What’s going on with Apple’s larger iPad models?

Apple has been rumored to be working on iPads with larger screens since mid-2021, but amid reports of the 14-inch model being canceled, what’s going on with the company’s larger tablet plans?

rumors so far

bloomberg‘s Mark Gorman He was the first to spread the rumor of Apple designers and engineers Explore iPads with larger screens This can further “blur the lines” between the tablet and the laptop. In January 2022, this was followed by news that several suppliers, including BOE and LG, were Converting factories To be able to provide Apple with OLED screens About 15 inches in size suitable for the future IPAD Models.

Then the monk known as “Majin Bu” claimed that Apple was working on an ‌iPad‌ with a 14.1 inch screen, M2 chip — a rumor confirmed by ultra-resolution display industry analyst Ross Young, who added that the device will feature a small LED display but no ProMotion for variable refresh rates of up to 120Hz. In July last year, he revised his predictions, saying that Apple had done so Switched to an LCD screen For the device, the likes are used on iPad mini And iPad Air.

in October, the informationWayne Ma mentioned that Apple Development of the 16-inch iPad He hopes to release it in the last quarter of 2023. The upcoming device will have almost the same screen size as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, giving users much more space to work with.

Finally, Young said in December that Apple has She raised her plans For the launch of the 14.1-inch iPad‌. Any larger iPad models‌ were also missing from Mark Gurman‌’s latest model Apple device roadmap for this year, noting that there will be no significant updates‌ for iPad‌ in 2023.

What kind of bigger iPad does Apple envision?

At least one of the larger iPad models‌ that Apple was working on last year was outright rumored to not have ProMotion technology, suggesting that it was Not a iPad Pro Model. The LCD screen without ProMotion would have placed the ‌14.1-inch iPad well below the ‌12.9-inch iPad Pro in terms of specs, indicating that it was closer to the ‌iPad Air‌.

The device could have been imagined as a larger iPad Air‌ option, or even part of a whole new iPad product line‌ with priorities different from anything we’ve seen before. At the very least, it seems plausible that such a device would be geared toward creative professionals like graphic artists and designers who can make good use of the large touchscreen surface.

While larger iPad screen sizes‌ can bring the iPad‌‌ closer to the Mac than ever before, it’s also likely that more software improvements will be needed to properly take advantage of the larger screen. Although launch stage manager in iPadOS 16Some users continued to complain about the ‌iPad‌’s multitasking experience and its inability to take full advantage of its hardware, making replacing a traditional PC more difficult than it could be.

Are we still expecting larger iPad models?

Despite the turbulent state of rumors about larger iPad models‌, Apple appears to be seriously interested in the possibility of even larger tablets being released in the future.

The largest iPads available since 2018 have been the ‌11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro‌. This means that the larger iPads are still smaller than the smallest MacBooks, which are m 1 MacBook Air And M2 MacBook Pro, which features 13.3-inch screens. Since the 12.9-inch iPad Pro‌ is already in a similar range to the 13.3-inch MacBooks and rumored to 13 inches next yearIt seems that it is only a matter of time before Apple introduces larger iPad models‌.

bloomberg Repeatedly discussed Apple Interest in larger iPads And although the 14.1-inch iPad‌ model that was in the works is now believed to have been cancelled, the 16-inch model that was recently reported by the information It may still be under active development.

2023 is expected to be a quiet year for the new ‌iPad‌ devices, with very minor updates to the iPad mini‌, iPad Air‌, and the entry-level iPad‌ expected at best. Rumors suggest that a 16-inch iPad‌ could arrive by the end of the year, but that could slip to 2024 — in which case, the first larger iPad model could join the redesigned ‌iPad Pro‌ models With OLED screens.