Supercharged reports that Apple will announce updates to its iPad lineup this week, citing “sources familiar with Apple’s media plans.”
Sami Fathi for Supercharged:
Apple is planning briefings with select media personnel scheduled for later this week specifically focused on the iPad.
The new products this week are expected to be updates to the iPad mini, iPad Air, and the entry-level iPad.
The sources added that the announcements could happen as soon as Tuesday, October 17.
The updates will feature minor spec bumps, bringing the models in line with faster and more efficient chips. The iPad Air will gain the M2 chip, an upgrade from the current M1 chip, while the upcoming iPad mini will feature the A16 Bionic chip.
The iPad Pro lineup will stay the same for now. It was last updated in October 2022, and the next-generation models are not expected to be ready until later next year. The next-gen iPad Pros are expected to feature OLED displays for the first time.
MacDailyNews Take: Bring ’em on!
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Product fragmentation of iPad is crazy, iPad Pro, iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and now the entry-level iPad, all with several different sizes and configurations. Too many choices freeze out customers ability to choose.
Make two categories, iPad Pro & iPad with options, small, big, biggest, fast, faster, fastest. Make customer selection easy. Make the choice easy and clear if someone wants only a reader or someone wants a gaming or artistic iPad.
Thank you for that absolutely, 100% correct and insightful, comment. Too much choice can lead to no choice.
If I may, I would like to say that this simplification principle should be applied to a couple other Apple hardware categories.
Yes, too much variation in models but not that much actual difference. Leaving out the Pro, because I have no need for a thousand-dollar iPad, look at the Air and the standard. The Air implies much lighter weight, but the difference is a half-ounce. They require different cases, leading to confusion. Specs aren’t that much better with the Air; the M1 is good but does it impact watching movies? I use my iPad (fifth gen, I think) to read the news, watch movies when traveling, read a few magazines. If I used it for business, I’d get the Pro, but I don’t, so the Air is a more-expensive model with little or no benefit.
The Mini is an easy choice… if you’re looking for a small iPad. I’ve got a Mini 5 which is going on 5 years old. I’m ready to upgrade now!
The entire iPad line should have a GPS chipset.
Spring releases really don’t look like Apple’s style. But compared to the release date, I am more concerned about the new features of the iPad. This year’s iPhone 15 has nothing new except for the change of the Mute button and USB-C. I’m looking forward to in-screen fingerprint unlocking, like Huawei’s. I sometimes need TunesKit iPhone Unlocker to resolve iPhone Unavailable. But I heard Apple won’t be bringing back fingerprint unlocking. At the same time, there are no very eye-catching features.