This guy is wrong 100% of the time.
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.
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
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
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
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Everything this guy says is always wrong.
With this claim, you can now pit money on the fact that there won’t be a 12.9” iPad Air.
The only question left is why does anyone listen to this guy, let alone put his words up as macrumors news.
We need an inverse Ming chi kuo meme
With this claim, you can now pit money on the fact that there won’t be a 12.9” iPad Air.
The only question left is why does anyone listen to this guy, let alone put his words up as macrumors news.
We need an inverse Ming chi kuo meme
I think it gets repeated to counter the other comments that get often repeated about the iPads having "massive" bezels that should be removed. We may not need fat bezels but we don't need bezels as thin as an iPhone either.
Not really true. Thumb rejection works mostly well if you're never careless. I’ve carelessly placed my thumb slightly too much on the screen before triggering the shaking icons on Home Screen for example. It’s rare, but there is an infinite difference between even 0.00001% chance and 0% chance. With bezels, there is a clear safe line so there is no chance for misjudgment. But the bigger issue is there are apps such as Procreate which have tool bars right on the edge of the screen. Thin bezels can cause problems as you can unintentionally touch a button OR intentionally touch a button but it is rejected. Bezels are functional, so getting rid of them has consequences. It may be a worthwhile trade off for some or most, but not all.
I’ve suggested before, a possible compromise could be virtual bezels. All screen, no physical bezels, but one can optionally turn on a border where the screen would be black.
So the iPad Air is basically an iPhone SE:
A previous-generation enclosure but with the latest CPU? Maybe it will have a 2-3 year lifecycle, too?
It’s getting kind of silly: iPads have far more power than you can use.
We’re no longer limited by CPU power: we’re limited by stingy RAM and storage that forces us to upgrade sooner than we would’ve otherwise.
A previous-generation enclosure but with the latest CPU? Maybe it will have a 2-3 year lifecycle, too?
It’s getting kind of silly: iPads have far more power than you can use.
We’re no longer limited by CPU power: we’re limited by stingy RAM and storage that forces us to upgrade sooner than we would’ve otherwise.
The base iPad is used in a lot of point-of-sale touch ordering systems. It seems unlikely Apple would raise the price. On the other hand, maybe an iPad SE (*another model*? Lol) would be perfect for POS because they need very little in terms of storage or RAM.
I am in need of a new ipad mini for work, so I hope I don't have to wait until the end of next year for apple to release the next version, but it sounds like this might be the case. 
It is insane to think that selling 53 _million_ iPads is considered "modest".
There is nothing modest about 53 million units.
Steve Jobs once said, it's very hard to sell 1 million of anything - and 1 million sold would be considered a blockbuster success for pretty much any company out there.
There is nothing modest about 53 million units.
Steve Jobs once said, it's very hard to sell 1 million of anything - and 1 million sold would be considered a blockbuster success for pretty much any company out there.
I am waiting for the 24" iPad Pro Max Ultra, personally.
So basically, you'll have a 2 tier iPad line up.
iPad Air will have an M2 chip, LCD screen, and poor storage options, 64 and 256GB unless they change it. And it'll be 2 sizes
Then iPad Pro in 2 sizes with the latest M chip so M3, and OLED screens, according to rumours, and storage options from 128GB to 1 or 2TB. And quad speakers.
Both in WiFi and Cellular models.
Great simple..
Then you also have the iPad Mini which is its own thing and pretty popular and the base iPad which it's its own thing and larger then the Mini but with less features and options and no idea how popular that is. So you end up with 4 different model lines effectively. With pricing and specs all over the place.
iPad Air will have an M2 chip, LCD screen, and poor storage options, 64 and 256GB unless they change it. And it'll be 2 sizes
Then iPad Pro in 2 sizes with the latest M chip so M3, and OLED screens, according to rumours, and storage options from 128GB to 1 or 2TB. And quad speakers.
