Mass production of Retina Displays for iPad mini will begin in the coming months and Apple is likely to bring out two refreshes of its flagship tablet, one in the second half of this year and one earlier next year, according to a report.
"We see two refreshes coming. One [with a Retina display] in the second half of this year, then one in Q1 [first quarter] of 2014," NPD DisplaySearch predicts. The new Retina display will come with one of the highest tablet resolutions to date, NPD analyst Richard Shim tells CNET. While the model coming out this year will bring in Retina display to iPad mini, the Q1 (2014) device will have a Retina display plus an updated processor, the report says.
The mass production of panels is expected to commence in June or July. Although a number of manufacturers are involved with the production, LG Display will be one of the major manufacturers of the panels, the analyst said. He confirms that Samsung is not a supplier for the Mini."Samsung is currently not in the iPad Mini and they won't be in the next generation. LGD is becoming a much bigger supplier than before," he says.
Although it's not clear at this point as to what display technology Apple would use, LTPS is one of the top favourite. It's also likely that Apple may opt for low-temperature polysilicon, the same technology used in the iPhone 5.
