MacBook Pros and iPad Pros with mini-LED begin to take shape for 2021

13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar
13-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • DigiTimes reports that Apple will release a mini-LED MacBook Pro and iPad Pro next year.

Reported by MacRumors, DigiTimes has been told by sources which suppliers are being tapped to produce mini-LED technology that is expected to be featured in the company's upcoming MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models.

According to the report, Apple is expected to launch an iPad Pro featuring a mini-LED display in the first quarter of 2021 with a mini-LED MacBook Pro coming in the second quarter of the year. A number of Apple's suppliers are ramping up in anticipation of the new products.

Apple's suppliers in Taiwan, including LED chip vendor Epistar, testing and sorting specialist FitTech, SMT service provider Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology, backlight board supplier Zhen Ding Technology, cooling solution provider Auras Technology and process equipment maker All Ring Technology, are all ready to gain growth momentum from upcoming shipments for Apple's miniLED-backlit devices, the sources said.

The report also notes that the assembly process for the new devices will be shared across three of Apple's production partners.

The sources continued that Foxconn Technology and Compal Electronics will share the assembly orders for miniLED iPad Pro devices, and MacBook Pro products adopting M1 chipsets will be mainly produced by Quanta Computer and partly by Foxconn.

The report lines up with predictions from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who says that Apple will release a mini-LED in the first half of next year. An earlier report also speculated that the new iPad Pro models coming next year might also get upgraded to support 5G mmWave technology in the cellular models.

Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.