Although slower than its rivals, Apple has gradually begun to introduce OLED panels in its devices, starting with the Apple Watch in 2015 and then in smartphones with the iPhone X in 2017.

As predicted by numerous leaks and corroborated by Apple's leaked OLED roadmap last week, the next device will probably be the 2024 iPad Pro at some point next year; Bloomberg's Mark Gurman predicts a spring or summer launch, and analyst s Ming-Chi Kuo has said that mass production will begin in late Q1 or Q2.

However, there may be hope for an earlier date. Last week, a report from Korea suggested that 11- and 13-inch OLED panels for tablets would not go into mass production until February, and now a second report confirms this. [The Korea Herald, in an article on LG Display's improving performance, reported that the company "will start OLED production for the next iPad Pro at its plant in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, next February." The article adds that this is "about three months earlier than projected," suggesting that the OLED production issues mentioned by Kuo may have been addressed.

While this is only one factor, it may help Apple introduce the tablet earlier in its April to September trajectory. June may be a wise month to bet, as it is likely to coincide with WWDC 2024, when Apple has introduced the iPhone SE and HomePod to the world in the past.

According to reports, even if Apple holds out until September and announces something with the iPhone 16, it should be worth the wait; Gurman describes the tablet, which also introduces a super-fast M3 chipset and a new-look Magic Keyboard, as "the product's first since 2018 major update" to the product since 2018, he describes it as "a big update.

But the real highlight for most buyers will be the OLED screen, which offers improved contrast and deeper blacks because the individual pixels on an OLED panel are self-emitting rather than backlit. According to Garman, the iPad Pro panel should make this "crisper and brighter" and "reproduce colors more accurately."

However, these improvements will likely come at a price: the Korea Herald reports that the OLED panels will be three times the price of their iPhone counterparts, and Kuo has suggested that to differentiate the new Pro from the 12.9-inch iPad Air, which was suggested earlier this year to challenge the He believes that the price may also be raised in order to try and differentiate it from the 12.9-inch iPad Air, which was suggested earlier this year.