The top-of-the-range iPad is the iPad Pro. It comes in two sizes, one with an 11-inch display, and a larger one with a 12.9-inch screen. It’s expected that next year Apple will update the range and introduce an OLED screen. But such an upgrade seems likely to come with a sting in the tail: a significant price increase.
A new report from Korean website The Elec suggests that the particular kind of OLED screen that Apple is after will cost between two and three times as much as a similarly sized OLED screen costs now.
Right now, such a display has a supply chain price of between $100 and $150, whereas for the iPad Pro this could cost $270 for the smaller display and $350 for the larger. That’s a very sizeable part of the bill of materials, for a component which already accounts for the largest proportion of material costs, The Elec says.
Why so much more? Apple wants a display, it’s claimed, that is two-layered and has technologies which other OLED screens lack. These include a hybrid structure of glass plate and thin film. There’s also what’s called a two-stack tandem structure which is designed to double brightness while multiplying the OLED display’s lifespan by four.
The brightness is an especially important element, as OLED can struggle in brighter light.
The Elec doesn’t specify the costs of the current LCD displays in the iPad—though the screen on the 12.9-inch version is doubtless a lot higher than on the 11-inch model as it includes Mini LED backlighting.
The report also claims that the iPad Pro models with OLED displays will have different sizes to the current ones. Each will add a tenth of an inch to the size, that is, 11.1-inch and 13-inch sizes, respectively.
The key thing is that suddenly the two sizes of iPad Pro will be more equal than now. Right now, it’s only the larger, 12.9-inch, model which has the Mini LED backlighting which looks especially punchy. With the move to OLED, both sizes are likely to have much more similar screens.
The iPads referenced here are predicted to arrive in 2024, which means there’s theoretically time for an update to the current range before then. However, the usual iPad Pro cadence is 18 months and the current models launched in October last year, meaning that 2024 is more likely. An OLED screen would be a big change, so while I still think Spring 2024 is most likely, it’s possible that Apple would hold the new tech until the fall of that year.
Plenty of time, then, for more leaks in the meantime.
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