DigiTimes has reported that Taiwanese company Ennostar will begin production of Mini-LED backlight units for a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro in the late first quarter or second quarter of this year.
The report cited industry sources in reporting the alleged move. Ennostar is a holding company that was jointly established in January 2021 by LED-related manufacturers Epistar and Lextar Electronics.
The much-rumored new 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Mini-LED backlighting is expected to debut in the first half of this year. The DigiTimes report claims Epistar will serve as the exclusive supplier of Mini-LED chips that will be packaged into backlight units by Lextar
The new 12.9-inch iPad Pro is also expected to boast a faster A14X chip and offer support for 5G networks on cellular-capable models.
It is unclear as to whether or not Apple will debut a new 11-inch iPad Pro alongside the larger model. The smaller iPad Pro could be sans the new Mini-LED backlighting while boasting the faster processor and 5G cellular support.
Mini-LED backlighting will also likely be used in new MacBook Pro models that are expected to debut during the second half of 2021. Apple analysts Ming-Chi Kuo expects to see new MacBook models debut in the second half of this year. Kuo expects to see new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models that drop the Touch bar while adding an HDMI port, SD card reader, and MagSafe charging.
