Kuo: 12.9-Inch iPad Pro and 16-Inch MacBook Pro With Mini-LED Displays to Launch in Second Half of 2020

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Apple is planning four to six products with mini-LED displays over the next two to three years, including a high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro with an A14X chip in the third quarter of 2020 and a refreshed 16-inch MacBook Pro in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Apple 16 inch MacBook Pro 111319 big
In a research note with TF International Securities today, obtained by MacRumors, Kuo said the mini-LED displays will "significantly improve productivity and the entertainment experience" without elaborating.

LG Display and GIS will be the most significant benefactors of these mini-LED products starting next year, according to Kuo.

Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones, including good wide color gamut performance, high contrast and dynamic range, and local dimming for truer blacks.

Kuo has also previously said that future iPad and MacBook displays will each use approximately 10,000 LEDs, compared to 576 in Apple's upcoming Pro Display XDR. Each LED would be below 200 microns in size.

Apple is widely rumored to refresh the iPad Pro in spring 2020, and if so, a new 12.9-inch model in fall 2020 would certainly be soon after.

Update: DigiTimes reports similar: "For the new MacBook said to adopt mini LED backlighting and to be released in 2020, its backlighting module reportedly will be supplied by Taiwan-based Zhen Ding Tech, the sources noted."

Related Roundups: iPad Pro, MacBook Pro 16"
Tags: Ming-Chi Kuo, TF International Securities
Buyer's Guide: 12.9" iPad Pro (Buy Now), 16" MacBook Pro (Don't Buy)
Related Forums: MacBook Pro, iPad

Top Rated Comments

Nacho98 Avatar
Nacho98
19 months ago
Can't wait for all the posts about how mini LED is going to solve all the LCD and OLED problems only to find in a year that mini LED has a bunch of problems of its own
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThisBougieLife Avatar
ThisBougieLife
19 months ago
Ah crap now I regret getting the 2019 16”
:( Only partly kidding.

“Around the corner” syndrome is hard to
overcome.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
aevan Avatar
aevan
19 months ago

Can't wait for all the posts about how mini LED is going to solve all the LCD and OLED problems only to find in a year that mini LED has a bunch of problems of its own
That's MicroLED. MicroLED will solve some of the biggest issues of both technologies. It will be self-emissive like OLED which means insane contrasts and amazing viewing angles, but it will also have peak brightness of LCD and no burn-in issues. It will be a big step forward.

However, that is not coming soon. Mini-LED is something in between. It is, actually, close to standard LED LCD, it's just it has much smaller LED backlights that will allow better contrast than standard LED LCD screens. So, they are still backlight screens, unlike OLED/MicroLED screens.

They are very expensive to make, though, so I'm not sure if that is really coming so soon.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BigBoy2018 Avatar
BigBoy2018
19 months ago

But I just bought the new 16" MBP...!
Late 2020. Whatever made you think that after you bought your mbp that Apple would suddenly stop doing a yearly release?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
827538 Avatar
827538
19 months ago
Seems like 2020 will be when all the good stuff is coming.

Redesigned iPhone with X55 modem (and high refresh rate display?)
New Macbooks (802.11ax and high refresh rate display?)
New iPads
New iMac possibly?

I’m not a Beats user myself but my wife has been waiting what feels like forever for Beats Studio 4 headphones - another 2020 release?
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Freida Avatar
Freida
19 months ago
I was hoping for iPad Pro update to be within the first half of 2020. :(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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