IF there is an A13X it’s gonna be the same as the A12X
7nm, and 8 Cores. It may have more cache, or slightly faster clocked but it’s not gonna be 40-50% faster.
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iPad Pro Do we suspect an A13X iPad Pro refresh in Fall? Or is Apple done with iPads for 2019? [Merged]
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IF there is an A13X it’s gonna be the same as the A12X
7nm, and 8 Cores. It may have more cache, or slightly faster clocked but it’s not gonna be 40-50% faster.
I'm ready to upgrade, and I want a Pro. But I can't upgrade until I see an overhaul of the structural integrity. I'm hoping for an update along with the iPad OS release, but I accept that I am most likely going to have to wait much longer. Sure hope my Air 2 can handle iPad OS.
Sounds like a 10.2” model will come out to replace the 9.7”, but as far as pro goes, based on supply chain and analysts, nothing for the remainder of the year
Makes sense...what can Apple really do this year? There’s nothing imminent and it might make more sense to Market other products and sell the pros early next year
If you look at their upper tier iPad strategy, the lifecycle has lengthened. It’s not quite a year any more, the 10.5” was released summer 2017 but replaced late fall/early winter 2018, closer to 18 months as opposed to 12.
The rumours suggest early/spring 2020 is target date for next pro models which would fit nicely with that 18 month cycle
The chips are so powerful now and Apple dominates the tablet space, that it makes little sense to require annual upgrades. They are just competing with themselves at this point
Makes sense...what can Apple really do this year? There’s nothing imminent and it might make more sense to Market other products and sell the pros early next year
If you look at their upper tier iPad strategy, the lifecycle has lengthened. It’s not quite a year any more, the 10.5” was released summer 2017 but replaced late fall/early winter 2018, closer to 18 months as opposed to 12.
The rumours suggest early/spring 2020 is target date for next pro models which would fit nicely with that 18 month cycle
The chips are so powerful now and Apple dominates the tablet space, that it makes little sense to require annual upgrades. They are just competing with themselves at this point
It’s possible they will skip this year for the fact that the A12X is a beast that even rivals last years MacBook Pro. If anything now iPads should come standard with 6 or 8gb of ram so that some of these pro apps can really go nuts .
As far as your “iPad is a relatively low selling product” that’s simply not true. They sell more iPads than Macs. And the pro brought the iPad into a positive growth for the company last year.
Perhaps it might make little sense to the consumer to upgrade every year. You could say the exact same thing about iPhones. I'm not saying it IS worth it for Apple to update every year-- just saying we don't know that it isn't.
I like your enthusiasm but it’s a little misplaced. Roadmap for 5 nm is a recent development and ONLY 2 manufacturers have the capability to bring them to market and this will be in 2020. So my point stands, the 7nm IS the “crème de la crème” of chip fabrication. Talk to me in 2020 if you want to dispute this, but not now when there is NO 5 nm in production. And Apple will most likely release an updated iPad Pro in early to mid 2020 because even the 2017 iPad Pro s are incredibly powerful and hasn’t even been pushed anywhere near its limits by anything in the App Store. Lastly when fabrication gets that tight the failure rate increases substantially because, uh, physics; quantum tunneling, ingot purity issues etc. Moore’s law was supposed to end at the 5 nm limit but there is. Roadmap to the 3 nm process but the issues that will plague this process will be one for the books because of, uh, physics...lol.
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Agreed.
I'm curious what you expect to see in the 2020 iPad and when. Still Q1? Or Q4 with a bevy of improved tech?
But that is what has been shifting the tablet market space, are those consumer choices. We would also know by now if they were planning new Pros, and so far the analysts are suggesting not till early next year based on their production line knowledge. Further, Apple has also hinted or outright told us their plans for iPads are a bit different since 2014 during their shareholder meetings. Apple has admitted that iPad customers update their devices less frequently than iPhone customers and that has played a role in what products are appropriate to upgrade (i.e. iPad Air 2 to 3 wait, or Mini 4 to 5 wait, or even iPad 4th gen to 5th gen wait). These changes do not happen overnight, which is why over the past 4 years they've shaped their product line up differently vs their phones. The upgrades are not always on a certain, predictable 12 month cycle.
And it makes sense why, beyond the consumer side of the coin, as well - The tablet space itself is a bit different from the smartphone space. Apple is competing on a different scale there (a smaller scale, but also one they essentially hold a monopoly on), whereas phones are a much larger pie, more global (especially more prevalent in developing nations), and most significantly are also tied to carrier contracts (that may or may not be subsidized but certainly offer incentives to renew those commitments). There are multiple industries that independently make billions from phones, and are thus very invested in getting consumers to continue the upgrade treadmill on a regular, predicitbale basis.
The same is not true for computers or tablets outside a small minority of consumers who do tend to upgrade those products on a more regular basis. The tablet space is more like the traditional laptop/computer space, where there is less incentive to upgrade those products. The percentage of tablet users who upgrade every 1-2 years is much smaller than the percentage of smartphone users who do the same. Many people still use iPads from 2014 or 2015 but have replaced their phones 2-3 times in that same time period. And this is why Apple seems to have stretched their 12ish month iPad lifecycle to a more 18 months life cycle or more, whereas smartphones and computers are still getting more regular and frequent upgrades. They are reusing more production parts and thus decreasing R&D costs, Production line costs, product order costs etc...meanwhile making it both cheaper to the consumer and more profitable for themselves at the same time.
