A new 12-inch iPad Pro is reportedly being worked on for a March release

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2020 iPad Pro renders
2020 iPad Pro renders (Image credit: OnLeaks / iGeeksBlog)

What you need to know

  • Apple is rumored to be working on a new 12-inch iPad Pro.
  • DigiTimes reports that it will be announced "around March".
  • It isn't clear whether this 12-inch iPad is all-new, or a refresh of the 12.9-inch model that's already available.

DigiTimes has today expanded on yesterday's report that Apple will announce refreshed iPad Pro tablets "around March". The new report suggests that the refresh will involve a "12-inch iPad Pro".

It isn't clear whether this 12-inch model is going to be an all-new tablet, or simply a mistake on the part of DigiTimes. Apple currently offers a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, so it's possible this is the device DigiTimes is reporting on.

The report also mentions that the new tablet will have a three-lens camera setup around the back, with a time-of-flight sensor included.

After upgrading its 9.7-inch iPad to 10.2-inch spec in 2019, Apple is set to release its new 12-inch iPad Pro model featuring a rear-end three-lens ToF 3D sensor in the spring, in a bid to boost its share of the global table market. The vendor registered total iPad shipments of 44 million units in 2019, slightly lower than 2018, the sources said.

We've heard rumors of such an addition for a good few months, although again, it isn't clear whether it will be included in all iPad Pro models or just the 12-inch one.

However, it would appear that Apple's supply partners aren't able to produce the units as quickly as anticipated thanks to the coronavirus outbreak.

In fact, upstream supply chain partners already kicked off production of related components for the new model before the Lunar New Year holiday seeking to support iPad Pro shipment ramp-up by assemblers after the holiday. But assemblers are not expected to start ramping up shipments until March due the epidemic, and shipments may peak at a monthly level of over 3-3.5 million units in the second quarter, the sources said.

We've recently heard that an event will take place next month with the rumored iPhone 9 set to be announced. If so, that would likely also be the event that sees new iPad Pros, too.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.