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What's Next for Apple's iPad Lineup
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Yeah active cooling would allow M series to run graphically intensive games better. I don’t play that game but judging by how low settings cyberpunk is on M1, I don’t have any hope M1 can last too long for gaming. I picked MacBook Pro exactly for fans and cooling so M1 won’t be throttled as much compared to passively cooled MacBook Air.
Granted, people with needs closely matching apple’s “intended use” will have the best result, but I’m not one of such user so M1 for me is becoming more and more lackluster by the day.
Well I look forward to seeing that. Many of us, as evidence from comments online, want an iPad with at least the capability to run MacOS. Frankly, I do not understand why some of you seem to object to this. That's the internet though.
My first 2 tablets were from Amazon. What would you expect for $100+?
I will agree iPad is the best product.
I enjoy my Samsung Galaxy Tab A9+.
Not that much cheaper than the iPad 11 on sale at Amazon.
Android and I get along better.
For me it greater resembles a touch screen computer.
I am low vision which would be my only attraction to iPad.
The multiple screen thing would be a drawback in OS 26.
I don't like it with Android when it happens.
All that said, I am eager to see what a premium Amazon tablet will bring.
My Tab A9+ is 8/128.
That much RAM doesn't seem to matter.
In the past, Amazon handled Fire OS different. It received updates but never a new OS.
My first tablet was 2/32 and I side loaded the Play Store.
It never slowed down because the OS never became more demanding.
Amazon also updates all their hardware 4 years after the item is no longer for sale.
For an Apple consumer, none of this matters, eh?
I doubt it as well. It would be very unApple to give me exactly what I want. 😜
I find it crazy that we have iPads with the same chips in them as Macs but the OS locks down so many things related to the hardware. I'd love to be able to use my iPad Pro to run my CNC machine but nope! Apple only allows a narrow set of device types such as cameras, audio and storage to use the USB/Thunderbolt port in that way on iPadOS.
It's one of the worst decisions Apple has made if they ship the next iPad Pro with 8gb of RAM. I mean they just can't do that.
What I want is a iPad mini Pro with no bezels, possibly slightly bigger. OLED 120hz, tandem ideally. I'm fine with the newest Axx Pro processor. We mainly just want the OLED lol...I'd love for it to be lighter but I also feel like I want better battery life
What I want is a iPad mini Pro with no bezels, possibly slightly bigger. OLED 120hz, tandem ideally. I'm fine with the newest Axx Pro processor. We mainly just want the OLED lol...I'd love for it to be lighter but I also feel like I want better battery life
It seems to me that iPadOS always heavily discards the memory content of apps in the background so that this does not happen. That is why there are specific apis that must be used for anything that is not directly a front screen activity.
iPadOS is a kiosk OS, vastly inferior in capacity to what a modern computer is capable of.
Does it not fill the memory before it dumps it? So wouldn’t adding more ram allow more data to be held before it dumps it?
I agree memory dumping is problematic for productivity, but I believe it’s all due to battery considerations since the battery capacity in iPads is significantly smaller than in Macs, especially the smaller iPads. I anecdotally find battery life in iPads isn’t great compared to MacBooks as well.
In any case, it looks like in iPadOS 26 there will be much more expanded multitasking and opportunity to push ram (and battery) to its limits.
I don’t know if my opinion holds any value but I feel the memory dumping of background apps has been varying with the versions of iOS (& iPadOS). Surely it’s all done to battery considerations but also because of price: Apple is cheap and adding a $1 memory chip is a no go for Tim’s margin.
I fail to see how iPadOS 26 will improve anything. For me iPads have small batteries, a toy operating system and are incomplete without accessories. MacBook Air are much better as portable devices and you can have them stand without a case
I'm not totally sure either. But I only make the point about adding ram being possibly beneficial because the other user said the OS can't utilize upgraded hardware (possibly meaning ram as well as processor).I don’t know if my opinion holds any value but I feel the memory dumping of background apps has been varying with the versions of iOS (& iPadOS). Surely it’s all done to battery considerations but also because of price: Apple is cheap and adding a $1 memory chip is a no go for Tim’s margin.
