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New 11-Inch iPad Case Found at Target as Rumors Swirl About Upcoming Refresh

MacRumors said:


With rumors swirling about an upcoming iPad Pro refresh, which may be announced as part of an alleged Apple Event on Tuesday, March 23, it appears that at least one accessory maker has already started preparing.

speck-2021-ipad-pro-image.jpg

A photo shared on Reddit today shows what appears to be a Speck folio that is listed as being compatible with an as-yet-unannounced 2021 model of the 11-inch iPad Pro, in addition to older models of the 11-inch iPad Pro and the 10.9-inch iPad Air. The user who submitted the photo said they found the folio on the shelf at Target, but when they attempted to purchase it, the checkout system said the item cannot be sold until April 6.

While the packaging does not explicitly mention that the new 11-inch iPad is a Pro model, that is almost certainly the device this would be referring to, as no other upcoming iPad is rumored to sport an 11-inch display. The ninth-generation iPad, for example, is rumored to feature a 10.5-inch display like the third-generation iPad Air.

While it is hard to draw any firm conclusions from photos like these, it is possible that Speck has learned that the next 11-inch iPad Pro will have very similar to identical dimensions as the current model. This wouldn't be too surprising, as there haven't been any rumors of a major redesign for the next iPad Pro, with key new features expected to include a Mini-LED display, faster A14X chip, and 5G support on cellular models.

We wouldn't read too much into Target's alleged April 6 on-sale date for the Speck folio either, but it's at least within the ballpark of the late March to early April timeframe for the next iPad Pro update that was reported by DigiTimes earlier today.

Interestingly, most rumors have only mentioned a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro and not an 11-inch model, but the devices are usually updated simultaneously. March is a common month for Apple to announce new or updated products, with other rumored products including the long-awaited AirTags, a new Apple TV, new AirPods, and more Apple silicon Macs.

Apple last updated its iPad Pro lineup in March 2020 with a marginally improved A12Z chip, an Ultra Wide camera, a LiDAR Scanner, and better sounding microphones.

(Thanks, Greg!)

Article Link: 2021 iPad Pro Case Found at Target as Rumors Swirl About Upcoming Refresh
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>> it appears that at least one accessory maker has already started preparing
— how desperate for content do you have to be to pick up a non-story and tease it with the mother of all redundancies…

“already started preparing” are three words that in this case all mean the same thing. we know they're no longer preparing since they shipped it from Asia and it's already at a store

what most likely happened: the vendor labeled the packaging with a claim they cannot support, hoping that an announcement from Apple would vindicate them soon. the vendor made up a product so the merchandise would still seem fresh months from now—hoping & praying Apple won't change anything dramatic to their 2021 iPad Pro inasmuch as they produce one

you should (and you do) know better. this story is clickbait. even the care that went into your writing demonstrates that you know it's garbage. have some respect for your readers
 
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Is it possible that Apple won’t release a new pro iPad, either 11 or 12.9, until after the iPhone 13? Skip to A15X?
 
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oosamon said:
Is it possible that Apple won’t release a new pro iPad, either 11 or 12.9, until after the iPhone 13? Skip to A15X?
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Might be onto something there. The A14x will be outdated as soon as the A15 hits the market.

They might release the iPad Pros just before the iPhone 13s with the A15 chip, just like they did with the iPad Air 4.
 
satchmo said:
Why would a product be on the floor if it can’t be sold for almost another month?
That part of the story seems made up.
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This happens CONSTANTLY at Target. Ask action figure collectors. Stores are always putting out product prior to their street dates and then denying customers sales when they try to check out. Happens in other retailers, but Target is infamous for it...they're a disaster.
 
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ian87w said:
The 11" part could be just a round up to make it easy.
The base iPad got refreshed with an A12, true, but the chip was literally the only component that got updated. The rest are still old, it still even only has Bluetooth 4.2. With newer things requiring newer wireless components (eg. Airtags), it wouldn't surprise me that Apple will want their whole lineup to be up to date. And it could be that manufacturing the new design is now cheap enough for Apple.

Or for all we know, since the iPad Air 4 was increased in price to $599, this new iPad 11" will be at the $499 price slot.
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I don't think the base iPad would be naming as 11" as the Air is always being marketed as 10.9".

Also, the previous rumours of using the Air 3's design on the base iPad is more reasonable to me (lower cost to use existing production facilities and components, very much like how the SE does). The manufacturing cost for making the Pro/Air's design probably won't be much higher than the base iPad, but it's the capacity of the production lines which do the trick. Since most rumours pointing that the 2021 Pros won't be having a new design, unifying the whole iPad line up with the same design would mean Apple must need to convert the existing base iPad & Air 3 production lines into the type-C design, which makes no sense to do that for a entry level machine.

Lastly, Apple kept the entry level iPad at $299 for quite some time and there are already 5 iPads of different sizes & tiers, I don't think there will be a $499 iPad between the base and Air 4 to make the line up even more complicated.
 
