In a note to clients — as noted by MacRumors — analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says Apple’s first entry-level Mac to feature a mini-LED display will be a new MacBook Air due to launch next year.
“We expect that the new MacBook Air will adopt a mini LED in 2022, increasing MacBook’s mini LED adoption rate,” he writes. “In contrast, only high-end iPad models will use mini LED displays, and the overall growth momentum may be lower than that of MacBooks.”
Speaking of the iPad, Kuo thinks a 2022 iPad Air will sport an OLED display. The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks he’s right about the MacBook Air, but I’m less certain about an OLED iPad Air. I’d think that the iPad Pro would get such a display first.
Mini-LEDs sport a local dimming function with a contrast effect similar to that of OLED displays. However, on some product lines, costs for mini-LED backlit displays may even be lower than their OLED counterparts, according to LEDinside. Mini-LED products are as thin as those using OLED technology so they consume less power than traditional LED screens, and they cost 70-80% less to produce than OLED displays, although their performance is similar.
