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.

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.

20 Comments

rorwessels 13 Years · 81 comments

About 3 years ago

So just to be clear, this is mini-LED which is just a backlighting method, and not micro-LED right? Not sure what the iPad Pro uses right now, but it’s pretty impressive. I have lost track of what devices use LCD vs OLED tech.

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.

rob55 15 Years · 1291 comments

rorwessels said:

So just to be clear, this is mini-LED which is just a backlighting method, and not micro-LED right? Not sure what the iPad Pro uses right now, but it’s pretty impressive. I have lost track of what devices use LCD vs OLED tech.

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.

Yes, that is correct. The upcoming iPad Pro is rumored to be mini-LED. The current iPad (Pro) backlighting is edge-lit, and the new mini-LED tech will allow for full-array backlighting, the benefits of which are pretty obvious.

foregoneconclusion 12 Years · 2857 comments

If it does turn out to be mini-LED, it will be interesting to see how many individual mini-LEDs Apple packs into the display. There isn't really a standard size for an individual mini-LED, so there's a fairly wide range of numbers that are possible relative to iPad Pro screen sizes.

tht 23 Years · 5654 comments

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

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.

tmay 11 Years · 6456 comments

tht said:

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

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 was set to purchase an iPhone 12, but will keep my iPhone 7 Plus until this fall, just so I can see what Apple is shipping as far as iPad's, and iMac's this year, both of which would be of much more interest to me. I can easily wait until the iPhone 13, but my iMac is a 2014 and getting old in the tooth, and I want to replace my first generation iPad 12.9 inch. It would be nice to see the iMac Pro with a mini LED display as well.