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The MacRumors Show: What's Next for the iPad

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On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we talk through Apple's upcoming overhaul of the iPad mini and iPad Air, looking at the future of the product lineup as a whole.


The headline upgrade for the iPad mini 8 is a switch from LCD to OLED display technology. The device is expected to use a single-stack LTPS panel, which is dimmer than the tandem OLED in the iPad Pro, but a substantial step up from the current display. The screen will also likely grow from 8.3 to 8.7 inches, and ProMotion is a possibility.

On the chip, sources disagree. Code Apple accidentally published in August pointed to the A19 Pro, but other evidence suggests the device will use the unreleased A20 Pro chip instead. The N1 and C1X chips are also highly likely to be present.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple is also working on a more water-resistant design, which would make new the iPad mini the first to carry an official IP rating. Apple is said to have developed a vibration-based speaker system that eliminates traditional speaker holes, removing a primary path for water ingress.

The scale of the upgrades strongly suggests a redesigned, thinner chassis to accommodate them. Gurman says the upgrades could push the price up by as much as $100 to around $599. The leaker known as "Instant Digital" has said the device will launch in the second half of 2026 at the earliest.

Apple is also expected to update the iPad Air in early 2027, with the headline change similarly being a switch to OLED. Like the iPad mini 8, the next-generation iPad Air is expected to use a single-stack LTPS panel supplied by Samsung, keeiping costs down relative to the tandem OLED in the iPad Pro. Arriving over six years after the device's last redesign, it is also likely to feature a new design similar to the iPad mini, along with the M5 chip.

The next iPad Pro is expected in spring 2027, with an M6 chip and a vapor chamber cooling system similar to the one Apple introduced in the iPhone 17 Pro, but no design changes are rumored. With the iPad Air set to close the gap significantly by adopting OLED and a thinner design, the Pro's key differentiators will narrow considerably. A more transformative reason to choose the Pro may not arrive until Apple launches its long-rumored foldable iPad, which Gurman says will feature an 18-inch display. The device has faced development hurdles around weight and display technology and is now expected no earlier than 2029, with a price potentially reaching $3,900, up to three times the cost of the current 13-inch iPad Pro.

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If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up to hear our discussion about all of the rumors surrounding Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone, now said to be called the "iPhone Ultra," which is shaping up to be a comprehensive redesign unlike anything the company has shipped before.

Subscribe to The MacRumors Show for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Kayci Lacob, Kevin Nether, John Gruber, Mark Gurman, Jon Prosser, Luke Miani, Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp,... Click here to read rest of article

Article Link: The MacRumors Show: What's Next for the iPad
 
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https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/17/the-macrumors-show-whats-next-for-the-ipad/
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MacFan23 said:
I kinda feel like this is a dead category because Apple couldn’t decided if it was a tablet which fit between a phone and a laptop or a laptop replacement.
Click to expand...

Cleary I am just one data point, but I will replace my Mini 7 with this one when it comes out. The Air was too heavy/unwieldy for my use case of reading books, some games, and some browsing. And while the Air was fine with the rest of my uses (recipes in the kitchen, Zoom calls with the fam, etc.) the Mini does those well too.

-bdd
 
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iPad has 2 use cases:

1. Content consumption - in which case, just get a cheap one that's a screen for watching videos, web browsing and simple games, which you can also do on your laptop.

2. Drawing stuff as an artist - only case where buying the Pro makes sense. My wife does this.

For other types of work, it's terrible compared to a Mac.... especially now you can get a Macbook Neo for less than many iPad combos.

Since it was released in 2011, I've always thought it was a really limited device. I had one for about a year and sold it because it never got used.
 
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Published last year by CIRP, iPad unit sales percentages, based on US consumer surveys:

CIRP.jpg


Probably doesn’t reflect company purchases, and should be taken with a grain of salt.
 
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bunce66 said:
iPad has 2 use cases:

1. Content consumption - in which case, just get a cheap one that's a screen for watching videos, web browsing and simple games, which you can also do on your laptop.

2. Drawing stuff as an artist - only case where buying the Pro makes sense. My wife does this.
Click to expand...
A third use case is reviewing documents, marking them up, and general note-taking. Basically, research and teaching activities.

The Pro makes sense whenever you prefer OLED and can spare the money. For me the killer feature is high text contrast and true blacks when using it in dark environments.
 
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needsomecoffee said:
Although the iPad works for some, it is likely to never work for all given iOS limitations:

www.macworld.com

Apple still doesn’t get iPad pros

Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator show why pro apps on the iPad still feel compromised.
www.macworld.com www.macworld.com
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The Mac also doesn’t work for all. The iPad works for many (from basic users to professionals). No product is ever going to work for everyone.
 
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MacFan23 said:
I kinda feel like this is a dead category because Apple couldn’t decided if it was a tablet which fit between a phone and a laptop or a laptop replacement.
Click to expand...

As specs have gotten better, it has gotten more useful for type 1 below.

bunce66 said:
Since it was released in 2011, I've always thought it was a really limited device. I had one for about a year and sold it because it never got used.
Click to expand...

I was gifted one and didn't use it much at first, but, the 9-10" size is pretty good as a replacement newspaper/magazine. Which must be why many paper magazines are disappearing.

bunce66 said:
1. Content consumption - in which case, just get a cheap one that's a screen for watching videos, web browsing and simple games, which you can also do on your laptop.
Click to expand...

The 9th gen with 3GB RAM 64GB SSD and A13 Bionic was always a bit stretched, but, now is laboring with 26.x
A19 Pro with 256GB SSD should be perfect for the next gen.
 
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All I want is an iPad mini with Face ID so it unlocks the same as every other "i" device I use without being annoyed by the power button fingerprint thing. Other than that the iPad is what it is a reading watching listening device. Any real work happens on real computers with real operating systems. Other than a few journalists who pride themselves on being able to do everything on iTablets, everything for them being writing articles and reading web pages big whoop. Real users who need to do real things need real computers, yes, the trucks. Trucks for all.
 
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MacFan23 said:
I kinda feel like this is a dead category because Apple couldn’t decided if it was a tablet which fit between a phone and a laptop or a laptop replacement.
Click to expand...
Honestly it's both a tablet and a laptop replacement. It's a tablet for those who need/want a tablet and in the case of my mother, it's a laptop replacement.
 
My primary purpose for the iPad Mini 7 is as an e-reader. Don't see an argument that it is too powerful for this (more distracting than a kindle, etc...) I just turn the notifications off; don't get distracted. Don't see this argument.
 
Isn’t the iPhold a new iPad mini with OLED and promotion display?
(Consider this as one of the questions you requested 😉)
 
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bunce66 said:
iPad has 2 use cases:

1. Content consumption - in which case, just get a cheap one that's a screen for watching videos, web browsing and simple games, which you can also do on your laptop.

2. Drawing stuff as an artist - only case where buying the Pro makes sense. My wife does this.

For other types of work, it's terrible compared to a Mac.... especially now you can get a Macbook Neo for less than many iPad combos.

Since it was released in 2011, I've always thought it was a really limited device. I had one for about a year and sold it because it never got used.
Click to expand...
Plus office work. My wife spends 98% of her time on the iPad. And when a desktop operating system is needed the Neo gets used. The iPad with the MKB is much more comfortable to work on in some situations and can do the same work as macOS.
 
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