When Apple unveiled the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro earlier this year, the biggest upgrade was the new Liquid Retina XDR display, which brought mini-LED technology to an Apple device for the first time. Now, a new rumor from The Elec suggests Apple might be bringing an even better display to the iPad Pro.
Reporting on the Samsung supply chain, the Korean-based report states that while Apple has abandoned plans to bring an OLED display to the iPad Air, it is still working on a new low-power LTPO OLED display for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, like the one in the iPhone 13 Pro. Apple introduced the new low-temperature polycrystalline oxide displays in the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max along with a new ProMotion feature that dynamically switches refresh rates between 10Hz and 120Hz.
While the benefits of OLED over mini-LED on the iPad Pro would be difficult to see, the new display tech could bring a boost in battery life. Apple’s iPhone 13 Pro models brought two to three extra hours of battery life as compared to the iPhone 12, partly due to the new display tech that uses 12 refresh rates to increase battery life. The ProMotion display in the current iPad Pro only uses goes as low as 24Hz.
Previously, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple will be bringing a mini-LED display to the 11-inch iPad Pro, which currently has a standard LED screen. Based on the two reports, it does not appear that Apple has any current plans to bring OLED to any of its other iPad models. Apple most recently updated the iPad mini with a Liquid Retina LCD display and the ninth-gen iPad with a 10.2-inch True Tone screen.
The Elec says the new displays are due to launch as early as 2023. Based on Apple’s somewhat sporadic iPad Pro release schedule, that could be the next model or there may be a minor refresh in between that brings an updated M2 processor.
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He’s still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.