Nine new iPad models listed in EEC regulatory database

Just ahead of preorders opening for Apple's newest 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro, nine variations have been listed on a regulatory database. Model numbers A2377, A2378, A2567, A2588, A2602, A2568, A2569, A2589, and A2604 are now showing in the EEC's records.

It's unlikely that any of these model numbers represent unannounced iPads. Given the nature of the regulatory database, it's more certain that each separate model number represents one configuration of the announced iPad Pro.

Curiously, however, the EEC database has divided the model numbers into two sections — with five variants in one, four in the other. It's probable that each section represents one overall model, the 11-inch or 12.9-inch, and each variant is for Wi-Fi-only or LTE, plus different storage capacities.

It's not clear, though, why one model would have fewer variants than the other. None of the entries contain any detail beyond (in translation) "Apple tablet models," and a note that they are running "iPadOS software version 14."

All Apple devices must be listed on the EEC database before they can be released. It's unusual for them to appear so close to a release, and after they have been announced.

Also newly listed are Apple's long-retired AirPort Express models. It isn't immediately clear why they have been submitted to the EEC, but it may be related to a potential software update that may slightly change radio frequency performance.

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