Both in WiFi and Cellular models.
Great simple..
Then you also have the iPad Mini which is its own thing and pretty popular and the base iPad which it's its own thing and larger then the Mini but with less features and options and no idea how popular that is. So you end up with 4 different model lines effectively. With pricing and specs all over the place.
Last edited:
Never with any luck and it'll get an OLED instead. Micro LED from what I've seen aren't all they are cracked up to be in some cases, seems to be despite the drawbacks OLED is still superior?
See I say that but also to me the screen on the MacBook Pro looks stunning so...
Micro LED is worse than OLED from my experience with the MBP - the screen uses a lot of power, and is very thick.
First laptop I ever had where the screen gets hot - I've never had this happen.
It makes sense to have a large version that isn't a pro, like with the Air. Why should a large screen be locked to the most expensive pro device only! Though I do not doubt it will be hamstringed just like the Airs are and overpriced, just like the air 15.
I watch too much youtube on the small screen of my phone.
I also love to draw, therefore I really hope I'll be able to afford an iPad Pro in 2024.
An other thing I'd love an iPad for would be note taking, as I consume way too much paper already...
I also love to draw, therefore I really hope I'll be able to afford an iPad Pro in 2024.
An other thing I'd love an iPad for would be note taking, as I consume way too much paper already...
It would be interesting to know what percentage of people buy the iPad Pro for the power of “M”, vs other features such as the quad speakers, mini-LED, Pro-motion etc.
Rename the Pro to Max, and introduce a new Pro with lower SoC version but Pro-motion and quad speakers.
Rename the Pro to Max, and introduce a new Pro with lower SoC version but Pro-motion and quad speakers.
The iPad mini should be updated FIRST! It’s the one that hasn’t been updated the longest. Come on Apple, show some love to the forgotten step child of the iPad family.
I would be curious to know where the Mini sells well because in my area it barely sells at all. From here if it disappeared hardly anyone would notice. Maybe if it were a lower price point, but as is it makes the 9th and 10th iPads look like better deals given the bigger screen sizes.
Mind you both iPad Pros also don’t fly out the door, but they get a lot more attention than the Mini.
Selling the most presently:
1. 9th gen iPad
2. 10th gen iPad
3. iPad Air
4. iPad Pro 11
5. IPad Pro 12.9
6. iPad Mini
Regarding differentiating between models mentioned upthread. I basically put it this way: as you move up the lineup you get bigger and nicer screens, better cameras and more power for snappier response.
- iPad 9. The mainstream iPad most people buy for their everyday needs. Small businesses often go for this. Parents like it for their kids. A lot of older people like it for the familiar home button. Still a decent value fir what it is even after two years on the market.
- iPad 10. You simply want a bigger screen for reading, video, gaming, whatever. You’re also not turned off by the missing home button because your phone doesn’t have a home button anymore either. Older people like the 10 for the bigger screen—easier on the eyes when coming from on older 9.7 or even 10.2 screen.
- iPad Air. This is essentially a 10+ or a detuned 11 Pro. It’s a nicer display than the 20 although you have to put them side-by-side to notice (if you do). You also want the better camera (although none of them are really bad anymore). But you really want the power for snappier response in everything from web browsing to watching videos and playing games.
- iPad Pros. You want the best for the sake of having it. Or your business demands the added power and capabilities and often in tandem with using the Apple Pencil. Also popular with creative arts students. Some older people really like the 12.9 for watching videos and reading (again bigger screen easier on older eyes).
- iPad Mini. You simply like the compact size for portability.
Mind you both iPad Pros also don’t fly out the door, but they get a lot more attention than the Mini.
Selling the most presently:
1. 9th gen iPad
2. 10th gen iPad
3. iPad Air
4. iPad Pro 11
5. IPad Pro 12.9
6. iPad Mini
Regarding differentiating between models mentioned upthread. I basically put it this way: as you move up the lineup you get bigger and nicer screens, better cameras and more power for snappier response.
