Apple's new 11-inch OLED iPad Pro might be hard to come by, and it's the display's fault

Apple recently announced that it will be holding an online, streamed event on May 7 and it's roundly thought that it will see the company announce new iPads including a pair of iPad Pros. Now, a new report suggests that while that remains true, actually getting your hands on one of the tablets in particular could be more difficult than buyers might like,

The tablet is the 11-inch OLED iPad Pro, the smaller of the two tablets and often the most popular for those who want to be able to get the most powerful tablet with the added portability of a relatively small display. However, display analyst Ross Young believes that stocks of the 11-inch model might be harder to find than those of the larger 12.9-inch version. And it's the display that buyers can blame.

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Young was writing via a post on the X social network that now appears to have been removed, but not before it was picked up by various outlets including 9to5Mac.

According to Young, the shipments of displays that will be used in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro have been higher than those of the 11-inch model, suggesting that there have been constraints on the production of those smaller display panels. The analyst says that Samsung has been dealing with technical challenges when producing the two-stack tandem structure for the 11-inch OLED display.

Young went on to say that he believes the supply constraint will continue throughout May, potentially affecting the availability of the smaller 11-inch iPad Pro at launch.

Previous reports had suggested that LG Display had been brought on to help produce the smaller displays in an attempt to fix supply issues. The company is already the supplier of the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro's displays.

If everything goes the way that the rumors have so far suggested, the May 7 event will see Apple announce new 11- and 12.9-inch iPad Pros powered by new M3 chips. The 11-inch iPad Air is expected to be joined by a new 12.9-inch model, with both of them upgrading the current M1 chip to the newer but still last-generation M2. All four tablets are also expected to see the FaceTime camera moved to the side of the display, away from the top of it.

Alongside the new tablets, we're also expecting new accessories, too. A refreshed Apple Magic Keyboard is expected to be joined by a new Apple Pencil, but none of this has been confirmed by Apple so far.