By Tim Hardwick
Apple's new 12.9-inch iPad Pro will use an LCD display instead of OLED panel technology, says a controversial new report published in Asia.
It has been widely reported that Apple's next iPad Pro models will be the first Apple tablets to feature superior OLED panels, and according to Rumor has it they will start shipping around the middle of next year. According to a confusing new report from DigiTimes, that's not necessarily the case.
A Taiwanese publication now claims that Apple will actually revert to using an LCD backlight in its upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Pro model, putting it on par with the existing 11-inch model.
The current 12.9-inch iPad Pro has a mini-LED display that Apple calls the “Liquid Retina XDR Display”, while the 11-inch variant uses a less advanced LCD “Liquid Retina Display”.
The report claims that the high cost of using the Mini-LED backlight in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has become a “barrier to wider industry adoption” and that Apple's return to traditional backlight technology “may be motivated by the company’s focus on scalability and market penetration.”
As a result of the component change, production of the new 12.9-inch iPads could be delayed “to early 2024 at the latest,” after originally scheduled to begin in “early November,” DigiTimes adds.
Several things don't add up in this latest report. As MacRumors previously reported, DigiTimes on Thursday referenced the same report in its “Ahead of Press” section, saying the upcoming 12.9-inch iPad Air could have an LCD backlight as opposed to the mini-LED backlight used in the current version 12.9. -inch iPad Pro.
However, the fully published report no longer mentions this supposed larger “12.9-inch iPad Air” and simply makes a passing reference to a “new iPad Air” that will also use traditional LCD backlight, like the next iPad Pro.
To make things even more confusing, the entire article seems to contradict itself, repeating widely circulated claims that “Apple may release a new iPad Pro with displays AMOLED no earlier than 2024, sourcing mainly from Samsung Display and LG Display.” Whether the OLED model will be in addition to the rumored 12.9-inch LCD iPad Pro mentioned earlier is simply not specified.
Leaving aside the inconsistencies in the above statements, if the next 12.9-inch iPad Pro reverts from mini-LED technology to traditional LCD panel technology, it would be considered a major setback for most of Apple's premium tablets , especially considering that OLED display technology is perhaps the most anticipated upgrade to the next-gen iPad Pro models.
Given the inconsistencies in the DigiTimes reports, not to mention their misinterpretation of supply chain information, this claim itself should be taken with a large grain of salt until other sources confirm it.
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