There were enough rumours earlier in the year about impending new Apple goods to warrant a major spring event, but the firm chose to use a press release to unveil its new M3 MacBook Airs instead, and new iPads haven't surfaced since. In his Power On email for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman states today that the major spring iPad update—which will feature new OLED iPad Pros—is scheduled for May 6th, around 19 months after the previous one.
But why would you want to upgrade? I know of one individual who feels the same way about the 2018 iPad Pro as I do with the 2021 model, yet mine still feels like new. It limits who it's possible for unless it accomplishes more than what has been speculated, which is incredibly little at this stage in the big picture for only a very small group of users who are serious about iPadOS and are willing to spend money on a high-quality, contrasty OLED screen. However, what if it simply accepted that it is fundamentally a touchscreen laptop?
The highlight of the new lineup is expected to be the OLED iPad Pro. It is anticipated that the improved screen will be available for both the 11-inch and 13-inch models, and Apple is reportedly manufacturing more aluminum Magic Keyboards that resemble laptops for them. Gurman mentions that a new Apple Pencil with a pressure-sensitive button on the side might be released in his newsletter for subscribers. Expected are two new iPad Airs with M2 processors: a larger 12.9-inch device that would utilize the same Magic Keyboard accessories already available for the Pro, and a normal 10.9-inch one.
Given that not everyone is concerned with OLED or fast refresh rates, that could overtake the Pro in popularity. After all, a larger screen may be more valuable than cutting-edge display technology. The iPad Pro is a highly portable workstation, which is further supported by an elegant Magic Keyboard. However, as of right now, it runs iPadOS, which seems constrained even with the addition of multitasking tools like Stage Manager by Apple, and only has one USB-C connector.
The 12.9-inch 2022 model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage is already $1,099. For the same price, you can purchase an M3 MacBook Air with 256GB of RAM, a larger screen, an integrated keyboard and trackpad, and an operating system that has been supported and evolved by the software ecosystem for four decades and counting. The upcoming iPad Pro can cost even more. It would take a strong liking for iPadOS to choose the former over the latter.
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