Apple’s first 5G-compatible cellular 12.9-inch iPad Pro has reportedly been pushed back from late 2020 to the first quarter of 2021, an Economic Daily News report published Tuesday claims.
As with most hardware delays right now, the issue is the coronavirus pandemic. While China is getting back up and running, it has seemingly impacted production enough to delay Apple’s next-gen iPad Pro later this year.
5G won’t be the only selling point of this next-gen iPad. It is also supposedly the first that will have Apple’s Micro LED display. Mini LED makes it possible to create thinner and more lightweight designs, while maintaining the color accuracy, high contrast and dynamic range, and efficiency of Apple’s current OLED displays.
A March report from TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested the Mini LED technology could be exclusive to a 12.9-inch iPad model initially. Another recent report disputed this, however, by claiming it could also be bound for the next iPad Air before that.
iPad Pro delays?
This is not the first report to suggest there may be iPad Pro delays. A recent research note from Hong Kong analyst Jeff Pu, sent last Thursday, claimed the same thing. Pu didn’t give any reason for the delay.
Today’s Economic Daily News report says that Apple made the call to suspend the launch of the new device. While it doesn’t speculate, this could also give Apple a few extra months for the economy to hopefully recover. For an eagerly anticipated device like this, that could have a big impact on sales. It would mean that Apple misses the important holiday quarter, though.
Apple has experienced similar uncertainty with this year’s 5G iPhone. But judging from recent reports, production is proceeding as scheduled. Since the iPhone makes up a much larger piece of Apple’s revenue than any other product, it would make a lot of sense that Apple would want to prioritize it.
