A 13-inch iPad Air and LCD iPad Pro? iPhone fragmentation will have nothing on the iPad line،
Apple plans to increase the screen diagonal of its venerable iPad Air to 12.9 inches, the current size of the panel used on the larger iPad Pro. The report, courtesy of Taiwan Grapevine Supply Chain via Digitimesactually reiterates a previous rumor that Apple is preparing a much larger iPad Air than the 10.9-inch it currently offers.
According to display industry sources, Apple’s “any minute now” launch of the new
iPad has been postponed as Apple re-evaluates its display options. The other day it only announced a new Apple Pencil 3 with USB-C port, while Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who previously predicted that the new iPads would launch in October, said that there was no indication now that this would indeed be the case.
A 12.9-inch iPad Air 2024 and an iPad Pro with LCD screen
The launch of the new iPad Air could now take place in the first quarter of next year and coincide with a 2024 iPad Pro crop, supply chain sources claim in the current report. What’s most intriguing about the claims, however, is not just that the slates will sport 12.9-inch versions, but that in fact both the iPad Air and iPad Pro will ship with LCD screens.
Current
iPad Pro models feature an expensive mini-LED display panel that Apple may have deemed excessive for the specs it’s trying to achieve on an iPad Pro. Alternatively, it may be that supplier yield or customer sales are no longer sufficient to justify a mini-LED iPad Pro, so Apple could launch an LCD version at a lower price and see if that will shake up demand.
Ditto for the big 12.9-inch iPad Air waiting in the wings. Although on paper it offers the same screen size as the larger iPad Pro, it may skimp on many other specifications and features of the Pro line, such as dynamic refresh rate, brightness, coverage of color gamut or pen functions.
Additionally, Apple could offer the new iPad Air with an M2 processor, as rumored, but equip the Pro line with M3 power, or reduce the number of speakers and avoid Face ID biometrics to further differentiate the great Air of the Pro.
The foldable iPad Pro too!
In fact, Apple is rumored to be hard at work on an iPad Pro with a foldable screen of around 20 inches once rolled out, which could see the light of day this time next year, so the Pro line could also grow in size. average terms. screen diagonal significantly.
Long story short, Apple could fragment its iPad lineup again, just as it plans to further fragment the
iPhone 16 lineup not only between Pro and non-Pro models, but also distinguish each of the four members of the iPhone family. others by screen size, display, processor and
camera specifications. It remains to be seen how
Apple will price a possible 12.9-inch iPad Air, but there certainly seems to be a market for larger iPads, especially if the price is right.
