Following a bombshell report this week claiming that the iPad Pro M3 might actually be an iPad Pro M4, new insight into Apple’s upcoming tablet line has revealed that what we all thought could be a step too far, might not actually be as far-fetched as it sounds.
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple might spring a big surprise on us at the May 7 Let Loose event. He says there’s “a strong possibility that the chip in the iPad Pro will be the M4, not the M3.”
While that might sound pretty outlandish, a new report reveals the evidence might have been staring us in the face for a while.
M4 iPad Pro in the wild?
As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple’s new iPad Pro models have already been discovered in the beta files of iOS 17. Earlier in April, four unreleased models were revealed, alongside firmware support for the major OLED display upgrade we’re also expecting to see. However, as 9to5Mac points out, the identifiers for these iPads could indeed point to an M4 chip incoming.
M2 devices like the M2 iPad Pro and M2 MacBook Air come with the designation ‘14’, while M3 devices like the M3 MacBook Air are numbered ‘15’ in the depths of Apple’s software code. As such, the fact that the new iPad models spotted in April are numbered ‘16’ could indicate that they are in fact shipping with a new M4 chip.
The report also cites an “anonymous leaker” on X which claims “the new iPad Air will be powered by T8112, which is M2. However, the new iPad Pro has an unknown “T8132” chip. For instance, the M3 identifier is “T8122.”
With Apple’s next best iPad only days away, we’ll soon find out whether the M4 iPad Pro is the start of the Apple AI revolution that everyone has been talking about.
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