Apple may discontinue production of mini LED iPad Pro next year

Since 2021, Apple has initiated the incorporation of mini LED panels in its iPad and MacBook lineups; however, the expansion of their usage has not been widespread. The primary reason is Apple’s future transition to OLED panels for tablets and laptops, which is anticipated to impact the shipment volumes of products equipped with mini LED screens.

As reported by Wccftech, Apple has decided to discontinue the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini LED display next year, a move that is expected to be superseded by an OLED model. According to the latest report from TrendForce, this cessation is predicted to influence the shipping numbers for mini LED panels significantly, with a projected year-over-year decrease of 39% in laptops featuring mini LED displays and a 15.6% reduction for the mini LED version of the iPad Pro.

The release timeline for the OLED iPad Pro remains unclear; Apple may be recalibrating its supply chain or production strategies, causing a postponement from this year to the next. Originally, the OLED iPad Pro was slated for launch in the final quarter of this year but has been supplanted by Mac products embedded with the M3 series chips.

Apple is likely to employ Hybrid OLED technology, which amalgamates the characteristics of both rigid and flexible OLED panel technologies. Furthermore, Apple aims to implement a dual-stack structure in the OLED panels for iPads, contrasting the single-stack structures typically used in most smartphones. This innovation would potentially double the brightness and quadruple the lifespan. The substrate materials differ between rigid and flexible OLED panels; the former uses glass, while the latter employs plastic, primarily polyimide, which is encapsulated for protection. Hybrid OLED technology would combine the glass substrate of rigid OLED panels with the thin-film encapsulation of flexible OLED panels.

In addition to the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models, Apple may also introduce a new 14.1-inch iPad Pro.