The new standard iPad model will likely have many performance upgrades and be launched next spring.
Apple hasn’t updated its cheapest iPad in two years, leaving it with an A14 chipset that’s more than four years old. Despite dropping the price from $449 to $349 earlier this year, users can expect some real upgrades next spring.
The new generation iPad will be upgraded next spring.
According to Bloomberg, the next-generation iPad – tentatively called the iPad 11 – will likely support Apple Intelligence, but it’s unclear what kind of chipset it will use. It’s possible that Apple will equip the A18 chip, although the first-generation 3nm chip manufacturing process is very expensive.
Another option is to use the A17 Pro chip from the new iPad mini, taking advantage of the chips removed from the iPhone 15 Pro manufacturing process. This will allow users to experience many new features such as notification summaries, Image Playground, Genmoji, a brand new Siri, ChatGPT, and more.
In addition, the new generation iPad is expected to support newer connectivity standards, including Wi-Fi 6E (or Wi-Fi 7) and Bluetooth 5.3, which will offer better performance than Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 on the current iPad model. In particular, Apple may launch the first 5G modem on the cellular-enabled iPad 11 version, with the low-cost iPad models expected to be equipped with this modem next year.
iPad 11 will likely support Apple Intelligence.
Additionally, Apple is also developing a new mid-range Magic Keyboard for the iPad, which may be supported on the iPad 11. This keyboard design will be more traditional, instead of the folio style as on the current iPad 10.
According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Apple is expected to launch the iPad 11 next spring, along with the iPhone SE, iPad Air, and more. The new iPad will have a similar design to the 2022 version but with improved performance. If nothing changes, Apple's cheapest iPad will be 2.5 years old when it is officially refreshed.