I fail to see how iPadOS 26 will improve anything. For me iPads have small batteries, a toy operating system and are incomplete without accessories. MacBook Air are much better as portable devices and you can have them stand without a case
iPadOS 26 is able to do much more Mac-like multitasking with seemingly limitless free floating windows, and certain background processes, which a lot of people have been pining for. But I'm wondering what kind of limits it sets, and I'm really curious what the expanded functionality will cost in battery life.
I prefer a MacBook for productivity, but I have an iPad due to the Pencil. It does its job satisfactorily for me.
With stage manager on and 3 windows (safari, streaming netflix and whatsapp), battery definitely drains faster for sure on my iPP, but ipad OS 26 has been rebuilt from the ground up for multitasking so should be a lot more efficient.
16GB should be the new standard for sure. not with a 1TB
Please release a Musician's edition 16 inch iPad for Sheet Music
Apple refreshed a few of its iPad models earlier this year, but we aren't done yet. There are still new iPads rumored to be coming later in 2025, plus we're already hearing details on 2026 iPad launches.
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iPad Pro
Rumors suggest that Apple will update the iPad Pro models before the end of the year, introducing the faster M5 chip in the device. No notable design changes are coming because last year's update brought an overhauled look, but there are a couple new features planned.
The iPad Pro looks like it will be the first to get the M5 chip, which is built on an updated 3-nanometer process. We can expect modest performance and efficiency improvements.
There will be 11-inch and 13-inch size options, and the 2025 models will use OLED display technology much like the M4 models. Apple is rumored to be planning for two front-facing cameras, with one located at the top of the device and one located at the side. With this change, the iPad will be in the correct orientation for video calls regardless of whether it is positioned in landscape or portrait mode.
The M5 iPad could debut in either October or November, coming about a month after Apple releases new iPhone 17 models.
iPad Air
There's a new iPad Air in the works, and it could come in 2026, but there's no guarantee. We don't know much about the next-generation iPad Air, but there's a possibility that it will feature a display with a 90Hz refresh rate, up from 60Hz.
With the 2026 refresh, the iPad Air could be updated with an OLED display, but it's not yet clear if that's something Apple plans to debut next year or if we will be waiting until 2027.
The M3 iPad Air came out in March 2025, so we are unlikely to see a new model before March 2026.
Low-Cost iPad
There's a new low-cost iPad in development, and it will have an updated A18 chip. With the A18, the iPad will support Apple Intelligence features that are not available on the current model.
Rumors suggest the low-cost iPad will debut in early 2026, perhaps at a spring event.
iPad mini
Apple is working on an iPad mini 8 that could come out as soon as 2026. Leaked Apple code suggests that it will use the same A19 Pro chip that Apple plans to use in the iPhone 17 Pro models.
The A19 Pro will be built on an updated 3-nanometer process, so it will feature performance and efficiency improvements.
Apple is developing an iPad mini that uses OLED display technology, but it is not clear if the OLED display will be in the iPad mini 8 or a future iPad mini that's not coming until 2027. When the iPad mini does get an OLED display, it could feature an upgraded 8.7 inch display size instead of an 8.3 inch display.
Article Link: What's Next for Apple's iPad Lineup
Bigger screen, true edge-to-edge glass with no bezels and slightly thinner. These are basically the only parameters that will make me upgrade my iPad Pro, which I've basically been rocking for like 7 years.
Only you can decide whether an iPad is for you or not. I constantly had my phone in my hand until the first iPad came out. Now, I barely touch my phone. I'd flip the argument on you, my iPad can do almost everything my phone can (and maybe a few things the phone can't) and does it on a bigger screen that I don't have to, in my advanced age, strain my eyes to see.
For me, WiFi 7 is going to be nice - as I use my IPad in a heavily congested neighborhood and my router already supports this standard. And I would also like to see Thunderbolt 5 - so the IPad Pro can fully utilize an upcoming Studio Display 2 - with promotion .
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