The current iPad range is one of the most populated we’ve seen.
It includes two iterations of the standard iPad, the iPad mini, the iPad Air, and the 11in and 12.9in iPad Pro models, so there’s plenty to choose from. It seems Apple isn’t stopping there, though: rumours suggest it could be adding an even larger iPad Pro to the line-up.
Here’s everything we know about the next-generation iPad Pro, including a potential 14in model.
When will the new iPad Pro be released?
It looks like there won’t be a new iPad Pro until 2024. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said in January 2023 that there are no major updates coming to the iPad in 2023, and the iPad Pro “for sure isn’t getting anything of note this year.”
Indeed, there was no announcement at WWDC in June, the iPhone 15 event in September or the Mac event in October.
Most rumours now tentatively point towards some time in 2024 for a revamped iPad Pro, which could include a new 14in model alongside the 11- and 12in versions, or perhaps the 14in model will replace one of the other options.
For some clues as to when Apple could launch the new iPad Pro, we can look at past launches, bearing in mind that Apple has been inconsistent with the launch windows from previous models. Here’s when they made their debuts:
- iPad Pro 11-inch and 12.9-inch (6th gen): Oct 2022
- iPad Pro 11-inch and 12.9-inch (5th gen): Apr 2021
- iPad Pro 11-inch and 12.9-inch (4th gen): Mar 2020
- iPad Pro 11-inch and 12.9-inch (3rd gen): Oct 2018
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch (2nd gen): June 2017
- iPad Pro 9.7-inch (1st gen): Mar 2016
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st gen): Nov 2015
On that basis, we could see the new iPad Pro around April 2024. But that’s pure speculation at this stage.
How much will the new iPad Pro cost?
At the moment, these are the starting prices for each model in the current iPad Pro range.
- iPad Pro 11in Wi-Fi (2022): $799/£899
- iPad Pro 11in Cellular (2022): $999/£1,079
- iPad Pro 12.9in Wi-Fi (2022): $1,099/£1,249
- iPad Pro 12.9in Cellular (2022): $1,299/£1,429
If Apple introduces a larger 14in Pro we are likely to see price rises at the top of the range, so we’d expect the iPad Pro 14in to start at more than $1,299/£1,429.
Apple tends to move up by units of 100, and there are 300 between the base 11in and 12.9in models. So it seems reasonable to speculate that the 14in iPad Pro will start at $1,399/£1,529 or thereabouts.
The price of the rest of the range will depend on whether Apple continues to sell all the models. Apple could stop selling the 11in model and reduce the price of the 12.9in model, or it might stop selling the 12.9in model and leave the 11in at the current price.
What specs and features will the new iPad Pro have?
As you might expect, there have been more leaks and rumours regarding the Pro than any other upcoming iPad model.
Display
There’s some disagreement over the screen technology that will be offered.
Display analyst Ross Young originally suggested, in June 2022, that the 14-inch iPad Pro will feature a mini-LED display, just like the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro. But in a tweet later that month, he that the larger iPad would instead have a standard LED panel, as on the 11-inch iPad Pro, citing cost as a possible reason.
Apple
Then in December 2022, Young suggested that Apple is planning to move the entire iPad line to OLED (via Macworld) by 2024. This matches what Gurman wrote (in January 2023). He predicted that coming to the iPad in the spring of 2024 (via Macworld) is “an updated design and OLED screens”.
Apple is also said to be working on its own micro-LED displays (via Macworld) that could eventually make their way into a new larger iPad. Gurman also wrote in January that Apple would start transitioning its whole lineup to micro-LED displays, starting with the Apple Watch.
The rumour of a larger-screened iPad started with Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman back in June 2021. He wrote that Apple was considering making iPads with larger displays (via Macworld), but not to expect anything for a few years.
Another leaker named Majin Bu has also posted that a new 14.1in iPad Pro is in development. Display analyst Ross Young also claimed in 2022 that a 14.1in iPad Pro model was in development, and that “early 2023” was a likely release schedule.
In December 2022 Young was reported to have changed this prediction, suggesting that “Apple is no longer planning to launch a 14.1-inch iPad Pro with a mini-LED display in early 2023”, . Young went on to claim that Apple is no longer planning to launch the new 14.1in form factor, so it may never launch.
With the release of Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro on the iPad, it makes a lot of sense for Apple to offer an iPad with a larger screen and external display support.
Performance
Before they deleted their account, Twitter leaker Analyst941 reported (via Macworld) that Apple was planning on releasing the new iPad Pro with external support for up to two 6K monitors running at 60Hz, the potential inclusion of an M3 Pro chipset, plus a “special version of iPadOS 17” that was being developed for the larger iPad Pro models.
However, an alleged sting operation put a stop to the leaks, which threw a shadow over some of their predictions about the upcoming 14-inch iPad Pro.
The current iPad Pros are powered by the M2 chip, so it makes sense for an M3 to appear in any new 2024 models. We don’t think the M3 Pro is a likely option, though, as the Pro versions of Apple’s chips have so far only appeared on the 14in and 16in MacBook Pro and Mac mini, and the M2 in the iPad Pros already provides more power than it needs.
Also due to the iPad’s thin, finless design, it seems more sensible for a standard M3 to be at the heart of a 14-inch iPad Pro.
A tweet from June 2022 by Majin Bu suggested that the 14-inch iPad Pro would contain an M2 processor, 16GB of RAM and 512GB of base storage, we would only expect to see the M2 used in the 14-inch iPad Pro if it launches separately to the rest of the range.
As you can see, there are plenty of rumours and speculation about the next-generation iPad Pro, but not much in the way of solid facts just yet.
We’ll update this article once more is revealed. In the meantime, see our guides to the best iPads and best tablets.
A version of this article originally appeared on Macworld.
