iPad Pro Do we suspect an A13X iPad Pro refresh in Fall? Or is Apple done with iPads for 2019? [Merged]

[iOSpecialist]

A9X was a 2 Core CPU
A10X was a 4 Core CPU (But lacks HMP heterogeneous multiple processing)
(There was no A11X)
A12X was a 8 Core CPU and a huge advancement in everway.

IMO Apple will skip the A13X and announce next year, a 5G A14X CPU in partnership with Qualcomm for iPhone 5G and iPad Pro 5G

There is No point in designing a new chipset and SoC for a low selling relatively iPad Pro line. The 2019 iPhone will get a A13 but no 5G that’s all.

A11 was a skip year, it had no A11X brother same as A13 it will have no A13X Brother.

Little correction, the A10X is a 6 core CPU

I don’t see the A13X/A14X having more than 8 (or maybe 10 but I doubt it) cores, and I think the focus will be on getting clock speeds up. I expect 6 gigs of RAM across the board or maybe 8 on the highest end option. A stronger chassis would be great too
As for the release I’m thinking early 2020 but ya never know.

 

[fokmik]

No ipad pros for this year just 1-2 normal models

 

[ondert]

I'm planning to sell my 13" mbp and pass to iPad Pro. However, this bending issues look so ridiculous and I'd like to skip this one. Hopefully, Apple will change the aluminum alloy like they did for 6s, but I was expecting a new model for this fall.

 

[EugW]

I'm planning to sell my 13" mbp and pass to iPad Pro. However, this bending issues look so ridiculous and I'd like to skip this one. Hopefully, Apple will change the aluminum alloy like they did for 6s, but I was expecting a new model for this fall.

They changed the aluminum? My expectation is they will keep the type of aluminum but will add a few changes to reinforce the structure internally.

 

[JohnnyGo]

Thanks, I think I will, though I'm less concerned about the processor and more about them strengthening the case due to bending, a spec bump may including a silent update to make the case less bendy

Get a good case (i have one that latches with magnets) and never worry about bending. Unless you really want to bend an iPad.

The iPP 11” is perfect size wise and the display is great.

 

[blkjedi954]

The buyers guide here on Macrumors cites Ming Chi Kuo as expecting a processor (but not body) refresh for 2019 iPad Pro... but also cites him as expecting major refresh in early 2020 with new camera tech and possible new backlight tech.

But Apple also recently refreshes full size iPads at least once a year. They refreshed the base model in March 2018, and totally redesigned the Pro in autumn 2018, after having refreshed the Pro the year before. Then in early 2019 we got a new mid-level mashup, named iPad Air but in a body based loosely on the iPad Pro 2017.

The Pro models now, if treated like MacBook Pro, might be expected to get an internal refresh this fall if Apple doesn’t want to go all of 2019 without an A13X to match the expected A13 coming to iPhone in September.

So what is it?

Is Apple going to bring A13X out at their fairly common (but never guaranteed) October event this year, to match last year’s launch for holiday and to keep Pro fresh each year now? Or do you suspect that’s too sudden and they’ll go for a more early-to-mid 2020 jump for Pro models to make it more substantial?

No way! A12X is a 7-nanometer process which is the creme de La creme right now. Have they developed a tighter process?? No. So we will be enjoying this beast of a tablet for a little while longer than 2019. Intel can’t even get 7-nanometers for their cpu’s, and I know fanboys like to believe Apple is magic (chips made by TSMC) but science has its limits. Until TSMC comes up with the next generation of the fab process we should remain over the moon for what is the best tablet on the planet!!

 

[Wokis]

No way! A12X is a 7-nanometer process which is the creme de La creme right now. Have they developed a tighter process?? No. So we will be enjoying this beast of a tablet for a little while longer than 2019. Intel can’t even get 7-nanometers for their cpu’s, and I know fanboys like to believe Apple is magic (chips made by TSMC) but science has its limits. Until TSMC comes up with the next generation of the fab process we should remain over the moon for what is the best tablet on the planet!!

New cpu microarchitecture doesn’t need to coincide with a process shrink. I would expect more and more refinements without die shrinks in the future. Moore’s law goes away as a concept but performance increasments can still be had through more clever (or more timely fitting) use of an existing transistor budget.

 

[blkjedi954]

New cpu microarchitecture doesn’t need to coincide with a process shrink. I would expect more and more refinements without die shrinks in the future. Moore’s law goes away as a concept but performance increasments can still be had through more clever (or more timely fitting) use of an existing transistor budget.

True, but the shrink is still what the industry sees as potential for the biggest gains. And I hope you don’t mean stacking or even the move away from finfet to soi is going to have extremely low yields which could cause prices to soar or companies to abandon these attempts in the NEAR future. So the iPad Pro will continue to be our darling well into 2020.

 

[Super Xander]

Due to the more refreshes in recent time of Mac, I could think about a new silent refresh of the iPad with A13X and more memory bandwidth for pro users which makes it a better device for multitasking and using USB drives.
It could also be nice to see a iPad with thunderbolt capabilities.

 

[ondert]

They changed the aluminum? My expectation is they will keep the type of aluminum but will add a few changes to reinforce the structure internally.

I meant the same thing what they did on 6s release, they changed from 6000 series to harder 7000 series aluminum.

