Apple seemingly leaks upcoming iPad models
Last year Apple did something that it had not done since 2009. In 2023, not one new iPad was unveiled. That string came to an end earlier this year when Apple released new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro tablets, the first iPad tablets to sport OLED panels. These premium tablets are equipped with not just any OLED displays but tandem displays that stack one on top of the other creating a brighter and more durable screen.
At the same time, Apple introduced the latest iteration of the iPad Air and even added a new 13-inch model to give consumers the opportunity to buy a large-screened Apple tablet without paying the premium price for a 13-inch OLED-screened iPad Pro. And we've been expecting Apple to upgrade the iPad mini and the basic iPad model later this year.
Tweet reveals identifiers for scrapped and upcoming iPad models|Image credit-@aaronp613
Now we have a better idea of what to expect from Apple in the way of iPad models later this year thanks to a tweet from "X" subscriber @aaronp613 who posted about iPad identifiers that were found by @nicolas09F9. As far as connecting each identifier to a specific iPad, that is all guesswork and out of the 14 discovered, five are for iPad models that have been scrapped by Apple.
The list includes:
- iPad13,20 - A14 Wi-Fi base model (scrapped)
- iPad13,21 - A14 Cellular base model (scrapped)
- iPad15,3 - M3 11-inch Pro Wi-Fi (scrapped)
- iPad15,4 - M3 11-inch Pro Cellular (scrapped)
- iPad15,5 - M3 13-inch Pro Wi-Fi (scrapped)
- iPad15,6 - M3 13-inch Pro Cellular (scrapped)
- iPad15,7 - A16 11th Gen iPad Wi-Fi
- iPad15,8 - A16 11th Gen iPad Cellular
- iPad16,1 - A17 iPad mini 7th Gen Wi-Fi
- iPad16,2 - A17 iPad mini 7th Gen Cellular
- iPad17,1 - M5 11-inch Pro Wi-Fi
- iPad17,2 - M5 11-inch Pro Cellular
- iPad17,3 - M5 13-inch Pro Wi-Fi
- iPad17,4 - M5 13-inch Pro Cellular
What is interesting is that the leak shows that Apple might have considered an M3-powered iPad Pro before releasing the new versions of its top-of-the-line tablet powered by the M4 SoC. The information also indicates that the seventh generation iPad mini will be powered by a 3nm A17 Pro application processor (AP), the same chipset that runs the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The next base iPad, the 11th generation model, will feature the A16 Bionic chipset which is currently found in the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Looking ahead, the next generation of the iPad Pro will keep the same 11-inch and 13-inch screen sizes and will feature the unannounced M5 SoC which might be produced using TSMC's 2nm process node which will begin mass production next year.
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