Apple's next iPad Pro could be six months away – why should we care now?

Apple iPad Pro 2020
(Image credit: Apple)

If you predict that Apple will deliver updated components and a new iPad Pro this fall (likely October), you win the prize for stating the obvious.

There are dozens of stories now repeating what noted Apple prognosticator Mark Gurman has dug up on the next Apple iPad Pro. At TechRadar, we're chasing these rumors, too. I just don't know if we're all more devoted to the pursuit than a resolution, which – even with all these tidbits leading this way and that – may be a foregone conclusion. 

With every new leak, we collectively pounce. It's a trained response, because Gurman is well-sourced and usually gets it right. He’s also treading on very safe ground.

Let’s start with Apple silicon. Gurman is predicting that the M2 chip, successor to the M1, will arrive with the new iPad Pro in the autumn. Okay, yes, that makes sense. We’ve been talking about the M2 for almost as long as we’ve had the M1 (now available in M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra varietals).

If Apple never wanted to change or upgrade Apple silicon, it would have called the first Chip 'M.' The minute you add a number to anything, the count starts. 'M2' is inevitable.

All these rumors start to blend after a while. News that the M2 won’t be a major performance boost over the M1 (still eight cores but using a more efficient 4-nanometer process) is not a revelation.

On the iPad Pro side, there are two on-the-nose predictions. The first is Apple shoving that M2 inside the new iPad Pro – a perfectly reasonable assumption, since the iPad Pro was the first Apple tablet to get the M1 chip.

It certainly won’t be sporting the A15 Bionic or, by then, the rumored iPhone 14's A16 Bionic. Yes, I know, Apple’s A-series and M-series are all now considered part of Apple silicon. However, the M1 line and upcoming M2 are positioned as the more powerful SoCs, and seem better suited to a Pro line of tablets.

Gurman's other prediction is even more of a slam-dunk if you understand Apple’s product unveiling cadence.

The last time Apple redesigned the iPad Pro line was in October 2018, when it unveiled the more industrial-looking third generation at a buzzy event in Brooklyn, NY. That look is now on every iPad except the basic, sixth-generation Apple iPad 9.7 (it’s an old-school hold-out like the iPhone SE). The first iPad Pro line arrived in November 2015.

There have been outliers, like a second-gen update in June 2017, but for the most part, iPad Pro time is in the fall. Gurman’s October prediction is a safe one.

One from column A and one from…

Lately, Apple product prediction feels like ordering from a Chinese menu: choose one cool feature from column A and another from column B.

Whenever we talk about rumored gadgets, people throw in MagSafe charging (column B), as if Apple is just sliding features off a shelf and slapping them together until it feels it has a good mix. Maybe it is, but I doubt it.

The feature from column A might be a mini LED display, which is already in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro model, being migrated downstream to the cheaper 11-inch iPad Pro.

Every one of these guesses feels risk-free. No one is predicting a surprise M3 with a different core count, an 8-inch iPad Pro, or a significant redesign.

Obviously, you can’t go out on a limb like that without whispers of information: leaked designs, surprise patent applications, prototypes left behind in a bar. None of that exists. So, we have just these basic predictions.

What I really want to know, though, is how Apple will position the iPad Pro line later this year and into 2023. With the iPad Air (2022) running an M1 chip 8GB of RAM and a pair of 12MP cameras, the jump to the pricier 11-inch iPad pro appears more incremental than ever.

Whatever Apple unveils in October or November will set the strategy for the Pro line. A minor upgrade might indicate the slow devolution of the iPad Pro. In that case, Apple pumps up the Air until it’s Pro-ready, and then makes a wider line of Apple iPad Airs that range all the way up to a 12.9-in Apple iPad Air Max (M2, 16GB of RAM, 2TB max storage, mini LED, pro-motion screen, and LiDAR). 

My point is, let’s not trip over ourselves to applaud these latest Apple rumor morsels. What we’re hearing is all according to a well-worn Apple script. Call me when someone gets up on that Apple Theater stage and does something wild.

TOPICS
Lance Ulanoff
Editor At Large

A 38-year industry veteran and award-winning journalist, Lance has covered technology since PCs were the size of suitcases and “on line” meant “waiting.” He’s a former Lifewire Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Editor-in-Chief, and, before that, Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for Ziff Davis, Inc. He also wrote a popular, weekly tech column for Medium called The Upgrade.

Lance Ulanoff makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Live with Kelly and Mark, the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, CNN, and the BBC. 

Read more
Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (2024)
Apple's iPad in 2024: the highs, lows, and what we want to see in 2025
Apple iPad 10.9 (2022)
iPad 11: what we want to see
Person playing a game on new MacBook Air
What to expect from Apple Macs in 2025
MacBook Pro 16-inch (2023) in use in a studio
The MacBook Pro could get Apple’s M5 chip before the iPad Pro, but don’t expect groundbreaking changes
Three photos of the iPad Air M3 and its camera
iPad Air M3 review roundup – should you buy Apple's new mid-range tablet?
Apple CEO Tim Cook
Forget Siri, Apple needs to launch a folding iPhone and get back on track
Latest in iPad Pro
iPad Pro 13-inch 2024 on a table
The OLED iPad Pro is reportedly less popular than expected – and that could mean these changes to Apple's OLED iPad plans
iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) on purple background
Don't be slow, go pro with these stellar Cyber Monday iPad Pro deals
iPad Pro 13-inch with M4 chip on a wooden table
The M5-powered OLED iPad Pro is tipped to launch before the end of 2025
Apple - 11-inch iPad Pro M4
Not a drill! Amazon just sliced $200 off the most-powerful iPad Pro ever
Apple iPad Pro 13-inch (2024)
iPadOS 18 is bricking some iPad Pro 2024 units, leading Apple to pull the update
The Apple 11-inch iPad Pro M4 on a pink background
The latest Apple iPad Pro returns to a record-low price at Best Buy
Latest in News
inZOI promotional material.
inZOI has become the most wishlisted game on Steam, but I wouldn't get too caught up in the hype
Xbox Series X and Xbox wireless controller set to a green background
Xbox Insiders are currently testing a new Game Hub feature that looks useful, but I've got mixed feelings about it
A stylized depiction of a padlocked WiFi symbol sitting in the centre of an interlocking vault.
Broadcom warns of worrying security flaws affecting VMware tools
Microsoft Surface Laptop and Surface Pro devices on a table.
Hate Windows 11’s search? Microsoft is fixing it with AI, and that almost makes me want to buy a Copilot+ PC
Oura Ring 4
Activity tracking on Oura Ring is about to get a whole lot better, but I've got bad news about your step count
Google Pixel Buds Pro 2
Cleaned your Pixel Buds Pro 2 recently? If not, you might be getting worse sound