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iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition

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The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup.

ipad-blue-prime-day.jpeg

Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and it would be unusual for Apple to use a current-generation chip in the low-cost iPad due to cost.

Apple's most affordable iPad has not had a current-generation chip since the iPad 4, which is back when Apple was still designing AX chips for its tablet lineup. The iPad 5 that came out in 2017 used the A9 chip that was originally introduced in the 2015 iPhone 6s, and since then, the iPad has been equipped with an A-series chip that's a generation or two behind the chip in the most recently released iPhone.

The current iPad 11 that was released in March 2025 uses the A16 chip that first debuted in the iPhone 14 in 2022, for example. The iPad 10 (October 2022) used the A14 (September 2020), the iPad 9 (September 2021) used the A13 (September 2019), and the iPad 8 (September 2020) used the A12 (September 2018). A 2024 A18 chip for the 2026 iPad would be in line with prior launches.

The model numbers listed in Macworld's report are also unusual. It says that J581 and J588 are the codenames for the upcoming 12th-generation iPad, but codenames are typically sequential. Codenames are how Apple references unreleased devices in its software. In prior code leaks, J581 and J582 appeared to reference the low-cost iPad 12.

Prior leaks have suggested that the iPad mini will use the A19 chip, but the iPad mini was previously referenced in Apple code as J510 and J511. Apple sometimes changes its plans and makes updates to unreleased devices, so the A19 chip for the iPad can't be ruled out entirely.

It is not yet clear if Macworld is correct about the A19 chip for the iPad given previous information, but other parts of the report seem more in line with expectations. Macworld suggests the next-generation iPad Air will use an M4 chip, and that both the upcoming iPad and iPad Air will be equipped with Apple's N1 networking chip.

The iPad Air typically gets an M-series chip that's a generation behind the chip in the iPad Pro, and since it's been updated to the M5, the M4 makes sense for the next iPad Air. Apple has also been adding the new N1 networking chip to newly released devices, starting with this year's iPhones. The N1 chip is an Apple-designed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip that's more energy efficient than chips designed by third-party companies.

Apple is expected to release the new iPad Air and iPad models early in 2026.

Article Link: iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/12/10/ipad-12-a19-chip/
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If the source for this is MacWorld, it can be safely ignored. Those guys are absolutely clueless.
 
Good, why did Apple need to release 2 year old chips for iPads to begin with... Makes the iPad very outdated after just one year.
Like my brother feels his iPad A14 is outdated, and he got it for Christmas in 2024...
 
I’m sure this rumor is false, but it would make sense for it to have the current generation A-series chip. The iPad Air uses M-series chips, so it would still be a bump up in performance from the iPad 12, even if it uses A19.
 
WilliApple said:
Good, why did Apple need to release 2 year old chips for iPads to begin with... Makes the iPad very outdated after just one year.
Click to expand...
what do you mean, an a16 ipad is multiple times faster than all the android tablets in its price range. i wish they would slash the ipad 11's price instead of spending all that rd and marketing into creating ipad 12
 
The whole point of Apple releasing "Pro" chips is so their mainstream products don't have to use last gen chips.

iPhone 14 and 15/Plus used last gen A15 and A16 chips and people hated it.

iPhone 16/Plus used the regular A18. The non-Pro chip is effectively n-1.

It's in line with expectations that iPad 12 gets A19.
 
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Let's hope both the base and iPad mini get updated chips to be closer to the latest chips available.

To be fair to this "tradition" starting at the iPad 5, the iPad 2 was still for sale for a while after the 3 was available, until the 4th generation stopped being sold too! :)
 
goonie4life9 said:
...I wonder if it is more cost effective for Apple to produce the A19.
Click to expand...

Might be. The A19 family is fabricated on the N3P process, which is the "performance" variant of N3 and the successor to the N3E process used in the A18 family. It might be that Apple's buy of N3P is large enough that it is more effective from a cost and product availability standpoint to just use A19.
 
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MacRumors said:


The next-generation low-cost iPad will use Apple's A19 chip, according to a report from Macworld. Macworld claims to have seen an "internal Apple code document" with information about the 2026 iPad lineup.

ipad-blue-prime-day.jpeg

Prior documentation discovered by MacRumors suggested that the iPad 12 would be equipped with an A18 chip, not an A19 chip. The A19 chip was just released this year in the iPhone 17, and it would be unusual for Apple to use a current-generation chip in the low-cost iPad due to cost.

Apple's most affordable iPad has not had a current-generation chip since the iPad 4, which is back when Apple was still designing AX chips for its tablet lineup. The iPad 5 that came out in 2017 used the A9 chip that was originally introduced in the 2015 iPhone 6s, and since then, the iPad has been equipped with an A-series chip that's a generation or two behind the chip in the most recently released iPhone.

