2024 OLED iPad Pros Set to Be a Lot Pricier Due to Costly Panel Production Process

[fatTribble]

I have the M1 iPad Pro and I continue to be impressed with the screen quality when I browse through trip photos. An OLED display wouldn’t be enough for me to upgrade but I would definitely like to check it out. I’m sure Apple has levers they can pull to offset the cost of the parts. But it’s why they make multiple models if some folks don’t find OLED worth the expense.

 

[gusping]

Yeap and one of the few reasons I got a refurb iPhone 13 Pro last week. They are pricing themselves out of the market and a £200 or 200 Euro plus increase on the iPad Pro will further push that.

Agreed. Thankfully the 13 Pro i bought at launch was actually cheaper than the iPhone X i got at launch many years earlier, but the £150 increase for the 14 Pro was steep. I am thankful I only need a Mac mini, so at least I avoid incredibly expensive MBPs. I will likely replace my 2018 12.9in iPad with one of these OLED models assuming they aren’t another ridiculous increase, but let’s wait and see.

A good tip for those in the UK is that Costco sells Apple products often with a 5-15% discount, even just a week or two after they launch. E.g. The Apple watch Ultra is £150 off, i’ve seen the 14 Pro at c.£90 off and Macs at over £150. You just need to pay £15/year for access.

 

[slplss]

So they’ll rather go OLED first before improving (increasing the number of zones) in their own miniLED panels? Either way, Apple won’t decrease their profits. What would you prefer, pricier OLED or improved miniLED at current prices?

 

[floral]

I'll take the LCD, thanks.

 

[SmugMaverick]

Yeap and one of the few reasons I got a refurb iPhone 13 Pro last week. They are pricing themselves out of the market and a £200 or 200 Euro plus increase on the iPad Pro will further push that.

It's like Apple hasn't realised Europeans and Asians don't give a f*&K about iMessage and won't be locked in like America.

Continue on this path of greed in these markets and they'll soon be crying about low sales and pretending its supply issues again.

iPad Pro does the exact same thing a basic iPad does, you can stick an OLED and M3 in it but it won't matter if the OS is still limited.

I will NEVER pay over 1K for an iPad, glorified big iPod touch for MOST and I'd love to know how many have actually bothered to buy the keyboard or pencil.

 

[Pezimak]

Agreed. Thankfully the 13 Pro i bought at launch was actually cheaper than the iPhone X i got at launch many years earlier, but the £150 increase for the 14 Pro was steep. I am thankful I only need a Mac mini, so at least I avoid incredibly expensive MBPs. I will likely replace my 2018 12.9in iPad with one of these OLED models assuming they aren’t another ridiculous increase, but let’s wait and see.

A good tip for those in the UK is that Costco sells Apple products often with a 5-15% discount, even just a week or two after they launch. E.g. The Apple watch Ultra is £150 off, i’ve seen the 14 Pro at c.£90 off and Macs at over £150. You just need to pay £15/year for access.

I'm hope my next purchase will be a Mac Studio, I'll get it from the refurb store and I know someone who works for Apple and can get a discount. Hopefully that'll work out later in the year. I'll be set then for years on Apple products, for me anyway. Cheaper then Costco then all be it second hand. Need to hunt for the savings on Apple products.

 

[SmugMaverick]

So they’ll rather go OLED first before improving (increasing the number of zones) in their own miniLED panels? Either way, Apple won’t decrease their profits. What would you prefer, pricier OLED or improved miniLED at current prices?

miniLED is utterly garbage and they know it, this is proof of that.

It was a cheap stop gap before OLED so that they could bump up the price and market it as something great and new.

Blooming is gross.

 

[Aston441]

I hate OLED.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Question is, is the value visible to the customer? If OLED was a night and day difference to mini-LED then justifying the price increase might be easier, but at the moment it’s difficult to say. Under sensible lighting conditions and brightness levels, the differences are hard to tell.

 

[vexus]

it is because of US commercial dept sanctioning the supply chain at consumer expenses

 

[Aston441]

miniLED is utterly garbage and they know it, this is proof of that.

It was a cheap stop gap before OLED so that they could bump up the price and market it as something great and new.

Blooming is gross.

What is "blooming?" A cursory search found entirely flowers. Did I miss something in 2023's CorporoSpeakish 101 class?

 

[slplss]

miniLED is utterly garbage and they know it, this is proof of that.

It was a cheap stop gap before OLED so that they could bump up the price and market it as something great and new.

Blooming is gross.

