Apple has signed up with Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology (SMT), which could lead to the tech giant using hybrid OLED displays in the iPad Pro by 2024.According to AppleInsider, the iPad and iPad Pro's display is a key component of the user experience, therefore, supplier changes may indicate upcoming design modifications.
In the event of one supply chain disruption, Apple might be getting ready for a significant iPad upgrade.Taiwan SMT is to become a supplier, handling SMT processes for mini LED backlighting for the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro lines, according to a report by DigiTimes.
If accurate, this will be Taiwan SMT's first time in the Apple supplier ecosystem, the report said.Furthermore, the report claims that Apple is assisting with the expansion of its production lines using dedicated hardware for mini LED deposition.
The addition of Taiwan SMT could be significant for Apple as it could allow the company to improve its mini LED-based hardware until it can adopt hybrid OLED.At first, this could be a much thinner display, which can make the iPad Pro even slimmer, but there are other applications on the way.