If you were disappointed to see Apple go against tradition in 2023 to not release a single new iPad all year long, your disappointment may have only gotten more bitter this time last week. In line with a number of recent rumors, the Cupertino-based tech giant unveiled some upgraded hardware on March 4, but alas, that didn’t include anything to please the company’s portability-focused fans.
The exact launch date remains up in the air
Instead, Apple is likely to casually drop this highly anticipated announcement on its newsroom website, and that could happen with no advance notice and absolutely no fanfare. You probably don’t have to keep an eye on that portal day in and day out just yet, mind you, as the current expectation is for said announcement to go down “around the end of March or in April.”
What else do we know about these products?
The single-size 2022 iPad Air (pictured here) is expected to get two 2024 sequels.
That’s right, Apple is widely expected to roll out both a revamped 12.9-inch iPad Pro and a larger-than-ever 12.9-inch iPad Air this spring, which sounds a little odd and potentially very confusing. Alongside these giants, the iPad Pro (2024) should come in an 11-inch size as well, while the iPad Air (2024) could also be released in a 10.9-inch variant for buyers on tighter budgets.
As you can imagine, we don’t have a very full picture on the possible differences between these four similar-sounding tablets, although we’re pretty sure the two iPad Airs will be powered by an Apple M2 processor while the two new iPad Pros will go to the next level with state-of-the-art M3 performance.
Certain cosmetic distinctions could also be in the cards, with the iPad Air line likely to retain Touch ID fingerprint recognition technology, for instance, while iPad Pros have firmly moved to a more modern Face ID authentication stage.
