Apple to raise 2024 iPad Pro prices as May 7 release date nears
Apple will reportedly try to revive its challenging iPad sales with new Pro models equipped with OLED displays to be launched in May at what is likely to be a higher price.
In the beginning, Apple tried to position the iPad family as a lighter, more elegant laptop replacement, but it is now in limbo between its big-screen iPhones and already lightweight and powerful Macs.
While iPad sales dropped significantly by 24% last year, it is still the king of tablets, and it is especially the Pro line that is in need of an upgrade and may be the key to reviving this flagging market for Apple.
2024 Apple iPad Pro release
- May 7, 2024
It is precisely the challenge of producing an OLED display with the level of quality that Apple desires in large quantities that have reportedly delayed the release of the 2024 iPad Pro, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Apple allegedly moved the press release for the 2024 iPad Pro launch from March to May, and Gurman says his sources indicate the week of May 6 as the possible announcement timeframe.
Since Apple usually reveals its iPads on Tuesday in the form of a press release, rather than make some big flashy event out of it, it's Tuesday, May 7, when the 2024 iPad Pro may be announced and released immediately.
2024 iPad Pro pricing: dual-stack OLED is expensive
An OLED iPad Pro has been long in the making. At the beginning, Apple didn't consider OLED screens of sufficient quality and value to warrant installing in its best iPads tailored towards its most demanding users.
Now that larger OLED panels are already many generations ahead in terms of brightness and color presentation, as well as endurance, it still wanted to add some more value for its iPad fans.
The 2024 iPad Pro is rumored to employ the dual-stack OLED technology, which deploys two layers of organic material for a lifespan without degradation of more than a decade and double the typical brightness levels.
LG is currently the undisputed leader in dual-stack OLED technology, and it has been deploying it in applications that need longer lifespan and higher brightness, like in the automotive industry with the Mercedes EQS pillar-to-pillar Hyperscreen.
Samsung is also a runner-up, and it remains to be seen if it has been able to wiggle into the 2024 iPad Pro supply chain with enough yield and quality. Unfortunately, dual-stack panels are harder to make and come more expensive, too.
This has apparently forced Apple to raise the 2024 iPad Pro price and, considering all the other improvements, such as the M3 processor, thinner body, new camera and Max Safe wireless charging, the price bump may be significant.
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