Supply Chain Reports Back Rumors of MacBook Pro and iPad Pro With Mini-LED Displays in 2020

Yesterday, in a research note shared with MacRumors, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple is planning four to six products with mini-LED displays over the next two to three years, including a 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.

Kuo said LG Display and Taiwanese manufacturer GIS will be the most significant benefactors of these mini-LED products starting next year.

Now, those mini-LED plans have been backed by two Taiwanese publications in DigiTimes and the Economic Daily News, with both outlets also reporting that GIS will be a key supplier of mini-LED-related components.

"Apple will introduce a 12.9-inch iPad Pro series featuring mini-LED backlit displays in 2020, with related suppliers set to kick off shipments in the third quarter, according to industry sources," reports DigiTimes, which in a separate report added that Apple also plans to release a new MacBook with a mini-LED display next year.

Likewise, the Economic Daily News reported that Apple will tap GIS for mini-LED display module assembly for an upcoming iPad.

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.

iPads and MacBooks currently use LCDs.