Apple's OLED iPad Pros are ready for April launch as displays begin production

Apple has long been rumored to have a big update in the works for the iPad Pro in 2024, and now a new report suggests that not only will device shipments begin in April, but work to make that happen is already underway. Reports of new OLED iPad Pros have been circulating for months now, and a new industry report claims that those OLED displays are now in production with an eye on that April window.

The report comes via the Korean-language outlet The Elec and claims that LG Display recently began building the thin film transistor (TFT) for the new 13-inch iPad Pro. As for the smaller 11-inch model, it's reported that Samsung Display will start its own TFT production so that it's ready for the same launch. The TFT is reportedly the component that switches on and off the individual OLED pixels and is a key component as a result.

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It's then reported that completed iPad Pro models will be in production around March time which fits well with an expected April release timeframe. That's also a timeframe that matches with other claims by analysts including supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, someone who is normally well-connected in terms of this kind of thing. It's also a timeframe that matches one provided by Bloomberg which suggested that Apple might announce its new tablets in March. If that happens towards the end of the month it's very likely that the tablets will actually begin shipping to customers in the early days of April.

The new iPad Pro won't be the only tablet to appear at the March event if reports are accurate. It's thought that Apple will also update the iPad Air, adding a new 13-inch model to the lineup to create a two-tier lineup for the first time.

As for the iPad Pro, its move to a new OLED display will make for improvements that were previously limited to other OLED devices like the iPhone and Apple Watch. Buyers can expect that the new model will offer improved and more vivid color reproduction as well as better contrast and deeper blacks, all things that will make these iPads even better for artwork and consuming media like movies and TV shows.

The new iPad Pro and iPad Air models could be the first iPad launches in a long time after Apple skipped 2023 entirely. The year became the first since the original iPad's release not to feature a new iPad release but 2024 is already shaping up to be a very different story.