New MacBooks May Drive Device Displays Mini, Then Micro

As is occasionally the case, it's expected that the next wave of Apple products will drive change in the industry. Per analysis from Apple-focused analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the next MacBook (and indeed MacBooks, plural,) will push the industry toward adoption of Mini LED panels. This will likely be positive for more companies than just Apple, as other companies will eventually take advantage of investments made by manufacturers to enable higher production of this next-gen technology.MacRumors shared a bit of the note delivered by Kuo to investors today. In said note, Kuo wrote "we expect MacBook shipments to grow significantly by 20% YoY, or more in 2021 and 2022, due to the adoption of Mini LED panels, Apple Silicon, and all-new designs." Kuo expects that MacBooks (and to a lesser degree iPads) will "drive Mini LED panel shipments."

This is good – any time Apple makes a significant push toward a new sort of tech, manufacturers ramp up production capacity and open the door to other companies making use of said capacity once Apple's initial run is done. Kuo also suggests that Apple will move beyond Mini LED to Micro LED in the year 2023.

This has been a long time in the making. Look all the way back to when Apple acquired LuxVue to see what Apple was looking at for Micro LED action even before the first Apple Watch was revealed. We'll likely see the first MacBook Air with mini LED before we get there.

Cross your fingers for expanded use in laptops and tablets of all sorts in the coming years. Until then – what do you think of the display you have on the device you're working with now? How good is the display on your laptop compared to the display on your smartphone? Given the trends we've watched over the past few years, chances are pretty good your laptop or tablet display isn't quite as good as your smartphone – that might be about to change.