Apple is rumored to be on track to release a mini LED-backlit iPad Pro as well as a new mini-LED MacBook Pro over the next 18 months, with the company having picked up two new industry suppliers.
DigiTimes has noted that two former Apple suppliers, Taiwan’s Zhen Ding Technology and Flexium Interconnect, are slated to make the flexible printed circuit boards for the mini-LED devices.
The suppliers will reportedly compete with South Korean supplier Yong Poong Electronics for the higher shipment ratio of flexible boards required, and are in a position to gain the larger share given their better flexible board manufacturing capability.
The firms are rumored to start small-volume shipments of mini LED-backlit modules in the fourth quarter to support the launch of a new iPad Pro in the first quarter of 2021.
Apple is rumored to be planning the release of a high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display and 5G in 2021. Apple is said to have been planning to launch the device in the fall of 2000, but is reportedly unable to meet the deadline given the COVID-19 health crisis, with multiple sources suggesting a 2021 launch.
Apple is also rumored to be working on both a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro and an updated 16-inch MacBook Pro with a mini-LED display, per noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
The future mini-LED displays will use approximately 10,000 LEDs, with each one below 200 microns in size. Mini-LED will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, offering many of the same benefits as OLED like better wide color gamut, high contrast and dynamic range, and local dimming for truer blacks. Kuo believes the mini-LED technology will “significantly improve productivity and the entertainment experience.”
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.