Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac
Apple reportedly ordered 8.5 million OLED screens for the iPad Pro models it’s expected to launch soon. More of these panels are for the 13-inch version of the tablet than they are for the 11-inch one.
Leaks indicate the next generation iPad Pro will reach store shelves later this month. Possibly even next week.
Top-of-the line 2024 OLED iPad Pro could be more popular
The last time Apple upgraded its premium tablets for professionals was fall 2022, so a replacement is due. And rather that simply boosting the performance with a faster processor — which Apple is supposedly doing — the 2024 iPad Pro will also get a better type of display.
It will be the first in the product line with an OLED screen rather than the tablet’s traditional LCD. With OLED (short for organic light-emitting diode) displays, each pixel glows on its own. This leads to a bright, even image with strong contrast.
On Friday, DigiTimes reported that Apple ordered 8.5 million OLED panels from South Korean companies. Of these, 4.5 million will be for the 13-inch version of the tablet while the remaining 4 million will be for the 11-inch version.
If true, it indicates that Cupertino expects the larger, more expensive version of the OLED iPad Pro to be the more popular of the two models.
Other enhancements
Previous leaks indicate that potential buyers should expect Apple’s next top-tier tablets to run the new M3 processor. This is the same chip that just went into the 2024 MacBook Air, the latest consumer-oriented macOS notebook.
OLED screen panels don’t need backlights so they’re thinner than traditional LEDs. This will allegedly allowed the designers of the 2024 iPad Pro to make the upcoming tablet significantly slimmer.
The panels also cost more, but a leak indicates that the price jump will be less than half of what had been previously rumored.