TF International analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo released a survey and forecast for Apple’s new iPad products. This includes the folding iPad that should launch in 2024. The report reveals that this device will come with a carbon fiber support frame. In addition, the iPad may not have new products in the next 9-12 months. Also, the new iPad mini 7 is more likely to enter mass production in Q1 of 2024.
Ming-Chi Kuo said that Anjie Tech is the new beneficiary of the newly designed folding iPad. There may not be new iPad products in the next 9-12 months. Thus, there are reservations about the iPad shipments in 2023, and shipments may decline by 10-15% YoY. However, he claims that Apple is looking forward to the folding iPad in 2024.
Ming-Chi Kuo’s latest survey shows that the folding screen iPad will use a carbon fiber support frame. The use of carbon fiber can make the support frame lighter and more durable. Anjie Tech is a polishing and bonding supplier of carbon fiber support frames for folding iPads. It should continue to benefit from the new trend of folding devices with support frames in the future.
Ming-Chi Kuo previously reports that Apple is developing a new iPad mini. The main selling point of the iPad mini is the new SoC. Apple is not expected to replace the iPad mini with the folding iPad in 2025. This is because the price of the folding iPad should be way higher than that of the iPad mini. Thus, the replacement makes no sense.
2024 iPad Pro, and 2026 MacBook Pro to use OLED panels
According to The Elec, Apple is cooperating with a number of suppliers to customize and develop OLED panels. These panels may first appear on the iPad Pro in 2024. The MacBook Pro will also use this display but not until 2026. According to reports, Apple is working with an Apple screen supplier (most likely Samsung) to develop OLED panels for the 11-inch/12.9-inch iPad Pro and 14-inch/16-inch MacBook Pro.
Gizchina News of the week
The panel sizes for the iPad Pro are 10.86 inches and 12.9 inches, and those for the MacBook Pro are 14 inches and 16 inches. The project has been officially approved, and Korean screen mass production companies and related parts and materials companies have begun to develop panels. A variety of panels ranging from 10 inches to 16 inches are in development, an internal source says.
Compared to traditional LCD panels, OLED displays require less power due to their self-emitting pixels. They also do not require a backlight which ultimately extends battery life. In addition, they provide darker blacks and improve contrast. Apple currently uses screens from display partners like Samsung and LG, but it is reportedly looking to reduce its reliance on those suppliers.
Apple is redesigning the 2024 iPad Pro
Apple launched the iPad Pro product line in 2018, and although it has adjusted the details, it has not changed as a whole. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in the latest Power On newsletter that Apple is preparing for a “major revamp” of the iPad Pro next year. In the press release, Gurman stated that Apple will make very little adjustments to the iPad product line in 2023, and said that this year’s new iPad Pro “will not have any noteworthy new improvements. ” There won’t be any “major updates”.
Gurman claims Apple will make major changes to the iPad Pro. This “major makeover” includes, but is not limited to, an upgrade to an OLED panel. Excerpts of Gurman’s newsletter reads
The 2023 entry-level iPad, iPad mini, and iPad Air won’t get any major updates. The iPad Pro won’t get a noticeable improvement either. However, the 2024 iPad Pro will undergo a major overhaul with a new design and an OLED screen.
9to5Mac also shared a piece of information about the 2024 iPad Pro, reporting that Apple plans to switch to a glass back cover for the iPad Pro instead of the current aluminium alloy unibody. Apple is also considering bringing MagSafe charging to the iPad Pro lineup, similar to the MagSafe technology used on iPhones.
