Let’s start with what we know. Apple has media briefings scheduled for tomorrow on the topic of iPads. According to some reports, these briefings will beget new iPads immediately. Other reports say the earliest we’ll see an iPad update is 2024.
October is traditionally the month for iPads. The pattern has been established: new iPhones in September and new iPads a month later. Last year, we got four new iPads: the iPad Air in the spring, and then the 10th-gen iPad and two iPad Pros following in October.
Three new iPads reportedly coming tomorrow
According to Supercharged and 9to5Mac, Apple will roll out updates to three iPad lines tomorrow: iPad Air, iPad Mini and the entry-level iPad. The iPad Air will get a bump from its current M1 chip to an M2 chip currently found only on iPad Pro models, and the iPad Mini will move from an A15 Bionic chip to an A16 Bionic. There are no details on the expected entry-level iPad update, but perhaps Apple will drop the ninth-gen model and lower the price of the 10th-gen iPad to make it the new entry point for iPad shoppers.
The rumored iPads are expected to see spec bumps and not new designs, so we don’t expect to see anything revolutionary tomorrow, such as a 16-inch iPad Pro.
Wait till next year
Conflicting the reports about new iPads arriving tomorrow are Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, both of whom said we’re unlikely to see new iPads until next year. Japanese blog Mac Otakara also thinks that we won’t see new iPads tomorrow. Instead, we’ll get the Apple Pencil 3 with interchangeable magnetic tips for writing, drawing and painting.
If Apple doesn’t release any new iPads in 2023, it will be the first calendar year without a new iPad since Apple’s tablet was first released in 2010.
