According to the Chosun Ilbo, LG Display and Samsung Display have entered the final stage of negotiations with Apple. They plan to start producing OLED panels for the next generation iPad Pro models around February 2024. The original plan has been brought forward.
Some analysts say its quotation range is three times that of existing mobile phone OLED panels. However, since the OLED panel market for tablets is still in its infancy and supply is limited compared to smartphones, shipments are expected to be around 10 million units.
“(LG Display) can supply 6 million iPad OLED panels next year and is expected to achieve sales of 2.3 trillion won and operating profit of 120 billion won,” KB Securities said, “partially offsetting the decline in the company’s profitability.”
This means that LG Display will account for about 60% of the total supply, but it is unclear whether the production line will be able to operate as planned due to delays in equipment investment due to funding issues.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman predicts that the new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models will be released next year and will introduce OLED displays, M3 chips and aluminum Magic Keyboards to the iPad product line for the first time.
Considering that OLED displays cannot begin mass production until February, it is unlikely to launch the next-generation iPad Pro in March. It is more likely to be WWDC in June or later, but Apple’s plans are still likely to change. For example, it will be released for a period of time before it is officially launched for sale.
The existing iPad Pro has an LCD panel, and the 12.9-inch model also features mini-LED backlight technology, which improves brightness and contrast.
In contrast, OLED technology will eliminate the need for a backlight on the iPad and can bring higher brightness, contrast and darker blacks, and lower power consumption.
Ross Young said that Apple will use a very thin hybrid OLED display that combines flexible and rigid materials, which may make the next iPad Pro design even thinner and lighter.
Existing iPad Pro models support ProMotion variable refresh rate, allowing adjustment between 24Hz and 120Hz, while new OLED models may further reduce the lower limit of the refresh rate to 10Hz or lower, thus helping to improve battery life (Note: iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro can reach a minimum of 1Hz).
In addition to the two iPad Pros mentioned above, Apple is expected to update the iPad Air, iPad mini and entry-level iPad in 2024, but these models are unlikely to use OLED screens, and most likely they will just upgrade the chips.
The last time Apple updated the iPad Pro series was in October 2022. The main upgrades at that time were the M2 chip, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 support, the hover function of the second-generation Apple Pencil, and support for ProRes video recording. Some netizens think the upgrade is minor.
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