Apple is rumored to be looking into creating its first mini-LED iPad Pro in the first quarter of 2021 as well as mass produce mini-LED MacBook Pro notebook sin the second quarter.
Per the report:
Apple’s suppliers in Taiwan, including LED chip vendor Epistar, testing and sorting specialist FitTech, SMT service provider Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology, backlight board supplier Zhen Ding Technology, cooling solution provider Auras Technology and process equipment maker All Ring Technology, are all ready to gain growth momentum from upcoming shipments for Apple’s miniLED-backlit devices, the sources said.
The sources continued that Foxconn Technology and Compal Electronics will share the assembly orders for miniLED iPad Pro devices, and MacBook Pro products adopting M1 chipsets will be mainly produced by Quanta Computer and partly by Foxconn.
The report also stated that Apple’s supply chain partner, TSMC, will benefit the most from the devices. The company’s foundry has reportedly landed all the 5 nanometer chip manufacturing orders for both the mini-LED iPad Pro and MacBook Pro units. This, coupled with strong iPhone 12 sales, indicate that 2021 could be a good year for TSMC’s bottom line, and the company’s first quarter revenues are likely to hit a new high.
Per noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, production on the mini-LED displays for the iPad Pro are set to begin in the fourth quarter of 2020, with a launch expected in the first half of 2021. Apple is also believed to be working on new 16.1 and 14.1-inch MacBook Pro models with mini-LED displays, which are expected to be released during the first half of 2021.
Mini-LED displays offer an impressively wide color gamut performance, high contrast, and HDR, and local dimming.
The future MacBook Pro notebooks are expected the use Apple Silicon chips given that the M1 processor is now available.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.