Apple will present new iPad Pros on May 7 at an event announced recently, but one of the new models may only be available in small quantities. The reason ? Supply issues regarding its new OLED screen.
Ahead of WWDC 2024, scheduled for mid-June, Apple will hold an event on May 7 dedicated entirely to the iPad. The firm will probably present its new iPad Pros, expected around the corner because they should constitute the first “ major overhaul since 2018 », Explained journalist Mark Gurman recently.
These new high-end slates should indeed integrate a brand new Apple M4 SoC (a solution, surprising at first glance, which nevertheless gains credibility little by little); but also embed an OLED screen for the very first time. This particularity could, however, pose a supply problem for Apple. And for good reason, we learn from SamMobile that Samsung Display, which will supply the organic panels for certain 11-inch models, would have difficulty producing them in sufficient volumes.
The 11-inch iPad Pro might be hard to find
In detail, Apple would count on two suppliers for the OLED screens of its new 11-inch iPad Pro. This model would in fact have panels manufactured sometimes by LG Display, sometimes by Samsung Display; while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro would rely solely on OLED panels coming from LG factories.
According to Ross Young, a specialist in display solutions, and often well informed, the volumes of 12.9-inch iPad Pros shipped to points of sale would be significantly higher than those of 11-inch iPad Pros. According to the analyst, the explanation would relate to the technical problems encountered by Samsung Display in the production of 11-inch OLED panels. Still according to his information, these production problems could stretch throughout the month of May, and, therefore, hamper supply at launch. So the 11-inch iPad Pro 2024 might be hard to find… at least in the first few weeks after release.
For context, previous rumors suggest that the 2024 iPad Pros would take advantage of a brand new OLED screen technology with two emissive layers. These new generation panels are supposed to offer a longer lifespan, higher brightness, but also always better limit the risks of “ burn-in “.