Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
65,595
34,178


Apple will shift to indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) material for MacBook Pro displays as soon as later this year, according to IHS. The research firm told DigiTimes that Apple may continue to procure MacBook Pro displays based on current amorphous silicon (a-Si) material until the end of the first quarter.

2016_macbook_pro_lineup.jpg

The report claims Samsung and Sharp will begin supplying IGZO panels to Apple as soon as mid-2017. Sharp began mass production of IGZO displays in 2012, but evidence points towards Apple only using the material in iPads so far. A rumor claiming the first IGZO MacBooks would launch by 2014 proved to be inaccurate.

IGZO is a semiconducting material that has forty times more electron mobility than the standard a-Si used as the active layer of an LCD screen, allowing for less power consumption, improved touch sensitivity, and increased pixel density, which could pave the way for higher resolution displays.

DisplayMate president Raymond Soneira told us IGZO can also result in "significantly higher brightness," but the material costs "considerably more" to manufacture. Production and yield issues have slowed the adoption of IGZO, but the material is now showing up in more products such as LG's new OLED TVs.

"Sometimes IGZO is simply referred to as Metal Oxide," he added. "The higher the PPI and the wider the Color Gamut (like DCI-P3 for the new MacBook Pro) the greater the benefits of IGZO over a-Si, particularly for LCDs."

The glass edge and backplane circuitry of IGZO displays can also be made smaller, possibly leading to a thinner MacBook Pro. However, such a design change is less likely this year given Apple just redesigned the notebook in 2016 for the first time in four years. Apple's interest likely lies in the power savings.

The original iPad Air's overall size and battery were reduced by around 25% compared to the previous model, and analysis suggested the tablet's new IGZO display made that possible. However, a smaller MacBook Pro battery would likely be perceived negatively following battery life complaints on 2016 models.

Given the timeline, Apple's switch to IGZO displays may be planned for the next-generation MacBook Pro. KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said new MacBook Pro models will launch in the second half of 2017, possibly with slightly faster Kaby Lake processors unveiled this week.

IHS estimates Apple will order 9.7 million MacBook Pro display panels in 2017, an increase from 8.8 million units in 2016.

Article Link: Apple Said to Shift to Lower Power IGZO Displays for MacBook Pro Later This Year
 
Last edited:

Appleaker

macrumors 68020
Jun 13, 2016
2,197
4,194
This, along with the new battery structure and better efficiency, will solve battery life issues but it probably won't be able to compete with the battery life of newer Windows notebooks.
 

dannys1

macrumors 68040
Sep 19, 2007
3,786
6,979
UK
dongle hub.

Forgetting the absurdity of the incorrect stupid cliched repetitive dongle posts for a minute (you don't need them, just get the improved cables), when did we all start using the world dongle incorrectly? A dongle was alway an end device, a software protection key, a USB memory stick, a wifi dongle, a 4g dongle, a 3g dongle. A dongle has never been an adapter let alone a hub...
[doublepost=1483726698][/doublepost]
slightly faster Kaby Lake processors unveiled this week

Very slightly. The reviews are not very kind with the i7 Kaby Lake... it's a "micro-tick" upgrade at best.

And it doesn't even provide support for DDR4L, now that's a fail.
 

c0ppo

macrumors 68000
Feb 11, 2013
1,890
3,268
Leave only one USB-c port, make it 40% thinner, introduce external keyboard (innovation!), cut out the internal one, slap an additional 500$ price tag to the mix, call it pro, say it's courage, and call it a day. Weeeee...
 

SuprUsrStan

macrumors 6502a
Apr 15, 2010
715
1,015
Between the previous IGZO rumors and the improved display, I was under the impression that the 2016 MBP was already using IZGO panels. It'll be exciting to see further improvements and perhaps HDR10 and better battery life on the next iteration macbook pros.
 
  • Like
Reactions: modeyabsolom

aaronhead14

macrumors 65816
Mar 9, 2009
1,243
5,324
Cool. More efficient monitor + Kaby lake + better battery (hopefully) = a much better version of 2016's MacBook Pro. Now, if only we can get Apple to swallow their pride and bring back the SD card reader. (No need for USB-A, but the SD card reader is a must!). Oh, and Nvidia graphics. Maybe the 1060? That would be amazing.
 

zoffdino

macrumors member
Apr 27, 2009
44
23
slightly faster Kaby Lake processors unveiled this week

Very slightly. The reviews are not very kind with the i7 Kaby Lake... it's a "micro-tick" upgrade at best.

Even if the peak performance hasn't gone up that much from Skylake to Kaby Lake, the power efficiency has gone up dramatically. Some publications reported that playing 4K videos lasted 4 hours on Skylake but 7 hours on Kaby Lake. That and all these soldered in, non-repariable components are what enabled Apple to shrink their laptops smaller and smaller every year. All Apple cares about these days is thinness.
 

Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
9,351
12,560
Cool. More efficient monitor + Kaby lake + better battery (hopefully) = a much better version of 2016's MacBook Pro. Now, if only we can get Apple to swallow their pride and bring back the SD card reader. (No need for USB-A, but the SD card reader is a must!). Oh, and Nvidia graphics. Maybe the 1060? That would be amazing.
No, CF is a must! Wait, no, micro-SD is a must! Wait... XQD is a must! No... CFast is a must!

I don't want my machine burdened with the needs of your narrow use case. Do you want to carry the bulk needed to support mine? I'll drop the demands for my various card readers if you drop the demand for yours...
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.