, the sources noted. via DigiTimes
Ming-Chi Kuo has previously said Apple’s first mini-LED based display device would likely be a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with production rumored to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020 with a release early next year.
Ming-Chi Kuo has previously said Apple is working on a mini-LED version of the 16-inch MacBook Pro, which is expected to be released in late 2020 and potentially could be unveiled at Apple’s rumored October event, where the iPhone 12 series and Apple Silicon MacBook are expected to be released. Kuo has also said Apple is working on a mini LED-based 14.1 inch MacBook Pro although hasn’t provided much information on the launch.
Mini LED-based displays have various benefits from a production standpoint, allowing thinner and lighter products, darker blacks and brighter, richer, and more vibrant colors while sharing many benefits of OLED panels which are found on the latest Apple iPhones.
