Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Kuo: Larger 12.9-inch iPad Air Coming Early 2024 Amid Lineup Refresh

I've had iPads since they first came out. I currently have a 6th gen, 8th gen, & iPad Air 4th gen, and they all work fine. I've held off on the iPad Air 5, kinda waiting for the iPad Air 6. However, I suspect the next generation of the Air will become a "pro" model, & I just don't need that, nor do I want to pay for that. This would push me toward the "budget" iPad, a lovely term for spending $500 on a tablet. This also forces me to admit that I don't really need what an iPad Air has to offer for productivity, I simply use it to consume content.

Or it would keep me spending the money on the biggest iPhone Pro Max, and dropping the use of iPads altogether after my current models die.
 
I don’t understand the Mini. If it were entry level its size would make sense similar to other brands (such as Samsung and Lenovo) whose small tablets are entry level. But Apple wants a lit of money for a small 8in. tablet.

The current Air is essentially a detuned Pro—gives you some Pro features and performance at a lower price. But as tech advances pro features eventually trickle down to the entry level models. It would be simple if Apple had two iPad lines with two sizes, like the iPhone.
 
Warped9 said:
I don’t understand the Mini. If it were entry level its size would make sense similar to other brands (such as Samsung and Lenovo) whose small tablets are entry level. But Apple wants a lit of money for a small 8in. tablet.

The current Air is essentially a detuned Pro—gives you some Pro features and performance at a lower price. But as tech advances pro features eventually trickle down to the entry level models. It would be simple if Apple had two iPad lines with two sizes, like the iPhone.
Click to expand...
The mini is my favorite iPad. I wish it had Face ID but I get why Apple keeps that for the higher end model.
 
  • Love
Reactions: Icaras
I am looking for an in between size of the mini and 10.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: jfox8
I understand why people say it is time to drop the iPad 9th generation, but I don’t get why some posters are demanding the standard iPad 10th generation gets dropped. I don’t understand how having that in the lineup is a negative for the other options. It should be $50 cheaper though (starting at $399)
 
  • Love
Reactions: Icaras
MacRumors said:


Apple will add a new larger 12.9-inch iPad Air to an entirely refreshed iPad lineup coming next year, with two iPad Air models taking priority in Apple's launch roadmap, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

iPad-Air-12.9-Inch-Feature.jpg

In his latest outlook, Kuo predicts that Apple will compensate for this year's lack of movement in its iPad lineup by updating all existing models, starting with a refreshed 10.9-inch and new 12.9-inch iPad Air with new chips scheduled for mass production in the first quarter of 2024.

Kuo says the previously rumored all-new 12.9-inch iPad Air will have an LCD screen that lacks the mini-LED technology of Apple's current iPad Pro models, but will benefit from the same oxide backplane. This will offer better display performance than the current 10.9-inch iPad Air that uses an a-Si backplane.

Next in line for release are the OLED iPad Pro models that have been rumored for some time. Apple will launch a new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro with a redesigned chassis and new M3 chip in the second quarter.

Kuo believes that last on Apple's 2024 production roadmap are a new iPad mini and an 11th-generation iPad, a new version Apple's most affordable tablet. This will see the discontinuation of Apple's 9th-generation iPad currently still offered alongside the 10th-generation model in Apple's lineup.

Kuo believes these changes will see only modest gains in iPad shipments compared to this year, and predicts around 52-54 million units in 2024 compared to 2023. Such an increase remains way off Apple's peak of 63 million iPads shipped in 2022 during the pandemic.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently also suggested Apple will update its entire iPad lineup throughout 2024, but his timeline prediction is slightly different to Kuo and does not mention a new larger iPad Air.

Gurman previously reported that the low-end to mid-range iPads could be updated as early as March 2024, while he expects new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models with the M3 chip and OLED displays to launch in the first half of 2024. The next iPad Air and iPad mini are likely to be equipped with M2 and A16 Bionic chips, respectively.

