Apple Could Release MacBook Pro With New IGZO Display Panels This Year

Apple is slated to update its MacBook Pro display from a-Si (amorphous silicon material) TFT-LCD panels to IGZO (indium gallium zinc oxide) TFT-LCD later this year, the research firm IHS told DigiTimes.

According to the report, the tech giant may continue using a-Si TFT-LCD for its computers until the end of the first quarter before making the shift to IGZO. Samsung and Sharp will allegedly start supplying IGZO panels to Apple by mid-2017, the report says.

IGZO is a semiconducting material made up of Indium, Gallium, Zinc and Oxygen. It makes transistors smaller and provides a crystal clear display, Sharp explains on its site. IGZO has twice the resolution of ordinary LCDs, uses less power and delivers “life-like picture in super high definition.” Its electron mobility is 20-50 times faster than the MacBook Pro’s current display material.

Apple’s switch to IGZO displays also suggests the company may soon introduce a new line of next-generation MacBook Pro.

Apple will order approximately 13.6 million MacBook Pro display panels this year, fewer than the 16.2 million units ordered in 2016, IHS says. LG Display will likely remain as Apple’s largest supplier. Panels for MacBook Air will decrease from 6 million units in 2016 to 2.7 million this year, since production of those devices will end in 2017, the report says. Meanwhile, procurement for the MacBook Pro will rise from 8.8 million units last year to 9.7 million this year.