- iPad 9. The mainstream iPad most people buy for their everyday needs. Small businesses often go for this. Parents like it for their kids. A lot of older people like it for the familiar home button. Still a decent value fir what it is even after two years on the market.
- iPad 10. You simply want a bigger screen for reading, video, gaming, whatever. You’re also not turned off by the missing home button because your phone doesn’t have a home button anymore either. Older people like the 10 for the bigger screen—easier on the eyes when coming from on older 9.7 or even 10.2 screen.
- iPad Air. This is essentially a 10+ or a detuned 11 Pro. It’s a nicer display than the 20 although you have to put them side-by-side to notice (if you do). You also want the better camera (although none of them are really bad anymore). But you really want the power for snappier response in everything from web browsing to watching videos and playing games.
- iPad Pros. You want the best for the sake of having it. Or your business demands the added power and capabilities and often in tandem with using the Apple Pencil. Also popular with creative arts students. Some older people really like the 12.9 for watching videos and reading (again bigger screen easier on older eyes).
- iPad Mini. You simply like the compact size for portability.
Last edited:
Apple has denied an update to the 27” iMac because they needed the display panels for the 27” iPad Pro Max Ultra Plus.
Oh, good. When the large number of Conspicuous Consumption buyers finally go for the next model in a couple of years I can find a nice refurbished version that actually meets my VALUE point for an OS handicapped product.
Who knows, by then Apple may add peer-to-peer networking and file management to iOS and make this usable for things other than media consumption and web browsing for people not cruising the 'Creative' pond.
Who knows, by then Apple may add peer-to-peer networking and file management to iOS and make this usable for things other than media consumption and web browsing for people not cruising the 'Creative' pond.
We're really limited by a lame iPadOS that is still meant mostly to run on a phone and not a device with a keyboard and mouse to do real work.
I hadn't been keeping up with all the new Android tablets, but it looks like there's a lot of large tablets out there now. Wouldn't surprise me if they did this.
Given the average of the last two Mini updates
MacRumors Buyer's Guide: Know When to Buy iPhone, Mac, iPad
This page provides a product summary for each Apple model. The intent is to provide our best recommendations regarding current product cycles, and to provide a summary of currently available rumors for each model. This page is based on rumors and speculation and we provide no guarantee to its...
buyersguide.macrumors.com
about 900 days the current old marker of 790 is relatively not all that close to the end of the lifecycle. Probably why the iPad Air above it is marked in 'red' on the buyers guide while the iPad Mini is still in caution.
Would not be surprising if the iPad Mini was waiting around until there is 'excess supply' of the A17 Pro. The 900 day average is about 2.5 year time. So a A(15 + 2) wouldn't be surprising. So at least another Quarter of wait time. If the iPhone Max'es sell above expectations then incrementally longer. If under expectations perhaps incrementally sooner. Even if it is the A16, an unexpected demand bubble (or not) on the main iPhone would shift things also. A16 would be 'going backwards' since it would be relatively quite 'stale' by the end of the refresh cycle the next time.
It would be the cheaper 'for Apple' option though.
In contrast, the iPad Air is likely picking up the M2 which is probably starting to sag in demand with the performance statistics of the M3 fairly widely know at this point.
Several indications are that the Mini has enough people buying it to keep Apple from chopping it as a product, but small enough pool that it is also not a priority. The other catch-22 is that the slow refresh cycle gets longer support window since the Vintage/Obsolete countdown clock doesn't start until the product is not sold anymore. Embedded/business buys that only update slowly probably don't mind the incrementally longer coverage. As long as Apple sees a distributed , even rate of buying over the extended lifecycle both sides are likely happy with the current status quo.
Another Apple product gets a second model with a larger-sized screen.
Meanwhile, the iMac sits in a corner, staring into the abyss…
Meanwhile, the iMac sits in a corner, staring into the abyss…