Last year, rumors pointed out Apple was readying an 11-inch iPad Pro replacement with a miniLED display. Now, it seems this is not the case anymore as a supply chain analyst is reporting that the company will stick with the LCD technology for this smaller tablet.
According to a DSCC report about the tablet market, analyst Ross Young says that Apple will focus the miniLED technology for “larger and more expensive displays”:
Since Ross Young is deeply attached to the panel industry, his reporting is usually very accurate.
Apple is taking share with just a single product for the rest of this year in this category. While it was previously thought that Apple would also introduce MiniLEDs to the 11” iPad Pro, we no longer believe that is the case, at least not this year. Apple is reportedly targeting its MiniLEDs on larger and more expensive displays. We do expect Apple to introduce MiniLEDs on a 27” monitor, which could be launched in June with its Mac Pro. We believe the 27” MiniLED monitor will have 5K resolution and an oxide backplane. It may adopt 120Hz as well, but 5K at 120Hz would require HDMI 2.1 and would limit the number of Apple devices that would work with this display.
The last time we heard about the 11-inch iPad Pro with miniLED display was with Ming-Chi Kuo. The analyst said in October that while Apple had cancelled its plans to launch an OLED iPad, the company would reserve the miniLED technology for the higher-end “Pro” devices due to its higher price and better protection against burn-in.
WIthout miniLED, the 11-inch iPad Pro will look more similar to the new iPad Air 5, as you can read our comparison article between these products here.
- Here’s everything we know so far about the 2022 iPad Pro
