Apple’s upcoming iPad Pros with OLED screens may offer a matte display upgrade for the first time ever, according to a new industry rumor.
Instant Digital wrote on Chinese social network Weibo that a matte coating should be a paid upgrade for those who don’t like standard glossy displays. If true, the next iPad Pro will be the first Apple tablet to offer a matte display option.
Glossy screens like on iPhones and iPads reflect lots of light, making them unsuitable in environments with bright light sources. A matte coating could cancel the need for a matte screen protector, a popular accessory on iPads.
The leaker doesn’t know if this will be the same as the nano-texture cover glass available on Pro Display XDR and Studio Display, Apple’s external displays.
Rumor: iPad Pro could get a matte display option
Instant Digital says the matte display coating has a haze ranging from -4° to +29°. Haze describes the level of light diffusion, with matte screen surfaces typically having a haze value of 25 percent.
In addition, the anti-glare coating might utilize a special layer to block out blue light that disrupts your sleep, helping reduce eye strain further.
It’s unclear if this coating will make the image a bit hazy. By contrast, Apple’s nano-texture coating has an etched surface which doesn’t affect image quality.
Nano-texture glass has only been offered on desktop displays so far. It is harder to clean owing to its textured surface that grips oil and debris more tightly, and Apple cautions that it should only be cleaned with a polishing cloth made with soft, non-abrasive material. It is not clear how a matte display on the iPad would hold up to fingerprints as a result.
Apple is expected to launch the next iPad Pro models sometime next week. The devices should adopt OLED display technology and feature Apple’s M3 chips, a landscape FaceTime camera and a thinner appearance. Apple may also release a redesigned Magic Keyboard featuring an aluminum chassis and a larger trackpad.
How likely is this rumor?
Instant Digital has accurately predicted some of Apple’s recent moves, including a yellow iPhone 14, the minor Apple Watch Series 9 update and spatial video capture on iPhone 15, among other things.
More reliable sources such as analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have not corroborated this rumor, and Instant Digital was wrong on other predictions—therefore, take this story with a few pinches of sodium chloride.
The same leaker said recently that the iPhone 17 models in 2025 will have an improved Ceramic Shield cover glass featuring an anti-reflective layer so hard it’ll result in “zero scratches on the screen.”