Article Link: Kuo: Larger 12.9-inch iPad Air Coming Early 2024 Amid Lineup Refresh
Click to expand...
What Apple really needs to do is create a MacPad. Since the Pros already use the same processor as newer Macs, offer a convertible that runs macOS when docked into a keyboard with trackpad and switches to iPadOS when undocked. A lot of people want to have an iPad as a laptop replacement but iPad OS is so limited. Convertible laptops/tablets have been around in the PC world for years and it would be amazing if Apple could do one.
 
This will offer better display performance than the current 10.9-inch iPad Air that uses an a-Si backplane.
Click to expand...
Does anyone know what backplane the iPad Pro 2018 uses?
 
Bokito said:
For me personally I just want an iPad with big fat ugly bezels, so I’m stuck with the 9th gen iPad. Why, you would ask? Comfort, just want to lay my thumbs on the bezels and not hold them against the side or get interrupted because they suddenly hit the screen.
Click to expand...
Great points! I think you might be interested in this thread:
forums.macrumors.com

The bezel-lovers coming out of the closet thread

Bezel-lovers of the world, UNITE! Let's unite under this one thread. It's time for us to come out of the closet and declare our love for bezels. I'll start. I'm ThomasJL, and I'm a bezel-lover. I love how bezels make room for a home button. I love how bezels allow for Touch ID. I love how...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
  • Like
Reactions: ocdeal
Abazigal said:
Sounds like the iPhone, Macbook and now ipad are getting two sizes, each of which comes in normal and pro version. A cheaper iPad with a larger display sounds pretty attractive indeed.
Click to expand...
And the 10th gen iPad is what exactly? Just to fill a price point?
 
Krypton Deer said:
Will Apple release the M3 iPad Air 12.9 with 64GB base storage? Since iCloud is so integrated into the iPadOS, 64GB on the M3 iPad Air is probably analogous to 128GB on other systems and iPad users just happen to be able to use their storage much more efficiently. /s
Click to expand...
They could go down to 32 GB because the M3 is so efficient.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: Tim Apple’s Glasses, Shirasaki, Langar and 1 other person
If this is true for the Air, then I guess that means rumors for the Pro to go up in price are true. It’s already very expensive. Maybe I’ll end up getting an Air.
 
ProfessionalFan said:
Because the hardware inside the tablet is held back by the OS. It’s such a powerful system that is mostly going to waste.
Click to expand...
It seems like the population of professionals who would like iPad Pro to replace their Mac is quite small. Everyone in the tech press wants some nirvana computer that is the perfect laptop and perfect tablet (something that will never exist) whereas the rest of the public is meh. A tablet or Chromebook is good enough for most and everyone else gets a laptop. I mean it’s not like Surface Pro’s or 2 in 1’s are flying off the shelves over in Windows land.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kltmom, Allen_Wentz and Warped9
Those caling for the 10 to be dropped. It will be when the 11 is introduced. And it's a pretty sure thing the 9 will be dropped probably around the same time.

Looks like there'll be a lot of new product releases throughout next year: new iPads, upgraded iPads and remaining Macs transitioned to M3.
 
Just what is needed, more lineup confusion.

Maybe Apple can now find some room for the iPhone Mini to be a permanent model in their lineup as well. Because the “It didn’t sell well enough to justify” argument is none sense. They still sell the iPad Mini which has sold soooo well that till this day, I haven’t seen literally one being used in the wild…
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: GuruZac
Having had an iPad Pro since the original 12.9” and been using one ever since, I could not go back to non-ProMotion display. The miniLED display on my M1 12.9 is a nice-to-have but not necessary. FaceID on the iPad Pro is also really nice and I wouldn’t want to go back to TouchID now. I am hoping Apple does a larger iPad Pro when the next refresh comes. I would love a 14” iPad Pro with a refreshed Magic Keyboard because I simply don’t need macOS anymore, and having a touch input device is better for my usage.
 
  • Like
Reactions: entropys and the future
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back