Apple final up to date the iPad Pro line in April 2021, bringing the M1 processor to the platform for the primary time and Liquid Retina XDR mini-LED expertise to the 12.9-inch mannequin. Development of the subsequent mannequin is nicely underway, however when will the brand new iPad Pro launch, and what design modifications, new options and tech specs can we count on?
Reports counsel that an M2 processor is on the way in which. Other modifications might carry a glass again and MagSafe charging. Here’s all the things you could learn about a brand new iPad Pro that would arrive in just some weeks.
iPad Pro launch date: When will the subsequent iPad Pro arrive?
We count on new iPad Pro fashions to be launched in fall 2022, presumably at an Apple occasion in October or launched as an replace to Apple’s web site. The iPad Pro doesn’t actually have a lot of a predictable launch schedule, however we’re due for an replace because it’s been about 18 months between releases. Apple has by no means gone a full two years between iPad Pro releases:
- iPad Pro (fifth era): April 20, 2021 (11-inch and 12.9-inch)
- iPad Pro (4th era): March 18, 2020 (11-inch and 12.9-inch)
- iPad Pro (third era): October 30, 2018 (11-inch and 12.9-inch)
- iPad Pro (2nd era): June 5, 2017 (10.5-inch and 12.9-inch)
- iPad Pro (1st era): September 9, 2015 (12.9-inch); March 21, 2016 (9.7-inch)
In March, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman prompt {that a} fall 2022 launch for a brand new iPad Pro is probably going – he really predicted a launch between September and November 2022. He claimed it will be essentially the most vital replace for the reason that all-screen redesign in 2018.
However, as of September, Gurman thinks that it’s potential there might be no occasion and as a substitute Apple will simply situation a press launch about new merchandise launching in October—however he does not less than nonetheless count on the iPad Pro to be considered one of these new merchandise.
Logitech appears satisfied that two new iPad Pro fashions are launching quickly, by chance publishing product itemizing web page for Logitech’s Crayon stylus have been up to date to incorporate compatibility with two new tablets: the “iPad Pro 11-inch (4th gen)” and the “iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th gen).”
iPad Pro value: How a lot will the brand new iPad Pro value?
If a brand new bigger screened, 14- or 15-inch mannequin is launched then we anticipate a better value for that mannequin. As for the remainder of the iPad Pro line up, we count on pricing will change within the US, however pricing within the UK and elsewhere is prone to be adjusted for inflation.
We can use pricing for the previous couple of generations as a information. Here’s how the baseline fashions lined up at launch:
- iPad Pro 11-inch (2021): $799/£749
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2021): $1,099/£999
- iPad Pro 11-inch (2020): $799/£769
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2020): $999/£969
In earlier years you’d have seen equal costs for U.Okay. and U.S., e.g. $999/£999, or perhaps a cheaper price level for the U.Okay., however these days appear to be lengthy gone as we noticed with the iPhone 14. With that in thoughts, we expect Apple will improve the value within the U.Okay., so count on the U.Okay. costs to be both the identical as or, extra doubtless, greater than the U.S. equal.
iPad Pro 2022: Rumors
The iPad Pro had fairly a major redesign in 2018 when it was the primary iPad to achieve Face ID and a full-screen because of smaller bezels and the removing of the Home button. Are extra design modifications within the pipeline?
M2 processor
Apple all the time likes to bestow one of the best of its processor line-up into its professional tablets, which is likely one of the causes they’re so ridiculously highly effective. The iPad Pro was the primary iPad to get an M1 chip. However, not lengthy after the iPad Air made the identical transfer. Now Apple wants a brand new processor for the iPad Pro to set it other than the iPad Air.
Now that Apple has unveiled its M2 processor for the MacEbook Air and 13-inch MacEbook Pro, the brand new chip will nearly actually make an look within the iPad Pro. Expect barely sooner speeds of round 20 % higher than the M1.
Glass again
Gurman and others have indicated that the brand new iPad Pro could have a glass again somewhat than aluminum for the primary time. However, there are additionally solutions that Apple has dropped plans for a glass again as a result of it will be too fragile. More current rumors say that solely the Apple brand might be fabricated from glass however nonetheless assist wi-fi charging.
Wireless charging and MagSafe
Various information shops, together with Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, are reporting that the brand new iPad Pros will characteristic glass backs somewhat than the present aluminium ones. This is to permit the introduction of wi-fi charging and MagSafe for the primary time on the iPad vary. There have been different stories although that counsel the glass backs have proved problematic, as they make the iPads extra susceptible to breakages and may add to the burden. Apple is claimed to be contemplating simply making the Apple brand glass, which can deal with a few of these points.
While it’s lengthy been rumored that Apple wish to dispose of all ports on its gadgets, we will’t see this being the time when it occurs, as Pro customers wish to have the choice to plug equipment into their gadgets to develop their capabilities.
Reverse wi-fi charging
The introduction of wi-fi charging might additionally usher in one other characteristic that’s been fashionable on Android gadgets for some time: reverse wi-fi charging. This rumor is way more tentative, however we might see Apple permitting the again of the brand new iPad Pros to behave as a wi-fi charging pad for gadgets just like the iPhone 14 or AirPods Pro.
