What you need to know
- A new DigiTimes report has doubled down on claims of mini-LED displays coming in 2020.
- Reports have previously suggested that a new iPad Pro and a MacBook Pro may ship with mini-LED displays in 2020 .
- The latest report suggests several suppliers are "poised" to receive component orders.
A fresh report from DigiTimes claims that several suppliers are ready and waiting to receive orders for rumored mini-LED displays, expected to ship next year in both a new iPad Pro and a new MacBook.
As reported by MacRumors, DigiTimes has provided a further report in which it claims that several Taiwan-based suppliers are "poised" to receive component orders for mini-LED displays. It includes the names of several specific suppliers, stating:
ED wafer and chip maker Epistar will compete for orders for mini LED chips from Apple through Te Opto, its joint venture with Japan-based Toyoda Gosei, the sources noted. Epistar will supply mini LED chips sized 200-micron x 200-micron and estimates that such an iPad Pro will use up to 10,000 mini LED chips, the sources indicated.For mini LED backlight units (BLUs), Apple originally chose Radiant Opto-Electronics but the company was conservative about investment in expanding production capacity, the sources said. Consequently, CIS and LG Display are most likely to obtain BLU orders, the sources noted.
The news follows hot on the heels of two other reports all pointing to mini-LED displays at the heart of some new Apple products expected next year. Supply-chain whisperer Ming-Chi Kuo purported that a new 12.9 inch iPad Pro and a new 16-inch Macbook Pro would ship with mini-LED displays in 2020. Following that report both DigiTimes and the Economic Daily News also predicted that Apple would start using mini-LED displays in 2020.
Kuo further reported that mini-LED displays would lead to thinner, lighter displays being used in several Apple products, although it remains to be seen as to whether that might translate to smaller form factors overall.
