Big changes expected for iPad family in 2024

The 2022 12.9-inch iPad Pro on the Magic Keyboard

The iPad lineup is anticipated to get a number of significant changes in 2024, a newsletter believes, including a big-screen iPad Air, faster standard and iPad mini models, and a Pro line revamp.

Apple's iPad family didn't get a single update in 2023, with the last major change happening in October 2022. While 2023 is a bust for the tablet collection, Apple is seemingly planning quite a lot for the range in 2024.

Outlining the changes in his "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman writes that major changes are due for the range. The list is headed up by the iPad Pro getting a revamp, though with no mention of what that entails.

There have been rumors that OLED display production for the iPad Pro will start in February, which could lead to a release later in the year.

Gurman goes on to add that the iPad Air will have the "option of a larger screen." Rumors about the model claim the screen could be 12.9 inches in size, matching the larger iPad Pro.

The iPad mini and entry-level iPad will apparently be updated with "faster chips," he writes. This does seem likely, as a spec bump update would be the minimum change Apple would make to a major product like the iPad range, and with over a year since the last one, it looks very plausible.

Gurman's Sunday musings are somewhat reminiscent of the pronouncement he made on December 6. At that time, he discussed the 12.9-inch iPad Air rumor, along with iPad Pro with OLED, as well as a new Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard.

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14 Comments

Rogue01

said about 4 months ago

How are there big changes when Gurman has no idea? 'A revamp, but no mention of what that entails'. Typical Gurman response.

They can do whatever hardware changes they want, it still runs iPadOS and baby iPad apps, so the base model and the iPad Pro both do the exact same thing, with similar performance. Neither can take full advantage of the SoC. The only real revamp was in 2018. Since then, each new iPad has been exactly like the previous one. So they are going to waste M3 chips in an iPad when they should be using them in the rest of the Mac lineup. Same reviews each year, great hardware, but limited by the OS.

Apple needs to scrap iPadOS and just put macOS on the iPad since the hardware is now the same.

byronl

said about 4 months ago

Rogue01 said:

How are there big changes when Gurman has no idea? 'A revamp, but no mention of what that entails'. Typical Gurman response.

They can do whatever hardware changes they want, it still runs iPadOS and baby iPad apps, so the base model and the iPad Pro both do the exact same thing, with similar performance. Neither can take full advantage of the SoC. The only real revamp was in 2018. Since then, each new iPad has been exactly like the previous one. So they are going to waste M3 chips in an iPad when they should be using them in the rest of the Mac lineup. Same reviews each year, great hardware, but limited by the OS.

Apple needs to scrap iPadOS and just put macOS on the iPad since the hardware is now the same.

MacOS is not made for touch

nubus

said about 4 months ago

byronl said:

Rogue01 said:

Apple needs to scrap iPadOS and just put macOS on the iPad since the hardware is now the same.

MacOS is not made for touch

One could argue that iPad is only in part built for touch. Went to an Apple Store this week. Apple displayed all models with keyboards attached.
Is iPad in fact a Mac stuck to "At Ease" instead of Finder with the option to be used with touch?
Why not give iPad a full Finder or macOS, when a keyboard is connected? The hardware is able to.

As for hardware, there are too many models and variants. And there are not enough. Why can't we decide on memory in a Pro?

But why iPad? Display size, performance, and battery life were the original USPs when compared to Mac and iPhone. Now iPhone is just as fast and display sizes have increased. MBA battery life has moved from 3 hours to all day with prices dropping. iPad has touch and Pencil, but we're not all that creative. I have been using iPad since day 1, I have created apps and content for iPad, but today... why iPad? It will stay, but it feels more niche than ever. How can iPad stay relevant?

davgreg

said about 4 months ago

My iPads are the large Pro and the Mini. Both are excellent.

Only complaint is the pricing of the keyboard case on the Pro. I think it is a bit excessive even by Apple standards of pricing. Hopefully going to M3 will give better battery life. The Pro does use the battery quickly.

tht

said about 4 months ago

Rogue01 said:

How are there big changes when Gurman has no idea? 'A revamp, but no mention of what that entails'. Typical Gurman response.

They can do whatever hardware changes they want, it still runs iPadOS and baby iPad apps, so the base model and the iPad Pro both do the exact same thing, with similar performance. Neither can take full advantage of the SoC. The only real revamp was in 2018. Since then, each new iPad has been exactly like the previous one. So they are going to waste M3 chips in an iPad when they should be using them in the rest of the Mac lineup. Same reviews each year, great hardware, but limited by the OS.

Apple needs to scrap iPadOS and just put macOS on the iPad since the hardware is now the same.

Modern day PC operating systems be it macOS, MS Windows, or Linux don’t work that well on 10” displays. All the apps are designed for 13” displays or larger. You could use them on 12”, maybe 10” displays, but they are not that usable.

I’ve said it before, all laptops that start out with 10” displays, gradually become 13” display laptops. It happened with Netbooks. It happened with Chromebooks. Apple’s last two laptops at 11.6” and 12.1” only survived being in the market for 3 or for years before being retired.

So, it would be no different if macOS was put on iPads. It won’t work out. The displays are too small for macOS.

A loud subset of iPad users, including me, want it to have all the features of macOS. Apple doesn’t want to enable it. They are segmenting iPads such that they are more capable than iPhones, but less capable than Macs.

The smaller display sizes and this segmentation is probably why iPadOS’s multitasking is a kludge. The iPad UI team has some strange ideas.