Apple is widely expected to debut its first iPad Pro models with OLED displays sometime next year. Ahead of the official announcement, a sketchy new supply chain report today suggests that Apple is also planning a big price hike for the OLED iPad Pro lineup.
The supply chain blog The Electric reports today that Apple is currently targeting a starting price of $1,500 for the 11-inch iPad Pro with OLED and a starting price of $1,800 for the 12.9-inch version.
This would be a significant price increase compared to the current iPad Pro lineup. As it stands, the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,099.
The report explains:
The industry response to $1500 and $1800 has been split in half. The interpretation is “a reasonable increase, even considering it’s an Apple product with loyal customers,” and the prospect that “the iPad isn’t as loyal as the iPhone and has a lot of replacements, so it’s going to be hard to existing Sale iPad Pro lineup for $1500 to $1800.”
9to5Mac’s Take
We would treat this rumor with a healthy dose of skepticism for now. We’re at least a year away from Apple officially announcing the first OLED iPad Pro models.
In addition, it’s always important to keep in mind that sources in the supply chain have no idea what Apple plans internally for new product pricing. They can make educated guesses based on what they know about component prices, but only certain product teams within Apple know the actual prices.
As today’s report points out, these prices may change as Apple finalizes agreements with suppliers:
The industry’s current OLED iPad price estimates may change in the future. The OLED for iPad, which is scheduled to be supplied by LG Display and Samsung Display, is still in the development phase, so the price of the panel has not yet been determined. In terms of material costs, the purchasing costs of panels are the largest.
That said, I fully expect the iPad Pro to get more expensive when Apple moves to OLED displays. The 11-inch model in particular is up for a price increase as its price has been the same $799 since its introduction in 2018. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro became $100 more expensive when it switched to mini-LED display technology. I just don’t think we’ll see as dramatic an increase as today’s rumor claims.
How much would you be willing to pay for an iPad Pro with an OLED screen? Would you pay the $1500/$1800 prices suggested in this report? Let us know in the comments.
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