The last iPad Apple released was the 10th generation iPad in October 2022, over 500 days ago. With no iPad launches in 2023, there's pent-up demand for a new generation of models. So when are they expected to arrive? Here's what the latest rumors say.
iPad Pro
In March 2024, rumors out of China claimed that Apple will be making an iPad-related announcement on Tuesday, March 26, suggesting a potential press release introduction ahead of pre-orders and a launch date. However, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has since weighed in to say that this claim is "not true."
While disputing a March 26 announcement, Gurman did not share any specific claims of his own regarding an announcement or launch date for the new iPad Pro models that are in the works, and instead pointed to a general time frame of "around the end of March or in April."
The new iPad Pro models are expected to be thinner, and they are rumored to be equipped with a landscape-oriented front camera like the iPad 10. Other rumored or likely features for the iPad Pro include Apple's custom M3 chip (most recently used in the latest MacBook Air models) MagSafe wireless charging, a redesigned Magic Keyboard with a larger trackpad and an aluminum top casing, and a landscape-oriented front camera.
iPad Air
Alongside OLED iPad Pro models, Apple is also expected to launch a larger 12.9-inch iPad Air alongside an updated 10.9-inch model this March or early April, according to Gurman.
Gurman offered more context for the release timing in the most recent edition of his Power On newsletter, saying that the "variant of iPadOS 17.4" that will ship on the new iPad models won't be ready until at least late March, with it potentially taking "a couple weeks" to get the software installed on the initial shipments. That timing, Gurman says, will likely take things deeper into April for a launch of the new iPads, although an announcement could happen a bit sooner.
Rumored or likely features for the new iPad Air models include the M2 chip, a redesigned rear camera bump, Wi-Fi 6E support, and Bluetooth 5.3.
iPad
Apple will release a new entry-level iPad in the second half of next year, according to a Taiwanese report on Apple's product development resource allocation plans.
We are expecting the next iPad to include a faster A15 chip, an improvement over the A14 chip in the current model.
iPad Mini
Both Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believe that Apple is working on a new version of the iPad mini, but we may not see an iPad mini 7 until later in 2024.
The seventh-generation iPad mini is expected to be updated with a faster chip, likely the A17 Pro or an A17 variant. Updated 12-megapixel front and rear cameras are likely to be added, and the tablet will also probably get support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, standards that Apple has been adding to recent product updates.
The iPad mini 7 will allegedly include a rotated screen assembly, and the new positioning will cut down on the "jelly scrolling" effect that some iPad mini owners have complained about.
Jelly scrolling is a reference to screen tearing, which causes text or images on one side of the display to appear to be tilted downward because of mismatched refresh rates. According to Apple, screen tearing is normal behavior for LCD iPads.
