iPad Pro with a new screen this year will not work. What about the iPhone 12

The only one hundred percent reliable source of information about Apple is Apple itself, it not only didn’t say anything about moving the release of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with miniLED display to the beginning of next year, it’s about this project itself, and about plans to launch six devices with miniLED displays this fall did not say anything. Why aren’t we going to see the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a miniLED display this year? Information about this, almost simultaneously, came immediately from several sources from the Asian and American shores of the Pacific Ocean. The fate of other predicted devices with a miniLED display is unknown, but something tells us that this fall will not be theirs.

The iPad Pro screen is cool now, but could be even better!

The fact that Apple is finally going to start mass production of Macs and iPads with miniLED displays was announced at the end of 2019 by Taiwanese analyst Ming Chi-ko, who was rarely mistaken in his forecasts. One Mac and one iPad. Prior to the announcement of the Apple Pro Display XDR at WWDC'19, the rumors about Apple's ongoing work to create either microLED, miniLED, or some kind of super-duper displays were so dubious and implausible that few believed in them.

Pro Display XDR - half miniLED display. On March 3 this year, Ming Chi-ko predicted: In the fall of 2020, Apple will release three Mac models and three iPad models with miniLED displays. Apple and the Taiwanese company Epistar signed a contract in which it was agreed that when and how much should be produced and shipped to assembly plants (in China). Min Chi-ko saw this contract. It would seem that everything is already on the ointment.

Why iPad Pro with miniLED won't work

But this does not mean that at the end of the year there will be no new iPad

Almost everyone with whom I discussed the incident is sure that the exit was postponed to next year due to the fact that Apple will not be the first company in the world to use a miniLED display in its products. The wow factor will be significantly weaker due to the fact that MSI announced the start of sales of a laptop with a miniLED display “in a week”. Sales of MSI Creator 17 began on April 16th. On the same day, as if on command, from sources known and previously unknown, information went that Apple decided to postpone the iPad Pro with a miniLED display.

Sources were not limited to postponement, but more on that below. It seems to me that the start of sales of MSI Creator 17 either had nothing to do with the postponement, or it was the last straw.

The first reason: on March 3, no one knew how far everything would go with the coronavirus, and it was not taken into account. Reality exceeded expectations. Epistar engineers (with whom Apple has a contract for the production of six versions of miniLED displays) and plants in Wuxi (where they are organized) had to work closely with developers, engineers and technologists from Cupertino.

And with this there were continuous problems, more and more. At first, due to quarantine, engineers from Cupertino could not get to the plants in Wuxi. Then they themselves were no longer allowed into China as potential carriers of the virus. As soon as they adapted to work across the ocean, Apple had to close offices and an experimental display plant. I'm not sure that in such a situation, you can generally start something in a series. But - the wow factor and “necessary”. Someone secretly and “of their own free will” violated the state authorities' ban by making their way to the equipment. In such conditions, it is impossible to achieve apple-quality displays from the production.

As a result, there is no new screen in iPad Pro - only LiDAR

The second reason: the probability of failure of any advanced and truly new device this fall is almost one hundred percent. To deduce something expensive, complex and exciting interesting is to bury all the efforts spent on its creation. And everything is new in it. Mass demand, even for outstanding in terms of quality, but expensive devices, can not be expected. And even when a pandemic weakens, recovery from it will not be simple and easy. There is also a third and fourth reason - but probably enough. I think that even if MSI did not start selling MSI Creator 17 with a miniLED display, Apple would still suspend the implementation of this project. And some others. But there are projects that can never be stopped.

When will the iPhone 12 come out?

A rare case, this time the source of information is Tim Cook. She was voiced in his presence (virtual), and he did not object. The second reason for transferring the iPad Pro with a miniLED display to next year is also true for the iPhone 12. 5G, LiDAR, Apple A14, all of which cannot but be expensive. Rumors that the iPhone 12 decided to transfer to 2021, with very convincing arguments, were refuted. As if Tim Cook said that he could neither stop this project nor postpone it to a much later date. Due to emergency contracts entered into by the company with peripheral manufacturers for the iPhone 12, Apple will lose more on this than can be lost on a failed product launch.

New iPad 2020

Does one need another iPad in 2020?

Sources reporting a move of the iPad Pro with a miniLED display for next year, both said the iPad Pro will come out easier instead. One believes that it will be exactly the same iPad Pro as it is now, only with the new system-on-chip (5 nm Apple A14X). No 5G, no design change - but cheaper. Another is sure that besides miniLED, everything that was supposed to change in it will change. There will be 5G, a new design, and a high price, and the processor in the new iPad Pro will be “telephone” - Apple A14. 5 nm, and all that. TSMC, on which the execution of these forecasts depends no less than on Apple, in excellent form, on April 16 she reported the financial results of the first quarter. She's fine.