Apple files with the EEC for an upcoming new tablet
When Apple has a new device that the company will soon drop with some encryption features, it needs to file some information with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC). Located in Moscow, the commission handles the day-to-day business related to the countries in the Eurasian Economic Union including the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and the Russian Federation.
According to Apple Insider, a filing has been made for a new iPad with the model number A2229. The documentation notes that the product is a "tablet computer of the Apple brand" and is running iPadOS 13. It just so happens that there has been speculation that Apple will soon introduce two new iPad Pro variants. Consumers will reportedly have the option of purchasing the tablet with an 11-inch or a 12.9-inch display; those are the same screen sizes that Apple equipped the most recent versions of its premium tablets with back in 2018.
Another iPad Pro model with a mini-LED display is expected later this year
The 2020 iPad Pro models should be powered by the A13X Bionic SoC; this will be Apple's most powerful chipset until the 5nm A14 Bionic is launched with the 2020 5G iPhone models later this year. The new iPad Pro tablets are expected to feature a rear camera module similar to the one employed on the iPhone 11 Pro models. In other words, the rear panel of the slate would include a square module containing a 12MP Wide camera, a 12MP telephoto camera, a 12MP Ultra-wide camera, and a Time of Flight (ToF) sensor. The latter measures the time it takes for an infrared beam to bounce off a subject and return to the phone. This creates more accurate depth calculations.
Apple is expected to soon announce new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro tablets
While the filing doesn't place any time limits on Apple, traditionally the manufacturer has submitted the filing seven to nine weeks before a product has been released. While this would dovetail with the launch of the new iPad Pro models, a filing does need to be made for each variant including different screen sizes, and connectivity options (Wi-Fi or cellular). However, since there is only one listing thus far we should expect to see more made by Apple soon.
The tablet market (with one exception that we will discuss shortly) has been shrinking for several years. The reasons why are not hard to figure out; consumers do not feel the need to update their tablets every two to three years as they do with their handsets. And larger phone displays are leading to the cannibalization of some tablet purchases. However, during the coronavirus outbreak in China, tablet sales soared as businesses ordered employees to work from home. And school children are using tablets to stream lessons (even if they tried to sabotage the app used to stream these lessons). Apple also reported back-to-back quarterly hikes in iPad shipments during the second half of its 2019 fiscal year.
Apple is also rumored to be launching another new iPad Pro model later this year. Instead of using an LCD display, this tablet would employ a mini-LED screen. This technology offers many of the same advantages found on AMOLED displays including a wide color gamut. It also won't create a screen burn-in as an AMOLED display can. Besides the wide range of colors, mini-LED also shares with OLED panels the lack of a backlight. That means users will be able to save some battery life by using dark mode. That's because these screens create the color black by turning the appropriate pixels off, reducing the draw on the battery. Could the EEC filing be related to this tablet? Considering the aforementioned traditional 7-9 week time frame between previous EEC filings and the actual product announcements, this wouldn't seem to be the case.
Apple was rumored to unveil its new premium tablets on March 31st, but there has been radio silence about this event from Apple. One reason why you shouldn't expect the company to announce that the event has been delayed is that it never was announced in the first place. So common sense dictates that Apple can't delay a new product event it never made in the first place.
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