What you need to know
- Apple is rumored to be readying refreshed iPad Pro tablets for a launch later this year.
- Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes a launch could take place in September or October.
- The new tablets will reportedly offer wireless charging while gaining improved cameras and an M2 chip.
Despite new rumors that Apple will launch a new 14-inch iPad Pro as soon as next year, a new report claims that the current lineup will get a refresh within the next few months.
Writing in the weekly Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman answered a question on whether a new iPad Pro is expected "soon." Gurman says that will depend on your definition, although September or October now look like likely release windows for updated pro-oriented tablets.
Gurman went on to say that the new tablet is expected to ship with the M2 Apple silicon that was announced during WWDC22 last week, an upgrade from the M1 the current hardware uses. Talk of some sort of wireless charging system continues, with Gurman saying this is the year we will see that rumor come to fruition. It still isn't clear whether that will offer some sort of reverse wireless charging — to power AirPods, for example — or not, however.
Gurman also expects Apple to upgrade the camera system this year, although details remain unclear.
This news comes just days after rumors of a new 14.1-inch iPad Pro surfaced via display supply chain analyst Ross Young. That tablet is expected to arrive in 2023, so don't expect Apple to announce that product for a year or so.
Apple's addition of the M2 chip in this year's iPad Pro makes plenty of sense. The M1 is now also available in the latest iPad Air and additional differentiation between products is never a bad thing — the Pro model should always have the better chip where possible, presumably. Apple's upcoming iOS 16 will also make use of as much horsepower as Apple can give it thanks to a new Stage Manager feature that brings advanced multitasking to Apple's tablet lineup. That feature is so resource-heavy that it will require an M1-power iPad, or newer, in order to function.
As impressive as a new M2-powered iPad Pro will be, it'll only remain the best iPad on the market until that rumored 14-inch model arrives — assuming the rumors bear fruit, of course.
