Apple is always striving to improve the important elements of its device lineup, including the raw specifications.
That can sometimes mean switching technologies to reach that goal. We saw Apple adopt an OLED display for its Apple Watch before finally making the leap in its iPhone lineup (at least for the high-end models for now). And word on the street has been for quite some time now that Apple is eyeing mini-LED as the next leap forward for its chosen display technology.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has stated as much in the past, saying earlier this year that the expectation at this point is that Apple will adopt mini-LED technology for a standalone display first, then move on to new iPad models and a MacBook after that. And now the analyst is back with the same outlook.
According to Kuo (via MacRumors), Apple is planning to launch a “high-end” iPad and MacBook, both of which will be equipped with a mini-LED display each. If that does pan out, and that is Apple’s plan right now, then Kuo expects these devices to arrive sometime between the end of 2020 and in the middle of 2021.
Kuo says that the new displays will each use 10,000 LEDs, which is compared to the 576 LEDs that are present in Apple’s upcoming Pro Display XDR. Each of those LEDs are said to be 200 microns in size — a notable decrease in size compared to that aforementioned, expensive standalone display.
To line this up with Kuo’s past statements, he has said in the past that the new iPad model will have a display that measures in between 10 and 12 inches, while the new MacBook will have a display that’s either 15 or 17 inches in size. And considering the high-end nature of each, Kuo expects the new models to be an iPad Pro and a MacBook Pro.
Kuo believes one of the reasons Apple is shifting away from OLED so soon, and opting for mini-LED, is to move away from reliance on Samsung and the company’s OLED panels. Moreover, Apple wants to avoid display burn-in issues, which are still a potential problem for OLED.
We will have to wait and see how this pans out. But considering the mini-LED rumor won’t go away, and seems reasonable enough, it is starting to feel like a real possibility.
What do you think of the potential switch?