Analyst Hints That There Might Be Plans to Introduce mini-LED to the Smaller iPad Pro, but It Might Not Happen This Year
Though TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier predicted that Apple is planning a mini-LED upgrade for the 11-inch iPad Pro, DSCC CEO Ross Young believes this product will not see a launch and provides a simple explanation in his tweet below. Despite the 12.9-inch iPad Pro being an expensive tablet at $1,099, one major differentiator for it is that mini-LED panel. As sales are not suffering, Apple cannot be compelled to go through with a refresh of the smaller slate. Apple is also dominating the tablet market with the lion’s share of the market, so that is another reason why the company would not have sufficient motivation to release a mini-LED 11-inch iPad Pro. In fact, some consumers may be encouraged to save a little money and purchase the iPad Air 5 instead, since it features the same M1 chip as the more expensive iPad Pro models and supports 5G connectivity, all the while priced at $599 for the base model. Fortunately, Young has not outright said in his tweet that Apple has no plans to bring mini-LED technology to the 11-inch iPad Pro, though he does mention that a release is not happening in 2022. Also, bringing an advanced display to the smaller tablet will result in a cost increase, which customers may not find attractive. Instead, they may purchase the larger variant to get that extra screen real estate. In short, this can have a negative sales effect on the 11-inch model, assuming the LCD version got discontinued if the mini-LED model was introduced. Apple is currently working with suppliers to bring OLED technology to future iPad models, so there is a possibility that the next 11-inch iPad Pro gets a fresh display upgrade instead of mini-LED. In any case, if there are any changes in Apple’s future plans, we will inform our readers, so stay tuned. News Source: Ross Young
