New MacBook Pros with mini LED unlikely to launch at WWDC

A supplier report suggests Apple won't be able to begin mass production of MacBook Pros with mini LED until the end of 2021, bringing WWDC's hardware announcement rumors into some question.

A report from Digitimes Asia says Osram Opto Semiconductors will become a new supplier of mini LED for Apple. They would supply the display technology for Apple's next MacBook Pro models, but those wouldn't be available until the second half of 2021.

"Judging from the supply of mini LED backlighting applications, volume production of the 14-inch MacBook Pro is likely to begin in the fourth quarter of 2021," the sources told Digitimes Asia. "The 16-inch model will start in the first quarter of 2022."

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that Apple intends to move many products in its lineup to the mini LED backlight technology, but it seems supply constraints will delay this transition. Rumors indicate Apple will announce a MacBook Pro during its WWDC keynote, but this supply chain report throws a wrench into that rumor.

Apple could announce a redesigned "14-inch MacBook Pro" with a mini LED display, but the DigiTimes report says this computer wouldn't be ready to ship until the end of 2021. Apple is even less likely to announce the 16-inch MacBook Pro with mini LED if it isn't shipping until the start of 2022.

The hardware announcement rumors are spurred by the imminent release of Apple's next-generation M-series processor. Leakers like Jon Prosser believes Apple will reveal the upgraded chipset and announce pro hardware at the same time.

The unverified rumors haven't designated which MacBook Pro will be announced, so Apple may release a 16-inch MacBook Pro with no design changes and the so-called "M1X" inside. Such a move would mimic Apple's initial Apple Silicon rollout in the fall of 2020.

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5 Comments

indiekiduk 386 comments · 16 Years

About 3 years ago

Those supply chain analysts are always right aren't they?

Eric_WVGG 969 comments · 8 Years

The conspicuous absence of Micro-LED from the 11" iPad Pro is a pretty good signal that they're nowhere close to ready to deploy Micro-LED at scale, and at best it would only be an option on 16" MacBook Pros, not standard.

I believe it is near-certain that ARM 16" laptops will be announced next week, Micro-LED be damned. My chequebook is ready.

k2kw 2079 comments · 11 Years

Eric_WVGG said:

The conspicuous absence of Micro-LED from the 11" iPad Pro is a pretty good signal that they're nowhere close to ready to deploy Micro-LED at scale, and at best it would only be an option on 16" MacBook Pros, not standard.

I believe it is near-certain that ARM 16" laptops will be announced next week, Micro-LED be damned. My chequebook is ready.

Yep, just like FaceId is on the IPadPros but not yet on any macs. The computers will keep TouchId for a while.

I expect big announcements about IPadOS. MacOS and ipadOs will continue getting closer but the hardware lines will be distinct.

michelb76 698 comments · 8 Years

Eric_WVGG said:

The conspicuous absence of Micro-LED from the 11" iPad Pro is a pretty good signal that they're nowhere close to ready to deploy Micro-LED at scale, and at best it would only be an option on 16" MacBook Pros, not standard.

I believe it is near-certain that ARM 16" laptops will be announced next week, Micro-LED be damned. My chequebook is ready.

This. Also, they are not suddenly going to release The Machine That Everyone Has Been Waiting For. They worked for several years the new entry-level iMac and it's still pretty similar. So maybe in a year or two?

verne arase 479 comments · 11 Years

Uggh ... now I have to decide whether I really need a M1x processor now or if I want to wait for a mini-LED display.

Given my portable use case, I may just buy a M1 or M2 low end laptop and simply sell it when the mini-LED 16" comes out.

I don't do much heavy duty processing on my laptop (normally), but do want the additional screen real-estate. Unfortunately, I was really clever and sold my 2019 16" core-i9 in preparation for the transition - which I expected to be at WWDC.

My primary is a 2020 iMac 5K which due to the T2 chip and core-i9 seems to be all I need for my heavy lifting.

I intend to use the laptop as backup for my 2020 iMac when it's down - down including booted on Windows running stuff like Mass Effect Legendary Edition - and for stuff like family zoom calls. But TBH I'd rarely use the M1x to its full potential unless it could game - which let's face it a 32 core GPU would make a possibility. But it would probably never have the ability to game in Windows - which the 2020 iMac can do quite nicely even at full resolution 5120x2880 using 4K assets.

Makes me wonder though if a M1x would do my transcodes faster - which seems to be dictated by the speed of the VideoToolbox IP hardware in the T2 chip - which is probably similar to the hardware on the Mx SoC. If it could do that faster, it might be worth moving my video work over to the MacBook.

Anyone know if HEVC transcodes go any faster on M1 equipped Mac vs. those equipped with a T2 chip? I had assumed that they would be about the same speed, but we all know what happens when you assume, right?