iPad A15 or A16 in iPad 11?

[Sensamic]

Given the two year gap between updates (it's very probable this year Apple will update the base iPad and mini), could we assume Apple will give the next iPad 11 the A16? Seems like Apple is going for two year cycle updates with the iPad lately, so the A16 would make sense if they won't update again the iPad until 2026.

 

[Torty]

Brand new ipad which comes with HW which is too weak to run AI? Would be surprised.

 

[MacDevil7334]

Brand new ipad which comes with HW which is too weak to run AI? Would be surprised.

I agree. While I suspect a year ago Apple planed to upgrade that iPad to an older chip like A15 that was cheaper to produce and probably had a bunch of inventory sitting around, I think the shift to AI changed that. I have a hard time imagining Apple introducing new products that can’t do AI on device going forward. That means an A18 or M1 for the next iPad. Apple could surprise us and decide a $400 iPad isn‘t worthy of running those features. But it’s not a great look to be introducing new products that already can’t run the latest features right out of the box.

 

[bradman83]

Brand new ipad which comes with HW which is too weak to run AI? Would be surprised.

The issue seems to be RAM, not the chip itself. If Apple added, say, an A15 or A16 to the iPad 11 but gave it 8GB of RAM instead of 6 then it would have enough to run AI. Apple's used differing RAM configurations on A series chips before (the A12Z had 16GB in the Developer Transition Kit).

The Neural Engine in the M1 is the exact same as the one in the A14 and it can run the AI features just fine, so that's likely not the bottleneck.

 

[Sensamic]

I don't see Apple allowing AI on the base iPad 350$. I think they see AI as a "Pro" feature, much like Promotion and such.

 

[Homme]

Given the two year gap between updates (it's very probable this year Apple will update the base iPad and mini), could we assume Apple will give the next iPad 11 the A16? Seems like Apple is going for two year cycle updates with the iPad lately, so the A16 would make sense if they won't update again the iPad until 2026.

A16

Apple may have leaked next year's iPad lineup, including a new M5 iPad Pro

We won't have to wait for the next iPad event to know what Apple is working on

www.theshortcut.com

 

[Digitalguy]

I bet that the iPad 11 will not get AI. A16 seems likely. 6GB RAM will be a big improvement (I can see the difference between 4GB and 6GB in my iPad pros). Hopefully it will get rid of the old pencil, but who knows...
The iPad mini will get AI and 8GB for sure instead (A17 pro or A18).
No M series chips in the base iPad or in the mini.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I don't see Apple allowing AI on the base iPad 350$. I think they see AI as a "Pro" feature, much like Promotion and such.

Isn't it supposed to be coming to the base iPhones?

I could see them shoving M1 into the base iPad, since Air got moved to M2.

 

[Digitalguy]

Isn't it supposed to be coming to the base iPhones?

I could see them shoving M1 into the base iPad, since Air got moved to M2.

not happening

 

[sublunar]

Isn't it supposed to be coming to the base iPhones?

I could see them shoving M1 into the base iPad, since Air got moved to M2.

It’s too old now, M2 appears to be the budget choice there and an A18 would be a better tier choice for smaller ones, expect binned version either slower cores or fewer or both.

 

[Bromio]

If they added M1 and 8 GB to the base iPad, it could also run Stage Manager on external monitors. The main difference between the base and the Air would then be the laminated display. While that is important, I don’t know why someone would get the Air over the base.

 

[*~Kim~*]

I suspect M1 base would also cannibalise Mini sales. While they keep it an A series ahead of the base, they can still position it as mid range. A preference for the form factor only does so much. Things might change if the Mini 8th Gen OLED rumour comes to fruition.

 

[JPack]

A16. And of course it’s not getting AI.

 

[JPack]

If they added M1 and 8 GB to the base iPad, it could also run Stage Manager on external monitors. The main difference between the base and the Air would then be the laminated display. While that is important, I don’t know why someone would get the Air over the base.

No. External monitor support isn’t happening via USB 2.0. You overlooked a lot of differences between iPad and iPad Air.