TLDR; We do know with certainty, or we can reasonably infer, based on: future product line leaks, their quarter earnings, their shareholder meetings and quartyerly reports especially over the last 4 years, and how they've shifted their production strategies with their iPads over the last several years
(Now watch them release the A13X iPad Pro in October
) hahaYeah. Where they currently are, as far as I see it, is that they treat iPad releases like iPhone releases; at least in how showy they are and how many new features seem to be required to warrant a refresh of any sort. But certainly not so much on the same timeline or scale, as you mentioned. This may be true of iOS based products in general.(Now watch them release the A13X iPad Pro in October
Macs, on the other hand, can have a major refresh every 3-4 years (or more sometimes...) but get internal bumps much more frequently. I could see iPads being treated a bit more like Macs in this way— but you’re right. Currently that’s now how they do it. Wishful thinking
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To be fair, Kuo is predicting Q4'19 or Q1'20 for a new iPad Pro.
Back in 2014, the iPad was only a media consumption device. Apple has taken drastic steps to shorten the replacement cycle with the introduction of iPad Pro. This has allowed Apple to encourage more frequent upgrades.
Yet, MacBook gets refreshed at least once every 12 months. How many consumers are replacing their MacBook annually?
The reason is, Apple isn't targeting just existing MacBook owners. They're not just preaching to the choir. Apple is looking to convert PC users. Apple has the same goal for iPad Pro. Apple isn't looking to just retain current iPad users. They are looking to convert users of Lenovo Yoga, Dell Latitude, and Microsoft Surface. And that requires 12 month product cycles in order to match the PC industry.
Ordinarily I'd say 18 month cycle seems the norm, but rumour mill seems insistent there's significant iPad releases coming in the next few months, and it would seem Pros are among them. With iPad OS coming, maybe Apple want to really double down on pushing iPad Pro as the low end computing solution that people might previously have turned to the 12" MacBook for?
You still think so, or you want to wager a bet on this one?
Because all signs are clearly pointing to Fall 2019 iPad Pro refresh.
A13 scores may have leaked:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2019-iphone12-1-geekbench-4-results-2-66-ghz-soc.2196112/
If this is legit, don't expect A13X to be too exciting in terms of CPU speed. But I don't really care since I'm more interested in the RAM and storage. That said, A13X may break that psychological 20000 barrier for Geekbench 4 multi-core.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/2019-iphone12-1-geekbench-4-results-2-66-ghz-soc.2196112/
If this is legit, don't expect A13X to be too exciting in terms of CPU speed. But I don't really care since I'm more interested in the RAM and storage. That said, A13X may break that psychological 20000 barrier for Geekbench 4 multi-core.
I don't think the iPhone is lacklustre, I mean, it's got innovative competitors. And that only improves the iPhone for us. But the iPad is truly unparalleled. Android Tablets seem to just be under £200 'for the kids' before they're old enough to look after an iPad. There are few nice Samsung models, but none of them push the bar forward, nor stand up to iPad Pro.
https://twitter.com/never_released/status/1168934759877292034
According to him, there is no A13X.
How will the A12X refresh be marketed? Perhaps A12X Pro?
"Alright, so about the iPads after lots of thinking (and talking...) about it: There is an Apple A12X refresh called Tinos (t8028/T0), with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency ones. It might be the part for this year's iPads."
According to him, there is no A13X.
How will the A12X refresh be marketed? Perhaps A12X Pro?
How reliable is this guy? He seems to have VERY specific information, which agrees with other very specific rumours, too. I wonder if he works for a foundry or something.
Either way, I just want 6 GB RAM and 128 GB at entry level.
He digs through internal builds of iOS like Rambo and Troughton-Smith and tries to draw conclusions. I would give him a 70% rating based on historical accuracy.
Interesting indeed. Some people asked if there'd be an A13X next summer (like the A10X in June 2017?) -- but he mentions an A14X codename. Will be interesting to see what the marketing spin this year is if most products get a minor bump / refresh. Kinda lines up with how the more interesting iPhone rumors have been for 2020 already.
A12X Pro would be a good name, if that ended up being true. But how would it be refreshed? A12X is already 4+4. Higher clock speed? New add-on co-processor?
Also, there is the matter of the triple-lens camera that's rumoured. That seems excessive for an iPad Pro in 2019, but nonetheless that rumour has gained a lot of traction. A13 seems like it would have been built with that in mind. A12X Pro too?
My guess would be A12X Pro is the only Apple product this year on N7+ (EUV). A13 might be using the standard N7 process. N7+ gives a small power headroom, which Apple might convert to GHz.
There's been an assumption that EUV will be applied to A13, but perhaps this may not be the case. (Fool/Barron's)
It may be N7+ is expensive/risky and Apple didn't see the need for it immediately. We saw a similar story with A10X (10nm) when A10 was on 16nm.
Interesting. If it turns out that A13 is 7nm and not 7nm+, then that could explain the rumours of larger batteries in the 2019 OLED iPhone models.
Putting A12X Pro on 7nm+ would make a lot of sense, as a test bed for A14 & A14X. A12X is already a known entity, so A12X Pro would make for a smoother transition to 7nm+, although that still doesn't explain how they'd manage the new coprocessors / camera tech, etc. Or maybe all the camera rumours for the iPad Pro are just false.
BTW, if there really is an A12X Pro and no A13X, that argues even more strongerly for a 2019 release. That guy Longhorn mentions A14X, so that could be released in Q4 2020, or else Q1 2021.
Yes, I agree the existence of an A12X Pro would point more strongly to a 2019 release. A pessimistic theory might be A12X Pro is just (unfortunately) an A12X with more L2 cache or something, in order to meet the new product launch cycle for iPad Pro. Hopefully Anandtech or TechInsights will give us a deeper dive.
I can't imagine what they could add hardware wise to a new iPad Pro that would be a compelling upgrade over the current iPad Pros. I have never taken a single photo with my iPad Pro nor have I ever said this thing is slow.