O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: analyst

  • Rumor: Apple still on track to bring 12.9-inch iPad Pro with mini LED display to market in Q1 2021

    The word on the grapevine is that is you were hoping for a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with mini LED display technology in early 2021, you’re in luck.

    Per recent rumors, the tablet is thought to still be on track for Q1 of 2021, the report focusing broadly on Apple’s efforts to diversify its supply chain for displays and touch panels. Supplier BOE has reportedly gained approval to supply OLED screens for the iPhone lineup, while GIS will produce touch models for the new iPad Pro with mini LED, expected to be “launched in first-quarter 2021.”

    While this isn’t the first time that reports have indicated the the mini LED iPad Pro is en route for Q1 2021, it serves as continued supply chain corroboration that the transition is still moving ahead on schedule.

    The report also indicates that the transition to a mini LED display will begin with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. This also indicates that the 11-inch iPad Pro will stick with LCD panels for some time, as there’s no word as to when the 11-inch iPad Pro might transition to mini LED.

    Apple is also rumored to be bringing mini LED display technology to two new MacBook Pro models in 2021. The notebooks are rumored by reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo to incorporate an all-new form factor design and feature mini LED panels.

    Mini LED is a new form of backlighting that is used for LCD screens. It includes many of the same benefits as OLED, but oftentimes can offer increased brightness, improved power efficiency, and a lower risk of burn-in. This is why Apple plans to use it in its larger-screened devices, rather than OLED.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and DigiTimes

  • Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo points towards possible Apple Car launch in 2025 at the earliest

    If you were hoping for an Apple Car in the next few years, you might have to wait a bit longer.

    Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated that the Apple Car could arrive at any point before 2025, warning that many elements are still being worked on.

    A December supply chain report has claimed that a number of Taiwanese car part factories were rushing shipments to Apple for a potential launch in September 2021. The report was considered unlikely, and lacked hard-defined specifications of the vehicle to the perceived short lead time for what’s considered an enormous project.

    In a recent note to investors, Ming-Chi Kuo of TF Securities warns against believing the hype surrounding the report, which has helped push up the value of “concept stocks” for companies supposedly linked to Apple’s vehicular efforts. The buying of the shares in the related companies is a “knee-jerk reaction that could be short-lived,” with Kuo suggesting there are at least three reasons why investors shouldn’t do so right now.

    Within the report, Kuo has stated that the “current development schedule of Apple Car is not clear.” If it were to start in 2020 and if “everything goes well,” the potential launch for a self-driving car could be between 2025 and 2027, by the firm’s reckoning.

    “Due to changes in the EV/self-driving market and Apple’s high quality standards, we would not be surprised if Apple Car’s launch schedule is postponed to 2028 or later,” Kuo writes.

    Specifications and suppliers in reports and rumors are “only speculations by the market and do not involve actual Apple Car suppliers,” according to the note. It’s also thought that the “still evolving” nature of the technical specifications makes it “too early to talk about the final specs” prior to the product’s projected launch.

    TF Securities cited that “the key success factor for Apple Car is not hardware, but big data/AI,” an area that Apple has “not demonstrated significant” competitive advantages for in its existing products.

    In spite of the 2021 launch claim, other analysts offered their opinions as to the Apple Car release date. These opinions have largely centered around “next-level” monocell battery designs in a car due in 2024.

    The Apple Car project, formerly known as “Project Titan,” has ranged from self-driving vehicle systems to car design. Apple’s efforts seem to be revolving around an electric car design, though the hiring of experts and acquisition of startups suggest it could incorporate a number of other technologies.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider

  • Rumor: Apple looking to introduce Mini-LED iPad Pro, MacBook Pro units in first half of 2021

    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.

    Via MacRumors and DigiTimes

  • Rumor: Apple to bring 12.9-inch iPad Pro with miniLED backlighting to market in early 2021

    Once again, a leak from the supply chain offers some interesting tidbits as to what might be down the line.

    A report issued on Monday supports earlier predictions of a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with miniLED screen. This would be the first Apple product with this backlighting technology.

    MiniLED screens use the same IPS-LCD panels Apple uses for its existing iPads and MacBooks, but with a greatly improved backlighting system:

    By using very many more smaller LEDs for backlighting, it provides greater control over small sections of the screen. This offers many of the same benefits as OLED: higher contrast ratio, increased brightness, deeper blacks, and better power efficiency. But an LCD screen with miniLED backlighting is actually better than OLED in a couple of respects: it’s less prone to burn-in and has a longer life.

    Per Digitimes, Apple supplier Epistar is said to be providing the chips in question:

    Apple is expected to launch 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit iPad Pro in early 2021, with each tablet to use over 10,000 mini LEDs solely supplied by Epistar, the sources said. Epistar is ready to start production of mini LEDs by modifying its blue-light LED chipmaking equipment for producing such mini LEDs in third-quarter 2020, the sources noted.

    The report also indicated that Apple is working to bring two additional suppliers – Osram Opto Semiconductors and China-based Sanan Optoelectronics – on board.

    Such a move aligns with a not Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s July report stating that a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with miniLED screen could be seen in Q1 2021.

    It’s entirely possible that the exact timing remains uncertain at this stage as Apple seeks to prioritize production of the delayed iPhone 12 models, so either Q4 this year or Q1 next year would seem plausible at this point.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and Digitimes

  • Rumor: Apple may release Apple Silicon-powered 12-inch MacBook in late 2020

    The Apple Silicon-powered MacBook that you’ve been waiting for could arrive this year.

    A recent leak via The China Times has indicated that the first Mac released operating under ARM-based CPUs could be a relaunched 12-inch MacBook.

    This could also translate to a cheaper notebook, and a leak in July indicated that a new computer could start around $799. This would also include a Retina display, and be centered around the A14X chip, codenamed “Tonga.” The new machine could also weigh in at less than 2.2 pounds, and feature a battery life of 15 to 20 hours given the energy-sipping nature of the ARM processor architecture.

    Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has offered a different opinion, stating that a 13.3-inch MacBook Pro would be first out of the gate. Kuo predicted, in March, that the Apple Silicon 13.3-inch MacBook Pro would go into mass production in the fourth quarter of 2020, shipping either in time for Christmas or sometime in early 2021.

    As always, stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via The Mac Observer, The China Times, and @komiya_kj