Mini-LED iPad Pro Expected at Apple Event on April 20 as Production Ramps Up

Apple today announced that it will be hosting a virtual event on Tuesday, April 20 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, and one of the new products expected to be unveiled at the event is a new iPad Pro with a Mini-LED display.

iPad Pro Mini LED
In a brief snippet shared with paid subscribers, Taiwanese supply chain news website DigiTimes today reported that Apple supplier Ennostar has substantially improved its yield rates for Mini-LED chips and is expected to scale up its output for the new iPad Pro starting later this month. This lines up with a timeframe shared by analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who claimed that the new iPad Pro would enter mass production in mid-to-late April.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Debby Wu recently reported that Apple plans to introduce new iPad Pro models in the latter half of April, which lines up with the now-confirmed April 20 event. The report said Mini-LED backlighting will be exclusive to the new 12.9-inch model, while both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models are expected to get a faster A14X chip on par with the M1 chip in Macs and Thunderbolt support. Early rumors also suggested that cellular models will gain support for faster 5G networking like iPhone 12 models.

Gurman and Wu said that due to poor manufacturing yields, the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro could ship later and be available in constrained quantities to begin with, unless suppliers like Ennostar have managed to quickly improve production.

In a follow-up report today, Gurman said that Apple is also working on its long-awaited AirTags item trackers and a redesigned iMac, but it is less certain if those products will be announced at the April 20 event. A new Apple TV with a faster chip, redesigned remote, and a stronger gaming focus is also rumored to be in the pipeline.

On the software side, Apple has been beta testing iOS 14.5 for over two months now, and a final release around the April 20 event is likely. The software update has a long list of new features, including the much-awaited ability for Apple Watch users to unlock their iPhone with Face ID while wearing a mask.

Related Roundup: iPad Pro
Buyer's Guide: iPad Pro (Neutral)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
48 months ago
iOS 14.5 is expected too :)
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FightTheFuture Avatar
48 months ago
Nice! An iPad Pro mini!
... oh wait
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BWhaler Avatar
48 months ago
Can’t wait.

Yes, new hardware is fun. But rock solid software is what we all need.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
EmotionalSnow Avatar
48 months ago
Well, trying to get one of these is going to be fun /s
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
_Refurbished_ Avatar
48 months ago
Just got my mom the plain Jane iPad for $300. That’s my go to for iPads, no better deal on the computing world.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rgarjr Avatar
48 months ago

Question, I have the 2018 iPad Pro 11 inch(256GB) that I want to trade in for the new 2021 model..usually I just sell it on craigslist and meet someone in person, obviously now due to covid thats not going to happen so will trade it into apple, I know I have the option to ship it but figured maybe I would just bring it to the store, for those who have done trade ins in store, how does it work, do you have to make an appt? Do they give you a gift card ? whatever the value is online is that what they give in store?
Well the stores here in LA County are open only for appointments and pickups, so yeah you would need to make one. Yeah, you will get an apple gift card.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)