prospect of a new (regular) iPad and iPad Mini in March 2019?

[subjonas]

It would be great to see the 2018 iPad Pro form-factor put onto the mini. smaller bezels, pencil support, USB-C would be great.

I think there’s a small but decent chance for a 9.7/mini redesign next year in order to support pencil 2, but smaller bezels would need Face ID, which I think would increase the cost too much right now. I think bigger bezels/Touch ID will stay on the 9.7/mini iPads until the cost of Face ID comes down more in the next year or two. And they may just decide to keep the iPads at lightning/pencil 1 until then too. I do think the mini will get pencil support next year, if it’s updated at all.

 

[HarryWild]

Just purchase two Mini 4s so I hoping Apple will stay true to it practice of no update for the Mini for 2019! Maybe in 2022 maybe?

 

[kiranmk2]

I think Apple may well skip a 2019 iPad update. A 2019 iPad would likely feature an A11 chip which would mean that the budget iPad would have a faster chip than the 2017 iPad Pro that Apple have kept around due to the increased price of the 2018 Pro. Instead I imagine Apple will cut the 2018 iPad price to $299 and focus on a new Mini. Whether the new Mini is a Mini Pro or a budget Mini is still up for debate.

 

[flur]

I think Apple may well skip a 2019 iPad update. A 2019 iPad would likely feature an A11 chip which would mean that the budget iPad would have a faster chip than the 2017 iPad Pro that Apple have kept around due to the increased price of the 2018 Pro. Instead I imagine Apple will cut the 2018 iPad price to $299 and focus on a new Mini. Whether the new Mini is a Mini Pro or a budget Mini is still up for debate.

I’m not convinced they’re going to keep the 2017 iPP around after March. I think they might update both the mini and regular iPad to use the pencil 2 and discontinue selling the pencil 1 devices. But even if they do keep the older Pros, I don’t know that it will impact changes to the regular iPad. They’re different price points and markets. They’ve kept updating the iPad even though the current mini has older tech and costs more. I don’t see them stopping because of the older model iPPs.

 

[kiranmk2]

The issue Apple has with the new higher pricing strategy is that they now need to keep the older models around. I fully agree that Apple needs to move all iPads away from the 1st generation pencil and discontinue the 2017 iPad Pros but they are in such a (self-inflicted) bad situation where the lineup of products makes no sense as the older devices are kept around just to hit price points.

Also, the point of the budget iPad is that they can just drop in new (existing) components into the existing shell to keep costs down. If they move to Pencil 2 support, they would need to develop the iPad casing to allow wireless charging (and likely improve the structural strength of the case at the same time) which adds on more to the cost.

 

[Greenmeenie]

I think there’s a small but decent chance for a 9.7/mini redesign next year in order to support pencil 2, but smaller bezels would need Face ID, which I think would increase the cost too much right now. I think bigger bezels/Touch ID will stay on the 9.7/mini iPads until the cost of Face ID comes down more in the next year or two. And they may just decide to keep the iPads at lightning/pencil 1 until then too. I do think the mini will get pencil support next year, if it’s updated at all.

This is possible. The 10th anniversary of the regular iPad isn’t until early 2020...so that’d be a good time to do a radical redesign. But who knows.

Ultimately tho I cannot see Apple continuing to sell the old Apple Pencil when the new design is so much more Apple-like. I think it lessens their brand of excellence. Even for the so called lower end regular iPad it just doesn’t look good. Since they still sell the 10.5” iPad Pro, perhaps they will extend the life of the old pencil one more year until they run out of stock.

Which makes me believe the update to the 9.7 & Mini this March will most likely be a modest one. Although I hope it is a more radical one.
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The issue Apple has with the new higher pricing strategy is that they now need to keep the older models around. I fully agree that Apple needs to move all iPads away from the 1st generation pencil and discontinue the 2017 iPad Pros but they are in such a (self-inflicted) bad situation where the lineup of products makes no sense as the older devices are kept around just to hit price points.

Also, the point of the budget iPad is that they can just drop in new (existing) components into the existing shell to keep costs down. If they move to Pencil 2 support, they would need to develop the iPad casing to allow wireless charging (and likely improve the structural strength of the case at the same time) which adds on more to the cost.

I think there are still things Apple can do to differentiate the iPad pros from the regular iPad even if they update the design to support the new Apple Pencil. Keep in mind, the previous iPad pros looked very similar to the current 9.7” iPad but there were many things that set it apart.

 

[bwApple! fwApple!]

Frankly, I don't think the regular iPad will be updated in March 2019. The difference between the early 2017 and early 2018 iPads was quite substantial. The difference between the early 2018 iPad and a possible early 2019 iPad would likely be too small.
Wasn't there like two and a half years between the iPad Air 2 and the early 2017 iPad? I think the difference between the current iPad and an early 2019 iPad would be too small for Apple to update it.
WWDC 2019 is probably not the right moment for an update either. So at the earliest, it'll be September 2019.
(The iPad Pros obviously will not see an update before late 2019. So it might be a year without any changes to the entire iPad line-up)
Just my guess.
Now, the reason this interests me is actually more in consideration of the future of the iPad Mini. Apple still sells it. Would they just drop it in March 2019 (without saying anything about it)? Would they replace it with a Mini version of the early 2018 iPad? (Considering the rumors by Kuo that the Mini might indeed see an update). Perhaps they drop or refresh it late 2019 when there might be a new regular iPad?

Come to think of it, I'm now guessing there might not even be a March 2019 event. (2013, 2014 and 2017 didn't have one either.)
Things like the new Mac Pro might be more of a WWDC thing, rather than an update to the iPad Mini.

Guess I'll be buying a Mini 4 then... In late 2018, for about a late 2015 price...

Was I wrong, or what?

 

[Hym tix]

Was I wrong, or what?

hmm, technically you were right. The regular iPad is unchanged. The 9.7" "regular iPad" was last updated in 2018 and does not appear to be getting an upgrade for March 2019.

what Apple released today is called an "iPad Air" but is mostly a re-branding of the 2017 iPad Pro 10.5" with a minimal processor upgrade, dropped the 4 speaker arrangement, downgraded the main camera, dropped proMotion support on the display, and... well we aren't sure about ram yet.