New iPad Pro Reportedly Launching This Year

[Populus]

Maybe they should have made 16GB of RAM the base memory on the M4 iPP. Other than that, I don’t really see the need of a hardware upgrade, as the M4 chip is really a beast, as the M4 Mac lineup has shown.

If they keep launching new iPad Pros every year, whenever they decide to release a more desktop oriented iPadOS, it won’t be compatible with the M1 & M2 iPP, and that will piss many of us off, because those iPad Pro are really capable machines.

 

[Madisoda]

I always love the whining that comes with these announcements. And, this one isn't even a real announcement. That said, there are one or two responses that provided some nice insight -- as one who at some point may want to upgrade my non-Apple Silicon iPad. The other useful part of this announcement is the indication that the M5 iPads would be released in the FALL, as, based on the prior couple of release schedules, the update may have occurred as early as this Spring.

For the rest of you whiners...Apple does not make products just for you. There are other potential consumers out there (yes, really). Also, if Apple stopped updating its M-chips, then they risk becoming Intel, and then the same whiners would ask why there has been no updates.

As such, it makes sense for Apple to continue to push the boundary of what it can do with the M-chip, and continue to improve it. And, rather than maintaining many manufacturing molds (M1, M2, M3, M4, M5), at some point, the early M's need to be removed from the line -- ask anyone in manufacturing whether it is easy to support dozens of versions of something, or, just 1...

 

[Madisoda]

If you want a folding tablet, can I politely suggest checking the website of Fisher-Price, they have devices for people like you. Something like this, perhaps.

I've put my money where my mouth is, and generously fund a number of powerful lobbying groups that are making sure that Apple never, ever release a folding tablet *or* phone. Ever.

but...but...but, those don't fold, either!

 

[SactoGuy18]

As per tradition, the upcoming M5 SoC will appear on the iPad Pros by May 2025. M5 Pro and M5 Max SoC's arrive in October with the new MacBook Pros.

 

[SexExpert]

but...but...but, those don't fold, either!

they do fold, they just dont work afterwards

 

[darngooddesign]

Seriously, just bought one for Christmas. This is ridiculous, can I have a device for at least 1 - 2 years before a new one. No one needs a new iPad every year.

You can if you wait a year and a half before upgrading. If I decide to upgrade my M1 iPP this year, I doubt I’d care that you just bought yours.

 

[Zdigital2015]

You can if you wait a year and a half before upgrading. If I decide to upgrade my M1 iPP this year, I doubt I’d care that you just bought yours.

My M1 iPad Pro is plenty fast for me and the price was right, which trumps any desire to pay for the latest and greatest at Apple’s current pricing.

 

[dandyryan]

What a silly thing to say. It’s my main machine for work, as with a lot of people in my industry. What we need is a bigger screen.

you want a 15" ipad? lmao

 

[Unregistered 4U]

iPadOS needs some fundamental under the hood reworking to help get us all to 80-90% usable day in day out. Apple can do this and the iPads certainly have the horsepower to do it. I’m not upgrading my M1 iPad Pro at this point as the limitations just happen faster with M4. OLED and worse/less cameras are not factors that are going to get my cash. Apple’s strategy isn’t as cute as they think it is and isn’t working as well as one would be lead to believe.

Oh, it’s exactly as cute as they think it is. For everyone that wants the iPad to be more like a Mac, there’s about 20 that will buy the next iPad Pro as soon as it exists. Because, like most people, they’ve never used macOS and don’t have a desire for the iPad to be more like a thing they’ve never used.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Then don’t buy it?

Look you, it’s got an APPLE logo, that legally FORCES me to buy it!! /s

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I always love the whining that comes with these announcements. And, this one isn't even a real announcement.

It’s because each rumor and release reminds them that Apple are still around and didn’t die immediately after (removing 32 bit from macOS, or stop making AirPort Base Stations, or ended FCP 7, etc.) but they’re sure that if they continue to remind people of exactly how Apple aggrieved them the end will come… ONE DAY!

 

[springsup]

The iPad line continues to have a core problem

The vast majority of iPad users can accomplish what they want with even the base iPad and nothing offered by the more expensive ones is even close to justifiable for how much more money they are.

tldr -- There are just too many iPad tiers given what they are and what they are actually used for

Yeah, the article mentions a spec bump, which in any other product would be a perfectly fine update, but for iPads it’s underwhelming because they’re still so far from making effective use of the current hardware.

It’s really shocking because Apple’s whole idea used to be that they won’t hold back products or worry about cannibalisation, and that has earned them great success. They didn’t gimp the iPhone to protect iPod sales.

The iPad suggests Apple’s leadership have forgotten this. It is a great product, held back by Apple’s operating system, and more broadly by their fears of competition with the Mac.

 

[melodibit]

Exactly - No one needs a new iPad every year. Including you. You just bought one, so be happy with it. You dont need a new one for a long, long time.

