DigiTimes: 12.9-inch Mini-LED iPad Pro Arriving Early 2021, Mini-LED MacBook Coming Later

Apple will launch a 12.9-inch mini LED-backlit iPad Pro in early 2021 and a mini LED-backlit MacBook in the second-half of next year, according to DigiTimes.

iPad Pro Mini LED Article
The Taiwan-based industry publication claims Epistar will supply the over-10,000 mini LEDs used in each ‌iPad Pro‌ tablet. Meanwhile, Apple is expected to recruit Osram Opto as another supplier of mini LEDs for use in a new "high-end" MacBook, which lines up with supplier information cited by respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Osram Opto Semiconductors is expected to supply backlight-use mini LED for high-end MacBook in second-half 2021, becoming Apple's second supplier of such chips next to Taiwan-based Epistar, according to industry sources.

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.

Kuo has long predicted that a high-end 12.9-inch ‌‌iPad Pro‌‌ would likely be Apple's first mini-LED product. Kuo believes that production will begin on mini-LED displays for the ‌iPad Pro‌ in the fourth quarter of 2020, though a launch may not come until next year.

Kuo has said a mini-LED version of a 16-inch MacBook Pro is in the works for a possible late 2020 release, and that Apple is also working on a mini-LED 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, although he hasn't provided launch information for the latter beyond suggesting there are several mini-LED devices in the works for 2021. According to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce, Apple suppliers won't begin competing to win manufacturing orders for new 14-inch and 16-inch ‌MacBook Pro‌ models with mini-LED displays until the first quarter of 2021.

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. Mini-LED displays, which use on the order of 1,000 to 10,000 individual LEDs, can offer deeper, darker blacks, brighter brights, richer colors, and better contrast compared to traditional LED-based displays, though the technology comes at a significant increase in cost for the time being.

Related Roundups: iPad Pro, MacBook Pro
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Top Rated Comments

AngerDanger Avatar
62 months ago

A14x. Beast.

iPad. Want. One.

Azrael.
Yeah. It. Looks. Pretty. Cool.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jonnysods Avatar
62 months ago
This can't be true - do you honestly think that they will make a newer, faster and improved iPad next year? This is a bold prediction, really risking their necks on this one.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
k1ckdapro Avatar
62 months ago

Whenever it is, I got no choice but to wait. My 2017 iPad Pro is doing ok but I was saving up for a 12.9" Pro, and the 2020 update was such a total snoozer. Not going to pony up the premium for 1 extra core and a Lidar sensor I'm never going to use. So, better sooner than later!
I have a 2017 iPad Pro 12.9 and see no reason to upgrade it. Still works like a charm.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mariusfanu Avatar
62 months ago

Should I buy MacBook Pro 16" now? Or wait for the Mini-LED display version?
If you can wait I'd wait... The current version is a bit old ?‍♂️
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vyspirit Avatar
62 months ago
Should I buy MacBook Pro 16" now? Or wait for the Mini-LED display version?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
J___o___h___n Avatar
62 months ago

Now let’s see if Apple is smart enough to put the front camera in the right spot this time for the iPad
Totally agreed. I am constantly holding it the wrong way around and moving my head like a fool trying to find if its on the left or the right - and it's always on the side that has my thumb right over it.

I choose to use my iPad in Landscape mode always 100% of the time. I only switch to Portrait if an iPhone-app happens to open and I don't have an option.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)