With the in-house M1 chip, Apple has turned its iPad Pro into a real workhorse that can even compete with high-end laptops. Now the company is doing it again.
Apple introduced new MacBooks with the M2 chip back in summer 2022. This is the successor to the M1, which Apple developed entirely itself. Although the chip is primarily intended for laptops and desktop computers, the M2 should now also come to the iPad Pro.
iPad Pro with M2 and MagSafe
According to Bloomberg industry analyst Mark Gurman, Apple could already today introduce two new iPad Pro models. As usual, there is an 11-inch and a 12.9-inch variant with the code names J617 and J620.
With the M2, the new iPad Pro is said to offer up to 20 percent more performance than its predecessor with the M1. This is significantly less than last year, when the iPad Pro with M1 was able to record a performance leap of more than 50 percent. Still, it packs more power than any other tablet on the market—and most laptops, too.
In addition to the M2 chip, the iPad Pro is to have a second major innovation: MagSafe. Introduced in 2020 with the iPhone 12, MagSafe not only enables wireless charging with a magnetic holder. A whole range of accessories is now available for the feature, including power banks, car and hand mounts, gimbals and wallets. With MagSafe, the iPad Pro could access the magnetic accessories.
No design change expected
Externally, no major changes are to be expected with the iPad Pro with M2. As usual, the tablet comes with flat edges and an even, black frame around the display. Apple is continuing to use the same design as the 2018 iPad Pro for a simple reason. Expensive accessories such as the Magic Keyboard are specially tailored to this design and would be useless if the design were changed. Due to its flat housing and the relatively thin display edges, the iPad Pro with M2 still looks very modern in 2022.
Is there a new entry-level iPad?
According to Gurman, Apple is also working on a new entry-level iPad. While all other iPad models (Pro, Air and mini) now come with a USB-C port and in the iPad Pro design, the cheapest iPad still has a Lightning connector and looks practically unchanged in five years. If Gurman has his way, Apple could finally catch up with the other models with the iPad 2022. That means: angular design and USB-C. In order to keep the price lower, the tablet comes with a chip that is several generations old, as usual.
iPadOS 16.1 comes along with new iPad Pro
The iPad Pro with M2 ships with iPadOS 16.1 from the factory. The new version of the tablet operating system is scheduled to be released on October 24th together with the start of sales of the iPad Pro. Apple has been testing iPadOS as a beta version for some time. New features include Stage Manager for complex multitasking and finally a pre-installed weather app.
Unlike previous iPad presentations, the iPad Pro with M2 has to do without its own Apple event. Instead, the company announces the new tablet on its newsroom-side on. Gurman assumes that the innovations do not justify their own event and that Apple will concentrate marketing resources on its VR headset next year.
Nothing is known about the price of the iPad Pro so far. Last year, Apple raised the price for both variants due to the switch to M1. However, another increase cannot be ruled out, especially in view of the significantly higher prices for the iPhone 14 outside the USA.
source
Mark Gurman at Bloomberg: New iPad Pro incoming (Newsletter of October 15, 2022)