DigiTimes: 12.9-Inch iPad Pro With Mini-LED Display No Longer Expected to Ship Until At Least April

Apple will not launch a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display until at least the second quarter of the year, which begins on April 1, according to industry sources cited by DigiTimes.

iPad Pro Mini LED
From today's report:

Epistar has become the exclusive supplier of miniLED chips to be used in 12.9-inch miniLED-backlit iPad Pro, with nearly 50% of the corresponding production capacity booked up for the tablet and volume shipments to begin in the second quarter of 2021, the sources said.

Last week, DigiTimes reported that the new 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ could launch at the end of March, or early in the second quarter. The publication is now shifting, explicitly stating that mass shipments for the new iPad will begin in the second quarter. At the same time last week, speculation grew that Apple will hold an event on Tuesday, March 23.

That event, yet to be confirmed, is rumored to include the launch of AirTags, AirPods 3, and new ‌iPad Pro‌ models. If ‌DigiTimes‌ is to be believed, however, the new 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ with a mini-LED display will not launch until at least April.

Apple has several products in the pipeline with mini-LED displays. Compared to regular LCDs, mini-LED offers higher brightness, improved contrast ratio, and is expected to become the new standard amongst Apple's future products, including a 14-inch MacBook Pro.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Buyer's Guide: iPad Pro (Neutral)

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Top Rated Comments

totom_ Avatar
51 months ago
DigiTimes saying there is no chance it launches before April is probably the most convincing proof yet that it will be announced before April 1st.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rp2011 Avatar
51 months ago
I haven’t pulled the trigger on a M1 Mac because I want to see what the new iPad Pro has to offer. I truly believe the iPad Pro is the future of the Mac. It can technically run both iOS and Mac software with touch and pencil support, which I think it eventually will.
The MacBook and regular iPads can stay as they are to please those that are devoted to those form factors, but Apple should run with the iPad Pro and give it all the capabilities to make it the perfect mobile computer, which I think it almost is.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LFC2020 Avatar
51 months ago
the event is apparently happening in April now.

[MEDIA=twitter]1372127918588059648[/MEDIA]
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Bug-Creator Avatar
51 months ago
Just 2 weeks till April, no serious leaks of pre production units/parts, no press release, no invites....


Yeah I'm gonna predict nothing (new) gonna ship till April !!!!!!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chester Stone Avatar
51 months ago

I haven’t pulled the trigger on a M1 Mac because I want to see what the new iPad Pro has to offer. I truly believe the iPad Pro is the future of the Mac. It can technically run both iOS and Mac software with touch and pencil support, which I think it eventually will.
The MacBook and regular iPads can stay as they are to please those that are devoted to those form factors, but Apple should run with the iPad Pro and give it all the capabilities to make it the perfect mobile computer, which I think it almost is.
iPad Pro is not the future of the Mac.

Besides the fact that management has repeatedly stated the two serve different purposes and make no sense to combine, you still can't code on the iPad Pro and you still can't develop software, iOS apps or otherwise.

The way many programmers are able to streamline their creation is through a shortcut-heavy, full-sized, full-powered keyboard, and low-level access to the console and directory through the terminal, homebrew, git, installing things like python, node, etc. The iPad, a device geared towards consumers, doesn't allow low-level access, and you still can't turn off animations, freely navigate the file system, and crawl it via command line. It's just not built to be a device from which you develop, and no amount of touch control is going to enable that.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
0924487 Avatar
51 months ago

Unless you are doing video editing and playing high end 3D games it makes no sense to get iPad pro.

The iPad Air and basic iPad is well okay for basic stuff.
Taking hand written notes, doing assignments and reading papers in university, especially for STEM, require a big screen. Bigger the better. It’s either the IPP or Surface Book.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)