Apple has kicked off the second half of the year with software launches this week, courtesy of WWDC 2020. As usual, the new software is filled with hints about future hardware products. Among them we also find new iPhones and iPads. Keep reading for more info.
First of all, there’s a mention of 120 Hz refresh rate in iOS 14, or rather the option to tweak refresh rate, which is new. It was spotted on the iPhone 11 Pro models running the iOS 14 beta. But we’re not here for that… We’re here to discuss the upcoming iPad models, which may end up having LG Mini LED displays. It would appear that Apple has resorted to LG to supply the Cupertino giant with mini LED panels for the future iPad Pro models.
It’s still early to talk about them, since this year already had an iPad Pro generation release. The mini-LED shouldn’t be confused with regular OLED or AMOLED screens, since they rely on an LCD panel, in spite of the name throwing you off. The thing is that minuscule mini LEDs are providing the backlight for the LCD panel. More LED chips can be crammed within the screen package and the device maker has more fine grained control over the brightness of certain screen areas.
The result? Brighter colors and darker blacks, compared to a standard LCD screen. Mini-LEDs are just now being explored for the TV market and Apple already wants a piece of the pie for its slates. The LED chips are made by Taiwanese firm Epistar and rumors claim that Apple may use Samsung as a second supplier. We could even see an early Mini-LED iPad launched this year, but 2021 sounds more likely.
