iPad Pro 2021: will 2022 debut another Pro?
This month saw the release of the latest iPad Pro, the fifth-generation model. But there was no iPad Pro this Spring, unlike last year or the year before. That doesn’t mean the next iPad Pro is late: Apple rarely replaces Pro models unless at least 15 months has elapsed. Last year’s update was the exception.
And there’s another reason why I was certain an iPad Pro wasn’t going to debut in the Peek Performance event: there’s just no way Apple would have upstaged the brand new Air with a more powerful Pro.
Now, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, in his latest Power On newsletter, says that the next top-flight iPad will be coming later this year.
Some of the reviews of the iPad Air, mine included, referenced the fact that the new iPad Air, with an M1 processor that was similar, though not identical, to the one in the much pricier iPad Pro, sort of made the 11-inch iPad Pro look less appetizing.
Sure, there are benefits when you go Pro, but maybe the latest update has made the gulf between Air and Pro less wide.
So, according to Gurman, the next iPad Pro is set to put clear blue water between it and the new Air.
That’ll partly be down to replacing the already super-fast M1 processor with the next-gen equivalent, called M2. This chip is likely to have similarities to the M1, but significant speed and efficiency upgrades. That on its own will be enough to set the Pro apart from the Air.
But there’s another expected update which Gurman has mentioned before and repeated now.
That’s the inclusion of MagSafe wireless charging in the iPad Pro. I’m waiting to be convinced about this. I’m just not sure the tablet needs wireless charging, but I’ll admit there are plenty of my colleagues who are hugely looking forward to it.
Gurman says the new iPad Pro will be released in the fall, some time between September and November. My money would be on October, following the release of the iPhone 14 series in September. But it’s also possible it could surface in September.
Either way, plenty of time for more rumors to leak.