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I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Speck making a hypothetical product in the past. This points to a very high probability of Apple announcing something new this month, and then releasing it early next month. But if so, that’s a pretty big error on Speck’s part shipping out this product so dang early. Usually they wait until after Apple announces it.
 
My take on it is: 11" "iPad" will be replacing the 11" 2018 Pros. New CPU A14x, 5G, but not new screen.
12.9" iPad as the only "Pro", $100 more expensive than 2020 models. New CPU, 5G, Mini-LED screen "blabla best screen ever bla bla"
 
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Wait. So is this replacing the mini or the cheaper iPad?

On another note cases don’t mean much. I remember working in the phone store in the lead up to the iPhone 7 and we got cases that had “iPhone Air”. Shortly after announcement we got stickers sent to put over them 😑
 
Now, THIS is a hot rumor! As the line-up stands right now, they're basically all the same dimensions. So, if they update the entry-level iPad to the 11" shell, but with 3-year old tech, then they'd also have to update the 11" iPP sometime soon, if not simultaneously.

iPads.jpg
 
This is simply Speck hedging its bets that any 2021 11" Pro will be compatible with the case it already makes for the iPad Air 4, and 2018/2020 Pro. And that's probably a safe bet.

Those whipping themselves into a frenzy that the label suggests that a new base iPad is on the way, and will adopt the same form factor as the 11" Pro and Air 4 should be aware that it is a placeholder description that the company uses to describe an unannounced product -- simply, year, product and screen size (they used the same language in 2018, 2020), before they have been made official.

No other implications can be drawn from that, and once it becomes official, stickers will be prepared for existing packaging, and new packaging changed to reflect the official products. Case manufacturers do this all the time when they bet on new products, and put them in the channel before Apple has done anything.
 
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ElBerserko said:
This has to be for the Pro. Why would the "entry level" iPad be 11 inches when the Air is 10.9? What a confusing lineup that would be... They all have the same body, but the Air is 10.9 inches with an A14 and the "NEW iPad" is 11 inches and has an A14X? A12X? A12? Not to mention they already refreshed the base iPad recently.
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Remember when Apple announced lower-cost 6.1” iPhone Xr next to a more expensive and powerful, yet 5.8” iPhone Xs?
 
555gallardo said:
Remember when Apple announced lower-cost 6.1” iPhone Xr next to a more expensive and powerful, yet 5.8” iPhone Xs?
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The problem is that XR and XS are off different dimensions. In this case, the 3 iPads can fit into the same case (i.e. the physical dimensions are the same), then the 11" "base iPad" will have narrower bezels than the 10.9" iPad Air which does not make sense.
 
This will be one expensive spring.

My 2017 10.5 Pro is ready for an update, so I am actually following this spring event... eagerly. The 12.9 so far sounds promising, if the GB is right.

And it is about time my late 2012 Mac Mini is laid to rest. Getting an M1 next week.

My real question will be how two new machines will work for screen sharing. No matter what I tried, even the Luna Dongle, I could not get it connected lag free in Photoshop. Very much hoping this will be a game changer, then
 
Nope! A15 chip won't go to Pro. It would be A15X as the Pro always had more cores etc. than just normal A chip. I don't see that changing anytime soon.
A14X is happening either this month or next (maybe delayed till WWDC but unlikely).

Last year was crap refresh so this one should at least align us to be back on current tech.

LFC2020 said:
Might be onto something there. The A14x will be outdated as soon as the A15 hits the market.

They might release the iPad Pros just before the iPhone 13s with the A15 chip, just like they did with the iPad Air 4.
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Normally I’d take this sort of thing with a grain of salt. But we can at least all agree that the purpose of this case is for some new iPad that is about to be released, yes?

Now put aside the model description on the packaging (which I think would have said iPad Pro 11” 2018-2021 if it was a Pro, but agree to disagree with some others here).

And also put aside the couple rumors about an updated base model iPad that would essentially take the shell of the iPad Air. Yes, it is soon with the 8th gen just recently being released.

But has anyone checked inventory of the iPad 8th gen online? They’re out of stock at almost all major retailers (Apple’s best selling iPad).

This is just based on all colors & capacities of the wifi models.

Apple: 8-9 out of the 10 stores near me are out of stock.

Amazon: last I checked nothing in stock until after late March/early April.

B&H: expected to be back in stock within “2-4 weeks”

Walmart: 32gb space gray in stock for delivery, rest of SKUs only available by 3rd party resellers & price gouged.

Just throwing more fuel to the fire about a potential update for the base iPad in a couple weeks.
 
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It does seem to be a new model and the Speck website shows differentiation between the "11" and the Air 4.

Interestingly, even thought the Air 4 case has been out for a few months already and I looked at them over a month ago, they are being listed as coming soon.

The "11" case lineup has a few more colors than the Air 4 in this same new design.
 
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