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

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

by

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.

16inchmacbookpromain
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.

Related Roundups: iPad Pro, MacBook Pro
Tags: DigiTimes, Mini-LED Guide, Economic Daily News
Buyer's Guide: iPad Pro (Neutral), MacBook Pro (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Apparently Cancels Plans for Two New MacBooks

Thursday September 3, 2026 7:12 am PDT by
Apple has canceled plans for a foldable MacBook and a larger OLED MacBook Pro model, according to research firm Omdia. In a new research note, Omdia said Apple has scrapped development of a large foldable MacBook that would have measured between 16.1 and 18 inches when unfolded. It was previously reported that this device had already slipped out of its original 2026 production window, with...
Read Full Article • 94 comments
macOS Golden Gate HDR

macOS Golden Gate Seems to Hint at MacBook Pro With OLED Display

Tuesday September 1, 2026 12:34 pm PDT by
As noted by Broadcasts developer Steven Troughton-Smith, many Liquid Glass interface elements on the macOS Golden Gate beta have an even glassier appearance on certain high-end OLED displays with HDR support than they do on ordinary displays. Apple reportedly plans to release new MacBook Pro or "MacBook Ultra" models with an OLED display by early 2027, so it is likely that macOS Golden Gate...
Read Full Article • 35 comments
macbook ultra

'MacBook Ultra' Coming Soon With Touchscreen and 5 Other Changes

Tuesday August 25, 2026 4:43 am PDT by
Reports and rumors suggest the next high-end MacBook Pro that Apple will release might not be a ‌MacBook Pro‌ at all. It could actually be something altogether new and more exciting – a "MacBook Ultra" – marketed as the company's top-tier laptop offering. The device is likely to sit above the current M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros, rather than replace them, suggesting that they will remain on...
Read Full Article • 71 comments

Top Rated Comments

Misho Maisuradze Avatar
Misho Maisuradze
88 months ago

Why mini LED? Why can’t they give us an OLED screen?
Because they want to get away from ordering Samsungs (competitor) OLED panels + OLED's have screen burn-in issues. Mini-Led is between OLED and Micro-Led, its immune to Burn-in and has closest screen quality to OLED. Next Gen Smarphones will have Micro-Led's but in a couple of years...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
justperry Avatar
justperry
88 months ago

Why mini LED? Why can’t they give us an OLED screen?
Static content on an OLED display is not a good idea.

Wish Microled was around the corner, will probably take another decade.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Rychiar Avatar
Rychiar
88 months ago
How bout a micro-LED watch?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
69Mustang
88 months ago

Because they want to get away from ordering Samsungs (competitor) OLED panels + OLED's have screen burn-in issues. Mini-Led is between OLED and Micro-Led, its immune to Burn-in and has closest screen quality to OLED. Next Gen Smarphones will have Micro-Led's but in a couple of years...
While it's true that Apple probably wants to reduce it reliance on Samsung for OLED panels, this has nothing to do with that. Apple get's OLED panels from Samsung for iPhones. This is a rumor about iPads and MBP's which do no use OLED panels at all.

Also if Apple went with OLED panels in iPads and MBP's, they'd most likely come from LG, not Samsung. Samsung specializes in small panels. LG specializes in larger panels. Pretty much any OLED panel for a TV (Sony for example) or monitor comes from LG. Afaik, Samsung abandoned large panel OLED manufacturing.

As you mentioned, MiniLED has a lot of the benefits of OLED without the downside of burn in. It is an acceptable stopgap until MicroLED is commercially viable at a large scale.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Populus Avatar
Populus
88 months ago

I think the burn in complaint is overblown. There are many devices using OLED and there is not a huge problem that I can see.
I’ve seen a lot of burned OLED displays on the earlier smartphones with such technology, but I haven’t seen an iPhone X with those issues so far. Not a single one. Maybe it’s a better technology, or maybe is soon for that.

What I do see on the new iPhone 11 pro lineup is a green shadow when viewing it from an angle.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
W
whitedragon101
88 months ago
What about the 11” iPad pro ?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments