Apple is predicted to introduce a Mini LED version of its 11-inch iPad Pro in 2022, with the company looking to expand deployment of the screen technology through its mobile device lineups.
In a note to investors on Friday, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said he expects the 12.9-inch iPad Pro's Mini LED tech, marketed by Apple as Liquid Retina XDR, to trickle down to the smaller 11-inch model next year.
"We predict that new products equipped with Mini LED displays in 2022 include 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and newly designed MacBook Air," Kuo writes (machine translated).
Apple's first product to sport a Mini LED panel was this year's 12.9-inch iPad Pro that debuted in April. The screen utilizes 10,000 Mini LEDs arranged into 2,596 local dimming zones to achieve extremely high contrast ratios that rival those of OLED panels. Interestingly, Kuo previously predicted Apple to introduce OLED to the iPad line in 2022 with an all new iPad Air.
Kuo in today's note said Apple has tapped Luxshare as its latest Mini LED surface-mount technology provider. The new addition could alleviate reported manufacturing woes and future bottlenecks associated with the advanced screen tech, which Kuo says are related to the SMT production process.
Along with the two iPad Pro models and MacBook Air, Kuo believes Apple will build Mini LED screens into redesigned 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros. Those laptops are anticipated to enter mass production in the third quarter of 2021.
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