According to a new report, Apple’s 2024 iPad Pro with OLED will likely cost more than current OLED devices of a similar size because of the pricey new production procedures required.
Apple to release iPad Pro with OLED next year
In December 2022, Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC) analyst Ross Young said that Apple plans to expand OLED technology to the displays of the 13-inch MacBook Air, 11-inch iPad Pro, and 12.9-inch iPad Pro by 2024.
A new report from The Elec reveals that Apple will release new 11.1-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models with OLED screens in place of LCD ones. As a result, panel procurement will make up the majority of Apple’s material expenditures.
The price of delivering the panels, whose specs call for the use of production methods that have never been combined before for OLED panels of the appropriate size, is reportedly being discussed by Apple with Samsung and LG Display right now.
The adoption of a two-stack tandem structure, which has two emission layers and doubles brightness and OLED display lifespan, is one of the new production methods for the 2024 iPad Pro with OLED. Apple justifies requiring two-stack panels for iPads by pointing out that tablets are frequently used for longer periods of time than iPhones, which all have single-stack structures.
The use of low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistors (TFT), for a more power-efficient backplane that controls the on/off switching of individual pixels, is another process. Another approach is to use a hybrid OLED structure, which blends flexible OLED thin-film encapsulation with stiff OLED glass substrates to produce an overall smaller panel.
The publication claims that the cost of OLED screens for existing 10-inch devices is between $100 and $150, but that the costs associated with producing Apple’s necessary panels for the 2024 iPad Pro with OLED are estimated to be $270 and $350, respectively.
It is speculated that consumers will undoubtedly have to pay more for Apple’s 2024 iPad Pro with OLED because of these material expenses, which will be reflected in dramatically higher retail prices. The current starting prices for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR display start at $1,099 and the 11-inch iPad Pro with LED Liquid Retina display starts at $799.
Samsung is only creating OLED panels for the 11.1-inch iPad model, while LG Display is working on both sizes. Samsung may eventually work on both sizes, though, depending on production needs.
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