According to foreign media DigiTimes, in order to meet the upgrade needs of new devices, Apple plans to increase the order production of mini LED screens to gradually separate from the use of LCD panels. Apple refers to Mini LED display technology as the "Liquid Retina XDR" display because Mini LED display technology can provide a deeper, darker black with better overall contrast, while mini LED displays can also display brighter, richer colors and offer more benefits such as thinner design, better energy efficiency, and fewer burn-out or degradation drawbacks.
Currently, Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro, Pro Display XDR, and new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models all feature Mini LED screens. The report speculates that the 11-inch iPad Pro, the 27-inch iMac Pro and the redesigned MacBook Air expected to launch this year will all use Mini LED technology.
Taiwan's Wafer Optoelectronics is currently the main supplier of Mini LED chips for Apple, but the company is reportedly increasingly using Mini LED displays in more devices, forcing it to seek more suppliers. According to supply chain sources, with the sharp increase in demand for MiniLED, Apple actively added suppliers to consolidate the scale of mass production, and the domestic LED leading factory Sanan Optoelectronics recently successfully passed Apple certification. To meet Apple's growing demand, Jingyuan Optoelectronics is expanding its production facilities in China to increase production from the second quarter of 2022, and Sanan Optoelectronics may also start shipping at the same time.
But Mini-LED as a new technology, the manufacturing process is complex, the productionability is not high, the cost is naturally high, how to ensure the quality while controlling the yield rate and cost, will become the next step of Apple need to consider the problem.