The month started with big expectations regarding Apple’s early 2024 iPad and Mac announcements. Rumors said Apple would unveil the first-ever iPad Pro OLED, the iPad Air 6, and the M3 MacBook Air at some point in March. So far, we’ve only gotten new MacBook Air models.
Reports then said Apple would launch the new iPads in late March or early April. That’ was valid’s what we all thought until earlier this week when we learned that Apple will apparently delay the iPad Pro and iPad Air release to May. Delay isn’t the best word, as Apple hasn’t publicly committed to a specific launch window for the OLED iPad Pro and 6th-gen iPad Air tablets. The 2024 iPads are delayed relative to Apple’s internal plans, according to reports.
Now, a new report from Korea indicates that Apple might have encountered some supply issues that caused the delay. The 11-inch iPad Pro OLED model might have fallen behind schedule, as Samsung is seemingly dealing with low production yields.
I speculated recently that production issues with the next-gen iPad Pro OLED panels might impact Apple’s launch plans. These aren’t your regular OLED panels that you see in competing products like tablets and laptops. Apple is reportedly using a tandem OLED display with the 2024 iPad Pros that might be more difficult to produce, at least initially.
These dual-stack displays feature two layers of OLEDs instead of one. The first big upgrade concerns brightness. The OLED iPad Pros should be brighter than their predecessors and anything from competitors. They should be more efficient, too.
Also, tandem OLED panels might improve the lifespan of these screens compared to single-layer OLED panels.
A few days ago, Honor launched a Porsche Design version of the Magic 6 Pro that features a tandem OLED panel. No other smartphone packs such a display, and the special edition phone is a limited edition model.
According to the Korean-language website hankooki.com, Apple has tasked LG with producing some 11-inch OLED panels for the iPad. Previous reports said that LG and Samsung will each manufacture iPad OLED screens. Samsung is said to be handling the 11-inch displays, while LG is mass-producing the 13-inch panels Apple needed for the launch run.
LG reportedly started 13-inch OLED panel production in January. Then the company is said to have started shipping 11-inch OLED panels in March. It’s unclear why LG began to work on the 11-inch screens. The report speculates that yield issues have impacted the volume of panels Samsung can provide. Hence, Apple switched some orders to LG.
The report also mentions the iPad Pro’s tandem OLED structure technology that appeared in other rumors. It also repeats a claim we saw in different reports: that Apple aims to sell between 8 million and 9 million 2024 iPad Pro units. It’s unclear what the split between Samsung and LG will be, but the latter might reach 60% now that it’s making 11-inch and 13-inch screens.
Hankooki.com also says that Apple has received mostly 13-inch OLED shipments this month, with 11-inch display shipments lagging. That might be a good reason to postpone the launch by a few weeks.
Another explanation for LG manufacturing 11-inch panels concerns the Korean company’s investments. The report notes that Apple might have ordered 11-inch panels from LG to make up for LG’s development of a new manufacturing line that will serve the iPad Pro.