Unlike last year, the company Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), chose not to launch at the same time iPad Air si iPad Mini with Retina Display, the decision leaving many people with questions about the decision of those from Cupertino. It seems that Apple's partners are failing to produce enough of them Retina Display- without burn-in (or ghosting) problems, so Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), chose to postpone the official launch of the tablet. The problem is generated by a failure of the TFT screens and although normal users should not detect it, it does not meet Apple's testing standards. Considering this problem, the American company is seriously considering calling on Samsung to manufacture Retina Displays for the new tablet, but only if its partners fail to honor their contracts.
According to the industry on November 7, Apple is delaying its launch because it could not solve the burn-in problem in the LCD panel, to be applied to the iPad mini retina product, which is caused by the malfunction of the TFT. This burn-in is not visible to the eyes of ordinary users, but does not meet the particular technological standards of Apple. So there was a yield problem. The burn-in problem was caused by the drastic reduction of the pixel size. The resolution of the 7.9-inch iPad mini with Retina display is 2048×1536, about four times clearer than the existing 1024×768 products. Apple is known to be trying hard to come up with a solution. First of all, it is thinking to change suppliers. Apple is negotiating with Samsung Display for the supply of displays starting next year.
According to the existing rumors inside the distribution chain of the Apple company, the IGZO screens produced by Sharp would be the ones that generate the problems, they appeared only after Apple reduced the size of the pixels implemented in the screens iPad Mini with Retina Display. By introducing 4 times more pixels than in a normal screen, those from Apple have production problems, and if its partners will not manage to solve them in time, then the decision could be made to use new materials for production. The use of these different materials would increase the production costs of the Retina Display and generate additional availability problems, but at least Apple will be able to launch the product on the market without performance problems.
It is known that, if the burn-in problem cannot be solved, they are talking about upgrading the display substrate to LTPS. As LTPS has more masks than a-Si, it costs more to produce, and the production capacity is smaller too.
Having said that, for now it is not known when it will be launched on the market iPad Mini with Retina Display, but recent rumors indicate that November 21 would be taken into account by those from Cupertino.
