New iPad Pro and iPad Air launch likely set for second week of May, expect iPad Pro price increases
In the latest edition of Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman reports that he is hearing Apple is gearing up to launch the new iPad Pro and iPad Air during the week of May 6.
The launch will include new 11-inch and 13-inch OLED iPad Pro models, a larger 12.9-inch iPad Air, as well as refreshed Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories.
It is set to be one of Apple’s biggest iPad hardware announcements ever, following almost eighteen months with no new iPad hardware.
The new iPad Pros will feature dramatically improved displays, moving from mini-LED to OLED panels like the iPhone, offering deeper contrast and brightness. The industrial design is also expected to be updated, with an overall thinner chassis and the front camera moved to the landscape edge. The new Pros will be powered by the M3 chip.
However, price points are expected to rise; the price increase is corroborated by Mark Gurman in today’s newsletter. For reference, the current-generation 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $1099.
The new 12.9-inch iPad Air will offer a more affordable option, though, while still offering the larger screen size form factor. It’s unclear if the new iPad Air will feature M2 or M3 processors, a spec bump from the current M1 configuration.
Regarding the new accessories, iPadOS beta code references suggest the new Pencil will have a new squeeze gesture feature. The new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro will make the tablet resemble a laptop even more closely, with aluminium base and larger trackpad.
Updates to the base model iPad and iPad mini are due later in the year. Gurman only expects minor improvements though, with the Mini merely getting a processor spec bump.