Yearly upgrades are great because this allows users to have current, competitive hardware anytime they want or need to make a purchase. No more long unpredictable cycle times. It makes planning, budgeting, and knowing what's coming much easier. This is a win-win-win for everyone except for people whose ego requires them to somehow have the latest thing to show off as a status symbol.

Right. At this point, you probably don't need a new iPad or an iPhone every year. The impression I get is that people are addicted to getting some new killer feature every year, they already have the cash burning a hole in their pocket, and they somehow feel cheated that Apple hasn't given them that reason to spend that cash.

This isn't a problem, people. Your iPhones and iPads are great, mature products. You don't have to replace them every year, or even every 2 - 3 years. But for people with 5 year old phones ready to upgrade now, Apple is doing the right thing by providing them with the latest specs to maximize the longevity of those devices.

People, be happy your devices are mature, and will likely be totally useable with all the software that comes out for the next 3 - 5 years, and you'll receive software updates for all those years. It's not a bad thing that you get to save that cash because you're not losing anything.

 

[*~Kim~*]

If Apple now think that their decision to restrict 16GB RAM and Nano texture to the high end models has led to disappointing sales, then another iPad Pro sooner rather than later which gave these (even if they were optional upgrades) to all users would rectify that. I want an OLED mini, but had the Pro come with 12 or 16GB as standard, I would likely have picked up an 11”. Given that the Air has had 8GB for three years, that just isn’t enough on a device that starts at £999. The software doesn’t need more, but RAM limits a device far before anything else.

I think Apple made sales to those who wanted OLED but weren’t really tuned into the specs beyond this (I fell into this group when I bought the iPad 3, having ruled out buying the iPad 2 as I had the Retina display on my iPhone 4) and those whose Pros were no longer performing as they needed (but a few of these may have headed to the refurb store as the RAM wasn’t increased for all intents and purposes.) Maybe a few who were wavering in the UK bought when the election was called, thinking the outcome was obvious and taxes on business likely to increase - and therefore that the price might increase by £100+ as a result.

Was it disappointing sales that led the iPad 4 to be released only 7 months after the 3?

Pros are not the devices to buy every model like the Mini and the base model might be, as you lose far less money with the others. And people are now considering whether they can afford an iPad splurge, as the rainy day feels like it could only be a few months away. At this point, everyone who might become a Pro user has probably bought one - I essentially committed to waiting for an OLED mini when I didn’t buy an 11” in May. It’s a mature product now.

If they have finally learned that underwhelming updates don’t sell as they would like due to people voting with their feet/wallets, then they should finally give the Mini and the Air 90hz screens. We expect single stack, and to wait longer for OLED of any kind than Pro users, but we don’t expect the same old choppy screen tech given that we’re not buying a base model.

 

[EugW]

If Apple now think that their decision to restrict 16GB RAM and Nano texture to the high end models has led to disappointing sales, then another iPad Pro sooner rather than later which gave these (even if they were optional upgrades) to all users would rectify that. I want an OLED mini, but had the Pro come with 12 or 16GB as standard, I would likely have picked up an 11”. Given that the Air has had 8GB for three years, that just isn’t enough on a device that starts at £999. The software doesn’t need more, but RAM limits a device far before anything else.

I think Apple made sales to those who wanted OLED but weren’t really tuned into the specs beyond this (I fell into this group when I bought the iPad 3, having ruled out buying the iPad 2 as I had the Retina display on my iPhone 4) and those whose Pros were no longer performing as they needed (but a few of these may have headed to the refurb store as the RAM wasn’t increased for all intents and purposes.) Maybe a few who were wavering in the UK bought when the election was called, thinking the outcome was obvious and taxes on business likely to increase - and therefore that the price might increase by £100+ as a result.

Was it disappointing sales that led the iPad 4 to be released only 7 months after the 3?

Pros are not the devices to buy every model like the Mini and the base model might be, as you lose far less money with the others. And people are now considering whether they can afford an iPad splurge, as the rainy day feels like it could only be a few months away. At this point, everyone who might become a Pro user has probably bought one - I essentially committed to waiting for an OLED mini when I didn’t buy an 11” in May. It’s a mature product now.

If they have finally learned that underwhelming updates don’t sell as they would like due to people voting with their feet/wallets, then they should finally give the Mini and the Air 90hz screens. We expect single stack, and to wait longer for OLED of any kind than Pro users, but we don’t expect the same choppy screen tech given that we’re not buying a base model.

I usually wait for a RAM upgrade but this time I didn’t and got the M4 8 GB because I wanted OLED and needed a new iPad as I had already given my iPP 10.5” to my kid and was stuck using an iPad Air 2.

