Upcoming OLED iPad Pros’ price likely to start at US$1,500

Apple’s upcoming OLED iPad Pro will start at $1,500, rising to between $1,800 and $2,000 depending on size and configuration, representing a major increase in prices compared to Apple’s current equivalents, according to a new report on the news aggregator account “yeux1122” on the Naver blog — as noted by MacRumors.

The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks that sounds about right. OLED iPad Pros have been anticipated for some time. I expect to see them announced in the spring. 

According to an October 2023 OMDIA report, the planned OLED tablet panel size for the iPad Pros will be 11 and 12.9 inches and will be supplied by LG Display and Samsung Display. Based on the current survey, Apple is targeting a total of 10 million units of OLED iPad panels for 2024. 

Also from the OMDIA report: The forecast for 2024 indicates that LG Display may supply 6 million units for both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models, while Samsung Display may provide 4 million units for the 11-inch model only. The OLED iPad will be adopted in the iPad Pro product lineup as the first OLED model for Apple IT products. The demand for the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Mini LED backlight will be gradually replaced with OLED technology from 2024 onward.   

The OMDIA report aligns with a September 5 2023 report from DigiTimes that said the upcoming tablet models will sport hybrid OLED displays made with a combination of flexible and rigid materials. This could mean the updated iPad Pros would be even thinner and lighter design than current models.

An iPad Pro with OLED display was, according to some rumors,  originally slated to launch in 2022. However, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says those plans were delayed because costs and performance weren’t meeting expectations in tests.

Currently, Apple sells a 12.9-inch mini-LED ‌iPad Pro‌ and an 11-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ with a traditional LCD display, as mini-LED has continued to be reserved for the higher-end ‌iPad Pro‌ model. With the 2024 update, the tech giant could return to feature parity between the two ‌iPad Pro‌ models, notes MacRumors.

The iPad Pro models with OLED displays will be followed by sequential OLED MacBook Pro and OLED MacBook Air launches over the next three years, analyst Jeff Pu from Haitong International Technology Research said in a November 2023 note to clients.