We’ve heard before that Apple is planning a major update to the iPad Pro for next year. Now, a new report from Bloomberg sheds new light on what to expect from the new iPad Pro, including slightly larger displays that use OLED and a revamped Magic Keyboard to go along with it.
New iPad Pro slated for 2024
In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that these iPad Pro models will be the “first major update to the product since 2018.” As he explains, the iPad Pro has undergone a slew of smaller changes since the current design language was introduced that year, but the over-arching product has stayed the same.
According to Gurman, the new iPad Pro lineup will consist of two models, one with an 11-inch display and one with a 13-inch display. “That’s similar to the existing lineup, but the larger model is currently 12.9 inches,” he says.
Those displays will also switch to OLED screen technology. Currently, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro uses mini-LED for its display, while the 11-inch model uses the older LED backlighting tech. Gurman says that this means the new iPad Pro models will offer displays that are “crisper and brighter, and reproduce colors more accurately.”
The new iPad Pro models will also feature M3 chips on the inside. The devices, which are currently being tested by Apple, use model identifiers J717, J718, J720, and J721. The M3 chip is first expected to debut later this year in new Mac updates, but this iPad Pro revamp isn’t expected until next year.
New Magic Keyboard also in the works
But what stands out most to me in Gurman’s report is his mention of a new Magic Keyboard. The Magic Keyboard first debuted for the iPad in 2020 and has remained the same since then. It brings a dedicated keyboard and trackpad to the iPad Pro with a cantilever mechanism that allows the iPad itself to “float” above the keyboard.
Gurman reports that the “revamped Magic Keyboard” will make the iPad Pro “look even more like a laptop than the current setup.” One of the changes will reportedly be a larger trackpad. The Magic Keyboard’s current trackpad is comparatively small to the size of the trackpads Apple uses in the MacBook.
This ties back to Gurman’s claim that the revamped 12.9-inch iPad Pro will feature a slightly larger display. This could be accomplished in two different ways. Apple could reduce the size of the bezels surrounding the display and retain – or even shrink – the overall size of the device. It could also increase the footprint of the device, which could help give it more room to accommodate a larger trackpad on the Magic Keyboard.
As far as a release date is concerned, Bloomberg says the new iPad Pro models won’t debut until “spring or early summer” next year and that no updates to the devices are planned between now and then.
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