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Apple working hard on one iPad it won’t launch next week

Next week’s Let Loose event will see the unveiling of new iPad Pro and iPad Air models, alongside a new Apple Pencil and an updated Magic Keyboard which will give the iPad Pro a more MacBook-like look and feel.

But there is one key iPad which won’t get an update next week, and that’s the entry-level model. Apple is said to be working hard on an updated version of this …

iPad Pro

The iPad Pro will finally make the transition from LCD to OLED. The 12.9-inch model will be upgraded from mini-LED backlit LCD, while the 11-inch model will be a bigger upgrade from the same conventionally-backlit LDC screen it’s had since 2018.

The new models are also set to get significantly thinner this year.

iPad Air

The iPad Air is set to get a major design upgrade, to the slab-sided look of the Pro models. But the even, uh, bigger news is that we’re expecting to see the introduction of a 12.9-inch iPad Air for the first time.

Base level iPad not expected until late this year

But the one model we’re not expecting to be announced is a new entry-level iPad.

Bloomberg says Apple is working hard on this, the main difficulty being able to get something similar to the current 10th-gen model down to the price of the 9th-gen one.

Apple is working on a cost-reduced version of its 10th-generation iPad. That model is currently $449, but Apple will probably want to get the price closer to the $329 ninth-generation model — a move that would let it phase out that older version. But such a step isn’t expected until the end of the year at the earliest.

That challenge is the reason Apple currently sells both older and newer models: It’s the only way the company can continue to hit the $329 price point responsible for bringing new customers into the iPad world, while also offering a modern design option without the big step up to the $599 iPad Air.

New iPad mini also coming later

Also not on next week’s agenda is an updated iPad mini. A faster version is in the pipeline, but that too is expected to be launched at a later date.

Image: 9to5Mac montage from Apple and Tina Dawson on Unsplash

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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