Whereas the iPad Professional might have gotten slimmer over time, one factor hasn’t modified a lot since its most up-to-date redesign: the bezels. Whereas they’re not precisely massive, the bezels have principally stayed the identical since Apple dumped the house button in 2018. However that may very well be altering—current studies point out that Apple is engaged on implementing iPad Professional show expertise that would lead to slimmer bezels and a good smaller footprint.
The Elec studies that Apple is contemplating LX Semicon’s show driver IC (DDI) that makes use of LG Innotek’s chip on movie (CoF). The CoF attaches the DDI to show panels by way of warmth compression on movie, which delivers the DDI’s knowledge to the show panel. This implementation permits for tighter {hardware} integration, which might then enable for smaller bezels and extra usable display actual property with out having to make the iPad itself larger.
The present iPad Professional makes use of Samsung System LSI’s DDI. The Elec notes that LX Semicon is seeing elevated competitors and Apple is working to diversify its provide chain, so LX Semicon could also be very accommodating to make this deal work.
The report doesn’t make clear when this new expertise might be carried out within the iPad Professional. The present M4 iPad Professional was launched in Might 2024, and studies have acknowledged that the following iPad Professional could also be out there on the finish of this yr or in early 2026. So if Apple needs to implement this new DDI for the upcoming cycle, it must decide on it quickly, since manufacturing would begin within the subsequent few months, so this expertise is more likely to debut with the M6 or M7 in 2026.