 

[Greenmeenie]

I dunno. I was under the impression that a newly designed ipad pro with LED or Micro LED wasn’t coming until 2020. But with iPad iOS coming this Fall...perhaps Apple wants to have a big ipad pro reveal as well? Haven’t seen any physical leaks and the event is only a couple months away. So who knows?

 

[Raymond32]

5G use cases shall drain the system resources of iPad Pro series pretty soon.
In terms of evolution, it might take less time to get APPLE balanced the ROI of A12X if Autumn release of IPAD OS goes well.
Or it could be a tough call of making the decision of A14X max production indeed. A13X? ahhh...skip.

 

[hovscorpion12]

The only thing I can see Apple doing is releasing a 15” iPad Pro. The 12.9” is large, however I can see Apple going a bit larger. More Pro then before.

 

[acorntoy]

A9X was a 2 Core CPU
A10X was a 4 Core CPU (But lacks HMP heterogeneous multiple processing)
(There was no A11X)
A12X was a 8 Core CPU and a huge advancement in everway.

IMO Apple will skip the A13X and announce next year, a 5G A14X CPU in partnership with Qualcomm for iPhone 5G and iPad Pro 5G

There is No point in designing a new chipset and SoC for a low selling relatively iPad Pro line. The 2019 iPhone will get a A13 but no 5G that’s all.

A11 was a skip year, it had no A11X brother same as A13 it will have no A13X Brother.

A10X is 6 core,3 high power 3 low power.

 

[TheRealAlex]

A10X is 6 core,3 high power 3 low power.

Correct but it lacked HMP, so it cannot use all 6 Cores simultaneously.

 

[acorntoy]

Correct but it lacked HMP, so it cannot use all 6 Cores simultaneously.

That’s why I didn’t correct that part.

 

[Howard2k]

A longer cycle is fine but even if it was yearly, that doesn’t mean you’re forced to buy every year. Apple updates the MacBook Pros about every year and nobody complains about that.

Pretty sure everyone complains about that. Just don’t all agree what to complain about specifically.

I agree though, I certainly don’t feel compelled to buy every new update, but I like the yearly updates all the same.

 

[rui no onna]

Pretty sure everyone complains about that. Just don’t all agree what to complain about specifically.

I agree though, I certainly don’t feel compelled to buy every new update, but I like the yearly updates all the same.

Agreed. Not everyone's on the same upgrade schedule. If Apple moves to a 2-3 year refresh schedule, then someone who buys on year 3 potentially loses 2 years of useful life on the device compared to someone who buys immediately upon release.

 

[yellolab]

No way! A12X is a 7-nanometer process which is the creme de La creme right now. Have they developed a tighter process?? No. So we will be enjoying this beast of a tablet for a little while longer than 2019. Intel can’t even get 7-nanometers for their cpu’s, and I know fanboys like to believe Apple is magic (chips made by TSMC) but science has its limits. Until TSMC comes up with the next generation of the fab process we should remain over the moon for what is the best tablet on the planet!!

This is correct. TSMC's current yields at 7nm are awful- next node is a long way off, certainly not this year- can they make it? Absolutely? Can they make it and get enough good die off a wafer to make good business sense and be a reliable supply chain for Apple? Nope. Even Intel keeps pushing off their 1274 process(7nm) due to terrible yields as well.

 

[JPack]

No way! A12X is a 7-nanometer process which is the creme de La creme right now. Have they developed a tighter process?? No. So we will be enjoying this beast of a tablet for a little while longer than 2019. Intel can’t even get 7-nanometers for their cpu’s, and I know fanboys like to believe Apple is magic (chips made by TSMC) but science has its limits. Until TSMC comes up with the next generation of the fab process we should remain over the moon for what is the best tablet on the planet!!

Yes, they have. It's called N7+ which uses EUV for critical layers. Huawei and Apple are using it this year.

 

[B.A.T]

They might as well wait until Fall 2021 because the 3rd gen iPads are that good. Be happy if you have one.

 

[yellolab]

Yes, they have. It's called N7+ which uses EUV for critical layers. Huawei and Apple are using it this year.

N7+ uses 7nm- albeit slightly enhanced, but still 7nm. 5nm is next, but not until 2020.

 

[JPack]

N7+ uses 7nm- albeit slightly enhanced, but still 7nm. 5nm is next, but not until 2020.

End result is that N7+ allows for printing of smaller features. TSMC says N7+ allows for 20% higher transistor density. Is that considered a "tighter process"? Hell, yes. The use of EUV is a generational leap.

To answer @blkjedi954's questions:

• Is 7nm "crème de la crème"? - Nope, not even close
• Have they developed a tighter process? - Yes, without question
  
• Should we expect A13X this fall? - Probably

 

[yellolab]

EUV is as much of a technology enabler as a cost saver. Currently multi step litho can achieve the same technical results as EUV, it just requires 4x the fab processes(think chemicals) as EUV. In addition to the pure cost of chemicals such as TMAH, PGMEA, resists and developers, it makes for a very low thruput process. This is what is behind the push for EUV, and is why ASML and TEL lead times are so long these days, in spite of the current industry slowdown.
Spend $120MM on an ASML stepper, your thruput instantly is 4x better in the litho sector of your fab. That’s ROI-able.

And yeah, 7nm is the current “best” thing commercially available. We’re always working on something better, but for now its the creme de la creme.

 

[iPhysicist]

Simply ionizing news ;-)