New colours
Apple has not too long ago launched some new shades to the Mac line up that may very well be shared with the iPad Pro. For instance, Basic Apple Guy shared an idea design of the iPad Pro in Midnight:
It’s additionally potential that Apple expands the colour line prefer it did with the iPad mini and iPad Air with Starlight and the iPhone 14’s new Deep Purple coloration, particularly if it switches to glass just like the iPhone.
iPad Pro 2024: What is Apple engaged on for future fashions?
While this replace will doubtless be a smaller refresh, Apple has greater issues deliberate for future iPad Pro fashions.
Liquid Retina XDR for 11-inch iPad Pro
There have been early rumors that Apple would equip the brand new 11-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED show like its bigger sibling. However, this may increasingly not occur in 2022: analyst Ross Young tweeted that Apple’s mini-LED merchandise in all probability received’t launch in 2022, which means that the 11-inch iPad Pro received’t be getting a miniLED show till 2023 or 2024.
Kuo adopted this up with a clarifier, “More precisely, there may be no new products with the new mini-LED display size in 2022.” So, it appears to be like just like the 11-inch iPad Pro will go one other era earlier than the transition to Mini-LED.
A notch within the show
Another hearsay posted by 9to5Mac states that Apple has been experimenting with a brand new design for the iPad Pro that may see the notorious notch come to the platform for the primary time. We’ve seen different stories that say Apple is considering of positioning the cameras on the longer aspect of the chassis, primarily making them panorama oriented gadgets. With that transfer, the notch might change into a actuality, a lot because it did with the 14-inch MacEbook Pro and 16-inch MacEbook Pro. While these gadgets get away with it because of the menu bar alongside the highest of the display, it will appear extra intrusive on the iPad Pro. With the introduction of the Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14, it’s potential that Apple introduces one thing comparable on the iPad Pro.
Apple
Touch ID below show
Fans of Touch ID could also be hoping that the expertise will make a return to the iPad Pro. Apple is claimed to have been engaged on below display Touch ID for a while however hasn’t launched the tech in any gadget. Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like it will make an look on the iPad Pro but—however it could nicely arrive on the iPad earlier than it arrives on the iPhone.
Display analyst Ross Young shared within the MacRumors Show in July 2022 that he expects under-display Face ID to first arrive on the iPad. However, it received’t be this 12 months: Young suggests {that a} future iPad Pro could be the primary candidate for the expertise.
Lighter, OLED, dry etched show
The 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro presently weigh in at 466 grams and 682 grams. If Apple switches from aluminium to glass on the again it might really improve the burden of the iPad Pro. However, the corporate is claimed to be investigating a expertise that would imply the iPad Pro could be lighter. According to ET News, Apple is trying into adopting “dry etching,” which is a course of that may result in thinner and lighter shows. This method, coupled with an OLED display, is extra prone to arrive within the subsequent iPad Pro replace in 2023 or 2024.
Giant 14- or 15-inch display
There is a rumor that Apple will improve the utmost display dimension of its iPad vary from 12.9-inch to 15-inch. The iPad Pro display dimension has been capped at 12.9in for the reason that first iPad Pro launched in 2015.
Sources within the provide chain have indicated that an Apple provider (BOE) is engaged on gigantic 15-inch OLED panels that would plausibly find yourself in an iPad in some unspecified time in the future sooner or later. What’s extra, the revered Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman claimed in June 2021 that Apple itself has been testing 14-inch-16-inch iPads, and that gadgets in such a kind issue will “continue to blur the lines between tablet and laptop”. At the time Gurman wrote: “The 12.9in display is far too small for someone accustomed to a 16in MacBook Pro”.
More not too long ago, in July 2022, DSSC analyst Ross Young has claimed {that a} 14.1-inch iPad Pro is in growth at Apple that would launch in early as 2023.
The downside is primarily considered one of timing. When the report was revealed in January 2022 BOE was mentioned to nonetheless at an early stage of growth, and the venture is unlikely to yield precise business merchandise for one more 12 months or two – and will by no means achieve this in any respect, sources say, “due to the difficulty of the technology”.
As for Apple’s personal testing, which may be extra promising, however keep in mind that the corporate routinely checks all kinds of display sizes for all of its merchandise, simply to see if a tweak would assist. That doesn’t imply it’s really going to occur.
We love the thought of an enormous iPad Pro simply as a lot as Mark Gurman does. But contemplating how costly the 12.9-inch mannequin already is, and the way way more commercially profitable the corporate’s cheaper and small alternate options are, it looks like an extended shot for a 14- or 15-inch iPad Pro to seem within the close to future.
iPad Pro: Further studying
As you’ll be able to see, there’s lots to be enthusiastic about for the subsequent iteration of Apple’s iPad Pros. We’ll be updating this text as extra information involves gentle, so you should definitely examine again frequently to see what we discover.
In the meantime, should you don’t need to wait to get your arms on the flagship pill, check out our roundups of one of the best iPad offers and one of the best iPad Pro offers.