Do you have a miniLED MBP, or iPP? Apple’s miniLED is beautiful. Super bright, accurate, great contrast, no burn in. Like everything you ever wished from LCD (and Apple made some of the best ones). OLED is a good panel for iPhones, because the dimming zones would’ve been too big. microLED is the endgame, imo (unless you need a foldable, super thin screen). I can’t wait for a microLED monitor that won’t cost an arm.

 

[EugW]

Question is, is the value visible to the customer? If OLED was a night and day difference to mini-LED then justifying the price increase might be easier, but at the moment it’s difficult to say. Under sensible lighting conditions and brightness levels, the differences are hard to tell.

In a dark room, OLED is a (literally) night vs day difference in image quality. The difference in black levels is really no contest.

One of the new production processes is the use of a two-stack tandem structure, which has two emission layers, thus doubling brightness and quadrupling OLED display lifespan. All of Apple's iPhones use a single-stack structure, and Apple's rationale for requiring two-stack panels for iPads is that tablets tend to be used for longer periods.

I guess Apple really does think burn-in is potentially an issue. If they didn't, they wouldn't be going this direction.

I was wondering how they would deal with the burn-in issue on an iPad (since people don't use them the same way as an iPhone). This answers my question.

 

[Manzanito]

Are they slowly pricing themselves out of the market? The price is just not reasonable for the capabilities of the device.

 

[marklcfc]

Pay more, gain nothing but headaches

 

[EugW]

Are they slowly pricing themselves out of the market? The price is just not reasonable for the capabilities of the device.

What price? We don't know what the price is yet of course.

My guess is there may be an increase in price, but I don't think it will be hundreds of $ contrary to what some might think after reading this article.

What is "blooming?" A cursory search found entirely flowers. Did I miss something in 2023's CorporoSpeakish 101 class?

https://www.reddit.com/r/ipad/comments/ygwx86

 

[smaffei]

Does ist actually matter?

Given the price of the iPad Pro and the associated accessories, it seems these customers aren't price-sensitive at all.

Actually they are, seems retailers like Best Buy, Target and Amazon can't get rid of the Pro Models. Pricier Pro models will only make this worse.

 

[klasma]

So they’ll rather go OLED first before improving (increasing the number of zones) in their own miniLED panels? Either way, Apple won’t decrease their profits. What would you prefer, pricier OLED or improved miniLED at current prices?

Pricier OLED. Mini-LED is useless for reading in the dark. Also, the fact that they haven't managed to adapt mini-LED to the 11" indicates that the zone size is already at the limit of what the technology allows.

 

[klasma]

I guess Apple really does think burn-in is potentially an issue. If they didn't, they wouldn't be going this direction.

I was wondering how they would deal with the burn-in issue on an iPad (since people don't use them the same way as an iPhone). This answers my question.

I'm wondering whether the additional 0.1" is for pixel shifting.

 

[darngooddesign]

How much better can an Oled screen be over the current 12.9 iPad Pro’s?

I can see blooming on mine, but it’s not annoying enough for OLED to be the killer app. Shame that Apple hasn’t improved blooming by decreasing the size of the local dimming zones.

 

[darngooddesign]

It's like Apple hasn't realised Europeans and Asians don't give a f*&K about iMessage and won't be locked in like America.

Dont be so dramatic.

Americans could use different messaging apps if they wanted so no one here is locked in to iMessage.

 

[darngooddesign]

Pricier OLED. Mini-LED is useless for reading in the dark. Also, the fact that they haven't managed to adapt mini-LED to the 11" indicates that the zone size is already at the limit of what the technology allows.

Why wouldn’t the MiniLED sheets be able to be cut to the 11” size? When the 13” got MiniLED its price increased by 100USD, so I think Apple wants to keep the 11” at a more attractive price and make the 13”s screen more attractive.

 

[klky]

My 2018 iPad Pro continues to be the best Apple product I've ever bought in terms of longevity.

 

[jtopp]

What is "blooming?" A cursory search found entirely flowers. Did I miss something in 2023's CorporoSpeakish 101 class?

It's an effect that the screen shows the brightness looks too bright with the text. My m1 has it worse than my older ipp 12" has. Some people might not notice it.

 

[surfzen21]

If this actually comes to fruition, maybe they will offset the increased price by doubling the base storage to entice people to buy. Its the cheapest way for Apple to add consumer value with barely increasing their cost.

I believe the 128GB NAND flash storage chips Apple is using cost less than $3 a piece. MaxTech talked about it in a prior video of his. If someone wants to go back and check on that to correct me I'd appreciate the leg work 😂