Apple has announced that the new iPad Pro 2021 is getting a major upgrade: the 12.9-inch model will have a mini-LED display (sorry 11-inch iPad Pros, maybe next year). But what is a mini-LED?

More importantly, what does a mini LED display mean for the new iPad Pro in terms of image quality, design, or price? Let's find out why.

Mini LEDs are a new backlighting technology that supports the new iPad Pro's LCD panel with diodes that are only 200 to 600 micrometers in size, one-fifth the size of standard LEDs. (Not to be confused with micro-LEDs, which use even smaller LEDs as individual pixels of the display rather than as backlights. If you still have questions, see Micro LEDs vs. Mini LEDs: What's the Difference?)

The smaller size means that hundreds of LEDs can be crammed behind the iPad Pro's 12.9-inch screen. More importantly, however, the densely packed mini LEDs allow for smaller, more tightly controlled lighting zones.

These small blocks of screen space can be independently brightened or dimmed, allowing the display to adjust brightness to match the on-screen content, so the display delivers better contrast with deeper black levels and higher brightness. In addition, high dynamic range (HDR) content improves brightness with improved specular highlights and subtle shadow illumination.

For TVs, this will be a level of improvement that brings the performance of LCD displays closer to that of OLEDs; for iPads and MacBooks, it will undoubtedly result in better video playback and richer visuals in games and other content.

Mini LED screens for the iPad and MacBook have been rumored since sometime in the spring of 2019 and are speculated to be a stepping stone between the current LCD panels and the eventual shift to OLED displays. Whether it is a step-up premium option or a complete replacement for the upcoming mini-LED displays remains to be seen.

Mini LEDs have so far been a solid winner every time they have been used in displays. (However, even with the smaller screen size, there is no reason to believe that mini-LEDs will be anything other than a significant improvement over the iPad's current Liquid Retina LED light panels.

But the changes that mini-LEDs will bring are not limited to improvements in image brightness and color performance. Mini LEDs will also allow manufacturers to make screens thinner and more energy efficient than current LED backlights.

Thinner displays will open up thinner options for iPads and laptops, but has Apple ever wanted a thinner, lighter design? Given the company's continued use of "Air" in its laptop and tablet branding, it often does. And a slimmer design is a definite option with mini-LEDs.

The more energy-efficient display made possible by mini-LEDs would also improve battery life, assuming no change in existing battery size and capacity. However, it is also worth noting that a thinner iPad display could allow for a larger internal battery. This combination could be a significant upgrade.

A thinner, lighter design, better battery life, and improved images all sound like pretty great improvements.

Unfortunately, such improvements will have to wait until next year, if ever. iPad Pro 2021 is slightly thicker than the previous model, at 0.25" (the 2020 iPad Pro was 0.23").

And the best feature. The switch to mini-LEDs is generally made without the big jump in price that one would have to endure to upgrade to OLEDs. On the TV side, mini-LED models are priced within a few hundred dollars of their standard LED competitors, even though the new technology offers a significant improvement in picture quality.

Nevertheless, the new iPad Pro costs $1,099, $100 more than the previous model. So we should count ourselves lucky. The OLED iPad Pro could have made tablets even more expensive.