iPad Pro Relative Cost
While it is still early in the mini-LED production game, Apple’s (AAPL) recent announcement of a 12.9” iPad Pro using the technology is a major plus for the mini-LED supply chain, but how does this change change customer perceptions? Aside from the technical improvements over Apple’s previous mini-LED foray, the XDR monitor, Apple seems to have passed on the increased cost of the mini-LED display directly to customers, but we expect the increase in the price of this year’s iPad Pro of $100 will be minor when compared to the improvement in performance and the cache of a new technology.
According to recent evaluations, the cost of the mini-LED backlight for the iPad Pro is ~$85 greater than the cost of an edge-lit backlight of the same size, and we expect the net cost of other improvements was likely the remainder of the $100 price increase this year. While a 10% price hike is enough to be noticed, the value proposition for any avid iPad Pro fan is a no-brainer based on the fact that the mini-LED display in the new iPad Pro is more precise, and has higher contrast characteristics than the mini-LED XDR monitor that is associated with the 31.5” iMAC.
As we have previously noted, the iPad Pro mini-LED display is based on almost 2,600 dimming zones, each with 4 mini-LEDs, giving the system 5 times the control that the XDR display previously had. While actual performance still depends on the system’s processor performance and the algorithms used to parse each frame segment’s characteristics, we find it hard to imagine that Apple did not anticipate where the software would need to be using the higher LED zone count. Given that such video processors have to scan roughly 12 bits of information for every 8.29m pixels for every frame of a video signal, 60 times each second, translate that into 2,600 LED locations, and then set the LED level for each zone, and send that to the system’s timing controller, it is understandable that those designing mini-LED backlights reckon with the complexity and processing power needed each time the number of zones is increased. Apple seems to be a bit ahead of the game so far.
According to recent evaluations, the cost of the mini-LED backlight for the iPad Pro is ~$85 greater than the cost of an edge-lit backlight of the same size, and we expect the net cost of other improvements was likely the remainder of the $100 price increase this year. While a 10% price hike is enough to be noticed, the value proposition for any avid iPad Pro fan is a no-brainer based on the fact that the mini-LED display in the new iPad Pro is more precise, and has higher contrast characteristics than the mini-LED XDR monitor that is associated with the 31.5” iMAC.
As we have previously noted, the iPad Pro mini-LED display is based on almost 2,600 dimming zones, each with 4 mini-LEDs, giving the system 5 times the control that the XDR display previously had. While actual performance still depends on the system’s processor performance and the algorithms used to parse each frame segment’s characteristics, we find it hard to imagine that Apple did not anticipate where the software would need to be using the higher LED zone count. Given that such video processors have to scan roughly 12 bits of information for every 8.29m pixels for every frame of a video signal, 60 times each second, translate that into 2,600 LED locations, and then set the LED level for each zone, and send that to the system’s timing controller, it is understandable that those designing mini-LED backlights reckon with the complexity and processing power needed each time the number of zones is increased. Apple seems to be a bit ahead of the game so far.
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