However, it’s not that the iPad Pro’s hardware specs are underwhelming, but that the cost is high, with iPadOS being limiting, why people are less inclined to buy. If it was US$100-200 less, it would have sold better obviously. I personally had the advantage of buying edu with the Back-To-School promotion as an educator, and I could write some of it off, so I was somewhat less sensitive to pricing.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

The iPad suggests Apple’s leadership have forgotten this. It is a great product, held back by Apple’s operating system, and more broadly by their fears of competition with the Mac.

It’s held back as seen by people that are used to macOS. Fortunately for Apple, of all the people in the world that might buy an iPad, those that are familiar with macOS is one of the smallest groups (Linux may be smaller, but anyway). If next year, the ONLY people that bought iPads were people that never used a Mac before, they’d still sell a heck of a lot of iPads.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Some of us just want a Mini with a much better screen

For some reason that has to take another 3 years

🤷‍♂️

 

[Unregistered 4U]

If Apple now think that their decision to restrict 16GB RAM and Nano texture to the high end models has led to disappointing sales, then another iPad Pro sooner rather than later

As someone else mentioned, this wouldn’t be that much sooner. Depending on if it’s released in October or November, that would make the gap in months between the last 3 iPad Pros, 18, 20, 17 (or 18).

 

[pdoherty]

Maybe in this update Apple will address the PWM issues with the OLED displays by bringing the frequency up much higher?

 

[turbineseaplane]

as one who at some point may want to upgrade my non-Apple Silicon iPad.

There has never been a non-Apple Silicon iPad

 

[*~Kim~*]

I assume the poster meant non-M series.

There has never been a non-Apple Silicon iPad

But yes, Apple silicon began with the A4 which was the processor inside the iPhone 4 and the original iPad.

 

[pdoherty]

iPadOS needs some fundamental under the hood reworking to help get us all to 80-90% usable day in day out. Apple can do this and the iPads certainly have the horsepower to do it. I’m not upgrading my M1 iPad Pro at this point as the limitations just happen faster with M4. OLED and worse/less cameras are not factors that are going to get my cash. Apple’s strategy isn’t as cute as they think it is and isn’t working as well as one would be lead to believe.

Yep - I just bought a new iPad Pro 11" 1TB model to avoid the M4 OLED displays, due to their PWM issues. Also just sold a Steam Deck OLED for the same reason.

 

[NT1440]

The only reason I would update my iPad Pro at this stage if they would give me back the damm 3.5 audio jack so I can use my preferred set of headphones. Insane not to have one on a device that big. I hate to use dongles for something so trivial.

While I’m not against the return of the jack (especially if it was the dual use one with optical like the Mac once had), I’m always confused by the dongle resentment here. My hdmi cables are fixed in place…so I just put the hdmi to usb -c converter on there and tape it together so it’s essentially back to “just plug it in when I put my computer there”.

IF you’re the kind of person that frequently switches what device your headphones are used in, I get it. But the seemingly endless knee jerk reaction to adapters en masse is a bit odd to me to understand.

 

[pdoherty]

What magical thing would Apple do with Apple "Intelligence" that would require so much processing power and memory? Especially when they are not able to do basic things right. And I mean it not only in regards to Apple "Intelligence".

I feel the same - I wish they'd stop trying to implement wiz bang features and get the basics right. SWYPE for text entry is utterly broken for even basic words like 'already' and 'and'. Why they don't simply do what Android has been doing for a decade and simply load the iPad/ihone with a basic dictionary and then allow the user to start to type a word and, if it's a problematic word that gets entered by accident because it's too-similar to another word (like getting 'Andy' when you SWYPE'd 'and') you can type part of the problematic word and then above the text entry you can press-and-hold on the word to remove and delete it from the dictionary. Then the device will no longer even know that word and if you actually want that one word you'll need to type it manually. The other accompanying function is it lets you add new words to the dictionary in the same way (type it manually once, then press-and-hold to add to the dictionary).

This is great for removing problematic words that interfere with normal text entry and allows people with niche terms they use maybe due to their profession or hobbies to add them for future text entry.

It's crazy to me that a basic thing like this has been broken and/or missing from iOS/iPadOS for YEARS and multiple major OS revisions, but they want to add AI.

 

[Burger Thing]

While I’m not against the return of the jack (especially if it was the dual use one with optical like the Mac once had), I’m always confused by the dongle resentment here. My hdmi cables are fixed in place…so I just put the hdmi to usb -c converter on there and tape it together so it’s essentially back to “just plug it in when I put my computer there”.

IF you’re the kind of person that frequently switches what device your headphones are used in, I get it. But the seemingly endless knee jerk reaction to adapters en masse is a bit odd to me to understand.

It becomes a mess when you try to charge the device at the same time (which normally happens at the end of the day when the battery is about to die and I want to watch or listen to something on my iPad). You need another dongle. Why make things so complicated. Just add back a 3.5 mm audio port. Plenty of space available.