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Apple's rumored 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display has entered trial production, according to Korean website The Elec.

ipad_pro_2020_display.jpg

The report claims that LG will supply the Mini-LED panels for the device, while Foxconn will be tasked with final assembly. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED technology will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays, including high contrast and dynamic range.

The new iPad Pro will launch in the fourth quarter of 2020 at the earliest, the report adds, but a release next year appears more likely at this point. Earlier this month, it was rumored that new iPad Pro models with a Mini-LED display, A14X chip, and 5G connectivity will launch in the first half of 2021, a timeframe that several other sources have echoed.

Apple last refreshed the iPad Pro in March, but it was a relatively minor update, with new features including an A12Z Bionic chip that is essentially an A12X chip with an extra GPU core enabled, an Ultra Wide camera that enables 0.5x zoom, a LiDAR Scanner for enhanced augmented reality, and better sounding microphones. It was the first update to the iPad Pro since the device received a major redesign in October 2018.

Apple is also expected to release its first Macs with Mini-LED displays by the end of 2021.

Article Link: iPad Pro With Mini-LED Display Reportedly in Trial Production, Late 2020 Launch Possible But 2021 More Likely
 
Do you own the keyboard? Would you mind commenting on the battery life of the iPad after using it? I have read that it is a massive battery drain.

It seems fine but I keep the backlight off purposely. I do not need to look at the keys to type so no need to waste battery. I think a lot of people who are complaining are people with iPads with degraded batteries. For example, I just got a replacement due to bend and since it is a new one, the battery is a lot better.

It will be interesting to see any battery gains with Mini LED though.
 
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Can we all agree that we've reached peak thinness? If they can save space, can you make the battery bigger please.
In fact, we haven’t - that was in 2014-2016. We’ve reached peak thickness and weight in the last 5 years (except for the iPad Pro, but now it has flat edges, so that’s cheating).
 
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It seems fine but I keep the backlight off purposely. I do not need to look at the keys to type so no need to waste battery. I think a lot of people who are complain are people where their batteries already aged. For example, I just got a replacement due to bend and since it is a new one, the battery is a lot better.

It will be interesting to see any battery gains with Mini LED though.
Not sure if it will be a net battery gain or loss, perhaps like OLED better with primarily dark content, and worse if primarily light content? 10,000 LEDs have to use more power when continuously lit than a traditional backlight panel with a few dozen?
 
Good to hear about new technology that Apple may be able to apply across their future products.
 
Really looking forward to mini LED across the product lines, best of both LCD and OLED!

Mini-LED is just LCD with LED full-array local dimming (commonly referred to as "FALD") as the light source. Usually, this falls in the range of 500-2000 LEDs. It's really not anything to write home about. It's better than LCD with edge-lit LED, but nowhere near on par with OLED or (eventually) Micro-LED.

I'm really curious to see how much blooming will result from FALD.
 
Mini-LED is just LCD with LED full-array local dimming (commonly refered to as "FALD") as the light source. Usually, this falls in the range of 500-2000 LEDs. It's really not anything to right home about. It's better than LCD with edge-lit LED, but nowhere near on par with OLED or (eventually) Micro-LED.

I'm really curious to see how much blooming will result from FALD.
As long as it facilitates HDR, as far as I'm concerned that's the primary benefit of OLED over LCD. If Apple have put the effort and expense in to develop the tech, and are going all in on it rather than OLED I'm sure it must look pretty good. Apple's implementation is meant to have 10,000 dimming zones (I think for the 12.9" rumour) so that's quite accurate, a lot more than the Pro display XDR anyway!
 
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MiniLED doesn't offer the same benefits as OLED displays in "high contrast and dynamic range". It's get's closer, but definitely isn't on the same level.
 
depends on how bright it can get. The pro display does 1600nits vs current 12.9 of 600nits rated. Its gonna need imo at least 1000-1200 to give a similar effect.
 
As long as it facilitates HDR, as far as I'm concerned that's the primary benefit of OLED over LCD. If Apple have put the effort and expense in to develop the tech, and are going all in on it rather than OLED I'm sure it must look pretty good.

MicroLED is the "end game", but they aren't using OLED because when they switch to MiniLED, it's a step backwards in some areas or they calculated they wouldn't make more money switching to OLED.
 
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As long as it facilitates HDR, as far as I'm concerned that's the primary benefit of OLED over LCD. If Apple have put the effort and expense in to develop the tech, and are going all in on it rather than OLED I'm sure it must look pretty good. Apple's implementation is meant to have 10,000 dimming zones (I think for the 12.9" rumour) so that's quite accurate, a lot more than the Pro display XDR anyway!

Maybe Apple has improved upon the tech. As far as mini-LED goes, FALD is a fairly off-the-shelf technology that's been used for awhile now but to mixed results, mostly in TVs and monitors. I believe even Apple's XDR Display shows visible blooming. It really comes down to how manufacturers implement it.

I will say though, that if people want Apple to expand their 120Hz Pro Motion tech to other products, OLED is definitely the way to go since it has an extremely fast pixel response time, so no motion blur.
 
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I just bought a 2020 iPad last week, however I was using the original iPad Pro 12.9 and was due for an upgrade.
With as powerful as the new iPad Pros are, I'm not too concerned with having the most powerful tablet since it'll be supported for years after.
 
Good luck beta testers!
I get the joke you’re trying to make, but it doesn’t really work seeing as this isn’t really that big of an update. Sure, it’s getting a new screen, and a new processor, but that’s about it. There’s no rumors about the design changing, or about any fundamental complete differences from the current iPad Pro, just a new screen technology and an update to the processor. Most consumers aren’t even going to notice the difference.
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MiniLED doesn't offer the same benefits as OLED displays in "high contrast and dynamic range". It's get's closer, but definitely isn't on the same level.
Yes, but it has a lot less downsides than OLED. Not as much burn in, not any pulse width modulation or whatever it’s called, and it’s a lot easier to produce in bigger screens unlike OLED
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Can we all agree that we've reached peak thinness? If they can save space, can you make the battery bigger please.
For the iPad Pro yes, but as for the iPhone, that was reached a long time ago. Ever since the iPhone 6, which by the way is still the thinnest iPhone, it’s actually been getting thicker. The iPhone 6 was 6.9 mm thick, and I believe the current 11 is 8.3 mm thick. Even the 12 pro is only rumored to be 7.4 mm thick, which is still 0.5 mm away from the thinnest iPhone.
 
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I get the joke you’re trying to make, but it doesn’t really work seeing as this isn’t really that big of an update. Sure, it’s getting a new screen, and a new processor, but that’s about it. There’s no rumors about the design changing, or about any fundamental complete differences from the current iPad Pro, just a new screen technology and an update to the processor. Most consumers aren’t even going to notice the difference.

I suspect the other change mini LED offers will be for the battery performance. OLED is not the most battery efficient in terms of displays, but it’s always a ‘selling point‘ to the consumer when Apple could offer more battery usage, which I suspect Mini-LED will.
 
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