The current iPad 11 that was released in March 2025 uses the A16 chip that first debuted in the iPhone 14 in 2022, for example. The iPad 10 (October 2022) used the A14 (September 2020), the iPad 9 (September 2021) used the A13 (September 2019), and the iPad 8 (September 2020) used the A12 (September 2018). A 2024 A18 chip for the 2026 iPad would be in line with prior launches.

The model numbers listed in Macworld's report are also unusual. It says that J581 and J588 are the codenames for the upcoming 12th-generation iPad, but codenames are typically sequential. Codenames are how Apple references unreleased devices in its software. In prior code leaks, J581 and J582 appeared to reference the low-cost iPad 12.

Prior leaks have suggested that the iPad mini will use the A19 chip, but the iPad mini was previously referenced in Apple code as J510 and J511. Apple sometimes changes its plans and makes updates to unreleased devices, so the A19 chip for the iPad can't be ruled out entirely.

It is not yet clear if Macworld is correct about the A19 chip for the iPad given previous information, but other parts of the report seem more in line with expectations. Macworld suggests the next-generation iPad Air will use an M4 chip, and that both the upcoming iPad and iPad Air will be equipped with Apple's N1 networking chip.

The iPad Air typically gets an M-series chip that's a generation behind the chip in the iPad Pro, and since it's been updated to the M5, the M4 makes sense for the next iPad Air. Apple has also been adding the new N1 networking chip to newly released devices, starting with this year's iPhones. The N1 chip is an Apple-designed Bluetooth and Wi-Fi chip that's more energy efficient than chips designed by third-party companies.

Apple is expected to release the new iPad Air and iPad models early in 2026.

Article Link: iPad 12 Rumored to Get iPhone 17's A19 Chip, Breaking Apple Tradition
Click to expand...
There's a shortage of wafers so the fewer models of CPUs they produce the better. That's why it makes no sense for the new MacBook to get an A18, if it does come out, it'll get an A19 Pro. Only the new Apple TV should receive A18.
 
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CWallace said:
Might be. The A19 family is fabricated on the N3P process, which is the "performance" variant of N3 and the successor to the N3E process used in the A18 family. It might be that Apple's buy of N3P is large enough that it is more effective from a cost and product availability standpoint to just use A19.
Click to expand...

Not sure where "performance" comes from. I think I have kept up on TSMC's reference materials. The way they have talked about things . . . N3P is simply the latest and most efficient process node, as of late 2024. Two industries insiders speculate that N3P has finally gotten to the right end of the cost curve for many things to move over to it, because yields are now that high. That means a lot of industrial and automative needs that have lingered on older (28 to 5nm) nodes. Apparently, N3/N3B never was cost-practical, but that was pre-known/planned; and N3E never was cost practical, but that wasn't pre-known/planned. We'll see.

If Apple wants the iPad 12 to last quite a while, it would be nice as A19/A19 Pro does meaningfully increase AI and gaming performance. It may be even better for it to have 12GB ram instead of 8GB, but that may be too big of a bridge to cross.

For comparison, the A17 Pro (N3E node; 8GB ram with the devices it was put in) is a couple years old, and seems to be the minimum device that Apple believes is currently necessary to run AI sufficiently well. Even non-AI, single threaded stuff is about 15-20% faster, so that would be great in a $350 (MSRP) iPad.
 
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Pure speculation on my part but if the A19 process is producing a decent number of slightly defective chips where e.g. one or two cores are bad but it otherwise passes validation, a common strategy is to dispose/upcycle those chips in a lower-end product than originally intended.
 
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I wish they'd do more to improve the iPad Air from previous generations of it. I've been wanting to upgrade my third gen one, but the new one isn't all that different aside from the M chip. The Pro model would be nice but it's nearly twice the price.
 
If the iPad 12 comes with the A19 chip, it makes rumors of the A19 Pro chip for the upcoming entry-level MacBook more plausible. Great news if both rumors are true.

And, yes, I can see Apple saving money with a switch to using the N3P process for most of its chips. This is how most cars got air conditioning, power windows, power steering, power brakes and AM-FM stereo radios as standard equipment. It simply cost automakers less to buy larger amounts of those options and install them in every vehicle.

Manufacturing 101. But it only works if you can buy enough chips (or auto options) to realize true savings in per unit costs.
 
I could see this actually being true as there may be little or no cost advantage using the A18 (N3E) versus the A19 (N3P) by spring 2026 and could allow them to sell the base iPad with A19 for 2-3 years before upgrading it again.
 
For a base iPad, all I care about is if it's A17 Pro or better. It wouldn't make any real world difference to our family whether it's A18 or A19.
 
Could be they have a glut of A19s that don't quite make the cut for an iPhone but would be usable in an iPad. Doesn't the current mini have a lower-binned A17 Pro?
 
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