The iPad has been a constant in the tech sector since its release by late CEO Steve Jobs in 2010. In the interim, the iPad brand has expanded to include the Pro, Air, and Mini lines, defining and dominating the whole tablet market.
2023 proved to be an unusually quiet year for fans of what has constantly been ranked as one of the world’s top tablets, as Apple appears to have failed to find the time to develop and introduce a new entrant to the series that it felt worthwhile.
Nonetheless, this unusually extended delay raises questions about what the corporation might have in store for the next generation of greatest iPads, if it leaves its renowned tablet line alone for another year before updating.
Before Apple unveils new tablets, however, some preliminary work is required. Here’s what we hope to see from Apple’s iPad ambitions in 2024.
The present state of the iPad
While there’s no doubt about Apple’s ability to attract and retain a loyal base of iPad users, the numbers aren’t where they should be, with iPad revenue more than 10% lower than the same quarter the previous year, according to Apple’s own reporting.
The obvious reason for this relative downturn is a lack of new hardware, with the arrival of iPadOS 17 and a new Apple Pencil with integrated USB-C charging doing little to entice newbies and upgraders both. At the same time, navigating the present array of Apple slates and appropriate peripherals is an unquestionably difficult and perplexing process, especially when attempting to assess which combination of features, design, and power could best suits your needs.
First, there’s the regular iPad. Apple continues to offer the ninth-generation iPad, which released in late 2021 and runs on the oldest processor in the iPad range – the same A13 SoC used in the iPhone 11 series two years earlier. The design is likewise out of date, with a front-facing circular home button with Touch ID and thick bezels surrounding a 10.2-inch display. It also uses Apple’s old Lightning port (the only iPad still doing so), and it only works with the first-generation Apple Pencil.
The 10th-generation iPad, which was released in late 2022, is the only device in the series to have a landscape-first orientation (which could be a portent of things to come). It has a larger 10.9-inch display with a straight-sided design and thinner bezels, as well as more modern USB-C connectivity instead of Lightning and a top button with Touch ID. It features a generation-newer Apple A14 chip and supports both the first-generation Apple Pencil and the most recent Apple Pencil with USB-C (however, while we’re here, this latest stylus lacks the pressure sensitivity of its elder siblings).
Before we get to the Air, there’s the sixth-generation iPad mini to consider, which was released the same year as the ninth-generation iPad but has a more 10th-generation iPad-like look and operates on a newer-still A15 SoC. In addition to an 8.3-inch display, there is USB-C, second-generation Apple Pencil functionality, and a top button with Touch ID.
While the broad tiers of the range are discernible, the nuances of whether you need an iPad with Apple Pencil 2 support, A-series or M-series performance, and which keyboard cover you need (Magic or Smart, Folio or no?) make choosing between slates that differ by several hundred dollars or pounds a difficult task, especially if you’re not well-versed in Apple jargon.
Clean up the tables
Notable Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman reported in early November 2023 that Apple “plans to update its entire iPad lineup during 2024,” but we don’t know what that update will look like. However, given the variety of features, screen sizes, and CPUs available to purchasers today, it appears that there is opportunity for improvement.
For starters, Apple could discontinue the 9th-generation iPad, leaving all models up to date with USB-C. Next, despite the recent availability of the USB-C Apple Pencil, make the second-generation Apple Pencil the standard (and reduce the price). Bring the entire range up to M-class CPUs, remove the 11-inch Pro model from the lineup, and upsize the Air to a full 11 inches to fill its place, then rationalize those chips, with M1 for the mini and normal iPad, M2 for the Air, and the latest Apple M3 for the now-sole 12.9-inch pro.
Gurman has also stated that this year’s iPad Pros will most likely include OLED panels, implying that the mini-LED screen technology in the present top-tier Pro this will also have an impact on this year’s air.
Collectively, these modifications would result in four models in four discrete sizes, all with the same connectors, Apple Pencil support from the same generation, design language, and chipset class. As long as the firm offers only one Magic Keyboard for each model (eliminating the Smart and Folio options), users will have a far more approachable lineup to pick from.
A New Focus for the iPad?
When the iPad originally came out, it promised to bridge the gap between phone and laptop while also providing a better web-browsing, email, photo-sharing, video-watching, listening, gaming, and reading experience than either device – and to differing degrees, it did. However, the methods in which we utilize all three of these items have changed dramatically since 2010.
In the years since, the iPad has found its way into the hearts and minds of digital content creators – a subset of users that did not exist when the iPad first debuted – while still failing to convince as a true laptop replacement, as Apple has attempted to market it on occasion.
Gaming is one long-neglected area where the corporation appears to be refocusing its efforts, and the iPad may play a role. The A17 Pro was the first Apple silicon with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which went hand in hand with the company’s efforts to entice developers to migrate their AAA games, including Capcom’s Resident Evil Village, over to the iPhone 15 Pro series (It runs on the A17 Pro).
Apple has now developed the M3 series CPUs, which share the A17 Pro’s hardware-accelerated ray tracing capabilities. While they are currently only found in Apple’s most recent MacBook Pros, there is already a precedent set of M-series chips making their way into iPads – and with the current iPad Pro already sporting M2 silicon, it stands to reason that M3 chips will be included in this year’s Pros, along with more graphical grunt and tailored features that are ideal for gaming.
WHAT IS THE COMPETITION UP TO?
The iPad’s fate this year remains uncertain, not just because Apple controls the narrative that the tablet market follows, but also because, despite their best efforts, the competition continues to feel like they’re playing catch up.
Even Samsung, Apple’s most notable iPad opponent, waited 18 months before updating its main tablet line, unveiling the iPad Pro-rivaling Galaxy Tab S9 series in August of last year and, more recently, the more modest Tab S9 FE.
Xiaomi, Oppo, and even OnePlus have entered the tablet industry, with the latter launching the OnePlus Pad, putting some further pressure on Apple, but not enough to cause concern. If it were, we’d already have a new iPad; instead, we’re left wondering and waiting for what Apple’s legendary slate has in store for the rest of the year.
