Apple is expected to launch a new iPad with a mini-LED display and a set of third-generation AirPods in the first half of 2021, according to a prominent analyst.
Mini-LED is an emerging display technology which offers improved contrast ratio and deeper blacks at an affordable price-point. While Apple has introduced OLED displays to its iPhone line (beginning with the iPhone X and continuing, most recently, with the iPhone 12 range), OLED displays made for larger iPad devices would prove too costly to manufacture.
Instead, mini-LED – which uses thousands of individual LED backlights to create a single display – is thought to match (or even exceed) the performance of OLED, but at a more affordable price.
The new research note from Ming-Chi Kuo (and shared by MacRumors) claims that Apple is bringing a mini-LED iPad to the market in the first half of 2021. This anticipated device could be a new iPad Pro model – after all, the higher-end iPad Pro tablets have lost some of their unique appeal since Apple incorporated the flat-edge design within its iPad Air line.
However, Kuo has also previously argued that mini-LED displays are coming to a range of Apple products, including 10.2- and 7.9-inch iPads, as well as future iMacs and MacBooks.
AirPods Pro.
Elsewhere, Kuo believes that Apple will also bring third-generation AirPods to the market in the first half of 2021. Chief amongst the anticipated changes include an AirPods Pro-style form factor, improved battery life, and a new wireless chip for easier connectivity.
For now, we’ve seen all the new Apple products which are likely to arrive in 2020 – including new Macs built using Apple’s own silicon chips. If Kuo’s note is anything to go by, though, we won’t have too long to wait until more Apple products are unveiled.