12.9-Inch Mini-LED iPad to Ship No Earlier Than April: REPORT

Apple’s next 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display will begin shipping no earlier than April, despite previous reports of a March release.

A new report from Digitimes explains that mass shipments for the new iPad with mini-LED will begin in the second quarter. A previous report did mention a tentative period of March-end, but it seems that that is no longer the case.

The report explains that “Epistar has become the exclusive supplier of mini-LED chips to be used in 12.9-inch miniLED-backlit ‌iPad Pro‌, with nearly 50% of the corresponding production capacity booked up for the tablet and volume shipments to begin in the second quarter of 2021, the sources said.”

This could mean other Apple products using mini-LEDs could be shipped out, much like the rumoured iPad mini 2021.

This also suggests that while the expected Apple event taking place on Tuesday, March 23 would still reveal the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, fans may not see it on shelves at the beginning of April.

Popular Apple tipster Jon Prosser recently tweeted, suggesting that Apple could have changed its plans and moved the event to April. The only possible reason that we can point at, is the delay in the mass shipments of the mini-LED-equipped iPad.

Prosser also mentioned a couple of weeks ago that the new iPad Pro range is also expected to get a new chipset based on the M1 SoC available on the new Mac products.

Apple is also expected to announce new AirTags and AirPods 3 alongside the new iPad Pro models for 2021.