Next year could mark the end for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is being put out to pasture to make way for a 13-inch iPad Pro with an OLED screen.
This prediction comes from a Taiwanese research group TrendForcethat reported that it expects the largest iPad Pro with a mini-LED display to be discontinued in 2024, suggesting that the tablet won’t survive as something resembling a more affordable version of the iPad Pro.
“Shipment volume for Mini LED notebooks is estimated to decline by approximately 39% year-over-year. Meanwhile, with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro expected to be discontinued in 2024, Mini LED tablet shipment volumes are expected to decline by approximately 15.6% year-over-year, leaving these two as the only applications expected to decrease,” TendForce’s ‘2024 New Mini LED ‘BLU Display Trend Analysis’ report noted.
Interestingly, TendForce predicts a price drop for mini-LED devices, so expect shipments of consumer products using the panel technology to increase next year and beyond. But the company doesn’t expect Apple to follow that trend and instead opt for improved OLED panels for the next generation of iPad Pros.
We’ve already heard rumors that new iPad Pros could come with OLED displays from several prominent tech tipsters, so TrendForce’s prediction doesn’t seem beyond the reach of the imagination.
It might be a shame if Apple turned its back on mini-LED screens. As technology improves, mini LED screens can offer rich color and contrast, as well as more brightness than OLED screens, all without the worry of burn-in. And the continued adoption of mini-LED panels could help bring the technology to more devices. But it looks like mini LED panels will be more the domain of monitors and TVs than tablets and laptops for the foreseeable future.
You can read what you can expect from iPads in general next year in our article about the future for iPads.
Go Pro today
As it stands, the current iPad Pro is already quite excellent. The mini LED screen is impressive, it has the powerful M2 chip, and when combined with Apple’s Magic Keyboard, it becomes a slick productivity device that can sometimes follow on the heels of the MacBook Air M2.
So we think it’s a tablet worth considering, especially if it’s still available. And it just so happens that we’re already in the Black Friday deal period and you can get a deal on the iPad Pro in the US and UK. Check out the deals below.
If these don’t appeal to you, take a look at our round-up of Black Friday iPad deals, as we’ve already found a range of early discounts that are definitely worth considering.