Rumors of the next-generation iPad Pro with OLED displays have been circulating, this report is no exception. According to the Korean website The Elec, Apple suppliers will begin mass production of the upcoming models with larger OLED displays in the first quarter of 2024. This means that we can expect to see larger displays across both of the existing sizes for the iPad Pro, going from 11 and 12.9 inches to 11.1 and 13 inches, respectively.
OLED displays have been the standard across the current lineup of both Apple Watch and iPhone models, save for the iPhone SE (3rd generation). Because OLED displays have been so expensive nowadays, LCDs had been the standard on both the smaller and larger iPad Pro models until 2021 when Apple brought the Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED) display to the larger iPad Pro. Mini-LED displays are an advanced version of traditional LCDs in that it offers improved contrast ratio, brightness levels, and color accuracy; however, they do suffer “blooming” issues, which is especially noticeable with white text on a black background. Because the pixels are individually lit in an OLED display, which eliminates the need for a backlight, you’ll get far better contrast ratio, brightness levels, and color accuracy.
Currently, both the current iPad Pro and MacBook Pro models feature displays with ProMotion technology that dynamically refreshes from 24 to 120 Hz. With OLED displays, we could see refresh rates as low as 10 Hz, which is comparable to the iPhone 14 Pro’s displays that use ProMotion technology.
The iPad Pro was last updated back in October 2022 with a few improvements across the board, including the M2 chip, Apple Pencil Hover, WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3, and ProRes recording. Because Apple usually refreshes the iPad Pro on a 1.5-year cycle, it’s logical that we could see the next hardware refresh around the April-May 2024 timeframe.
