Next week’s Let Loose event will see the unveiling of new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, alongside a new Apple Pencil and an updated Magic Keyboard which will give the iPad Pro a more MacBook-like look and feel.
But there is one key iPad which won’t get an update next week, and that’s the entry-level model. Apple is said to be working hard on an updated version of this…
iPad Pro
The iPad Pro will finally make the transition from LCD to OLED. The 12.9-inch model will be upgraded from mini-LED backlit LCD, while the 11-inch model will be a bigger upgrade from the same conventionally-backlit LDC screen it’s had since 2018.
The new models are also set to get significantly thinner this year.
iPad Air
The iPad Air is set to get a major design upgrade, to the slab-sided look of the Pro models. But the even, uh, bigger news is that we’re expecting to see the introduction of a 12.9-inch iPad Air for the first time.
Base level iPad not expected until late this year
But the one model we’re not expecting to be announced is a new entry-level iPad.
Bloomberg says Apple is working hard on this, the main difficulty being able to get something similar to the current 10th-gen model down to the price of the 9th-gen one.
Apple is working on a cost-reduced version of its 10th-generation iPad. That model is currently $449, but Apple will probably want to get the price closer to the $329 ninth-generation model — a move that would let it phase out that older version. But such a step isn’t expected until the end of the year at the earliest.
That challenge is the reason Apple currently sells both older and newer models: It’s the only way the company can continue to hit the $329 price point responsible for bringing new customers into the iPad world, while also offering a modern design option without the big step up to the $599 iPad Air.
New iPad mini also coming later
Also not on next week’s agenda is an updated iPad mini. A faster version is in the pipeline, but that is also expected to be launched at a later date.
Image: 9to5Mac montage from Apple and Tina Dawson on Unsplash
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