Apple’s iPad Pro’s miniLED backlight: how the company balanced cost and performance

After more than three years of hype, excitement, and unfulfilled promises, miniLED backlights are finally ready for prime time,”asserts Taha Ayari, Technology & Cost Analyst at System Plus Consulting part of Yole Développement (Yole).And he explains: “MiniLED monitors, and laptops have been available since late 2020. Most leading TV brands are adopting miniLED backlights in their 2021 flagship models. The highly anticipated miniLED Apple iPad Pro was officially announced in April 2021.”

 In this context, the reverse engineering & costing company, System Plus Consulting announces today an in-depth analysis of the miniLEDs and their assembly in the display’s backlight unit of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, 2021 edition. The company provides a full reverse costing study of the miniLEDs and their assembly in the backlight unit of the display.
This report provides valuable insights regarding the technical choices made by Apple and the supply chain behind. It includes technology data, manufacturing cost, and selling price of the BLU, with a focus on the miniLEDs and their drivers. This analysis also highlights an estimated manufacturing cost of all the BLU’s components and a selling price analysis.

Properly designed miniLED backlights allow LCD displays to reach contrast performance close to that of OLEDs , while maintaining the high brightness characteristics of LCDs. All of this while offering reduced power consumption, a very thin form factor (thickness), and cost/price competitiveness with OLED.
“With this newest iPad Pro, Apple is really bringing this newer display technology to the consumer”, comments Youssef El Gmili, PhD., Director, Laboratory Department at System Plus Consulting. “As many different supply chain and technology choices are not settled yet, this System Plus Consulting teardown report provides great insights into the choices Apple is bringing to the table.”

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