Display Analyst Claims 2021 iPad Mini Won’t Feature Mini-LED Display

BY Sanuj Bhatia

Published 23 Jul 2021

iPad Mini 6 render

Yesterday, a report from DigiTimes claimed that the 2021 iPad mini 6th-gen will feature a mini LED display. Today, display analyst Ross Young has stated that this year’s iPad mini won’t be featuring a mini LED display after all.

iPad mini is set for a major redesign this year. Apple is said to be (finally) ditching the Touch ID home button on iPad mini for iPad Pro-like smaller bezels. Another feature that the mini was said to be borrowing from its expensive sibling was the mini LED display.

However, display analyst Ross Young says otherwise. Contrary to DigiTimes’ report, Young says that the iPad mini won’t feature the costly mini LED display. Ross Young has been quite accurate when it comes to the display tech of future Apple devices. He was the one who broke the news that iPhone 12 Pro is not coming with the 120Hz display refresh rate panel.

In a follow-up tweet, Ross Young stated that he confirmed this with Apple’s mini LED supplier so the information seems to be quite correct. And certainly, this wasn’t bound to happen.

First, the mini LED display is expensive. Incorporating mini LED into iPad mini 6 would have increased the cost of the device. Also, the 11-inch iPad Pro doesn’t feature a mini LED display. Adding mini LED to iPad mini 6 would have attracted customers towards the mini-er iPad and killed the iPad Pro’s sales. Furthermore, mini LED supply chains are quite backlogged right now.

Apple is said to be launching a redesigned MacBook Pro later this year with an M1X chipset. This year’s MacBook Pro is also said to be featuring the mini LED tech. And naturally, with all the supply chain clogged right now, Apple might be saving the display panels for the 2021 MacBook Pro — so the omission of mini LED from the 2021 iPad mini isn’t really a surprise.

What are your expectations from the 2021 iPad mini? Let us know in the comments section below!