The current Apple iPad Pro with Liquid retina (XDR) display, and will be the first time in 2024 to use OLED panels.
According to Omdia’s latest research report, Apple suppliers will start mass production of the new generation of 11.1-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models (the current models are 11-inch and 12.9-inch) in the first quarter of 2024, and these new machines will be equipped with OLED displays.
In addition, Omdia expects the first MacBook Pro with an OLED display to be released in 2027.
Compared to existing LCD models, OLED screens are self-illuminating, eliminating the need for backlight modules, color filters, and theoretically reducing the thickness of the iPad Pro, while also performing better in terms of power consumption, so the new machines will bring higher display brightness, higher contrast, more accurate colors, and lower power consumption.
Apple already uses OLED displays in its iPhone and Apple Watch product lines (with the exception of the lower-end iPhone SE).
In fact, iPad Pro models released in 2017 and beyond already support ProMotion technology, which enables variable refresh rates between 24Hz and 120Hz, and a move to OLED could further reduce the refresh rate to 10Hz, leading to longer battery life. (Note: iPhone 14 Pro can achieve a minimum refresh rate of 1Hz).
Omdia research reports that Apple will use a very thin hybrid OLED display (combining flexible and rigid materials), which could make the iPad Pro even thinner.
According to Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants, these panels are expensive to manufacture, so the next-generation iPad Pro will likely be more expensive as well.
The current iPad Pro, released in October 2022, features the M2 chip, faster Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity, and the second-generation Apple Pencil hover feature, which is little changed from the iPad Pro with the M1 chip. Considering that the iPad Pro is usually updated in about a year and a half, it makes sense to launch the next-generation model in early 2024.
