The tablet market has seen a decline since the Covid pandemic. Users are simply not willing to buy new tablets or upgrade their functional old ones. One of the reasons why tablets are becoming a dying breed is due to the larger screens in smartphones these days. It has rendered tablets an unnecessary purchase.
Slumping sales in the tablet segment have affected companies like Apple and Lenovo. Now, Mark Gurman has reported in his weekly newsletter Power On that Apple is planning a major iPad Pro revamp to revive the sales of its tablet segment.
Revamped iPad Pro
Apple launched iPad Pro’s current design in 2018 and since then the company has not rolled out any major changes to it. Similarly, the iPad mini has not been refreshed for two years now. The last most exciting upgrade in iPads happened when Apple announced the 10th generation iPad in 2022.
While the current iPad Pro model has undergone incremental changes like chip upgrades, camera and display technology, and sensors, it is due for an overhaul. As reported by Gurman, the next iPad Pro models are codenamed J717, J718, J720, and J721. Upcoming iPad Pro models will arrive with the new M3 chip and OLED displays, making them Apple’s first iPads with OLED display.
For those who are unaware, Apple has been using OLED displays on its iPhones since 2017. In comparison to LCD, OLED displays are known for delivering more accurate and crisp colors.
Apple is also planning to bump up the size of its largest iPad by a small margin. Gurman believes that next-generation iPad Pro models will be available in two sizes – 11-inch and 13-inch. Currently, the larger model has a 12.9-inch display.
Another major addition to the revamped iPad Pro will be a new Magic Keyboard. It will bring a larger trackpad and will bring the complete setup closer to laptops.
When will the revamped iPad Pro release?
Talking about the release of new iPads, Gurman says that he is not expecting Apple to launch the new iPad Pro in the fall event which is due next month. Moreover, he says the revamped iPad Pro will not arrive until spring or early summer next year.
Apple will roll out minor upgrades in its existing iPad lineup until the next-generation iPad is available. With it, Apple will try to revive the sales of iPads, which has now become an Apple product generating the least revenue among Apple’s major product lineups.
In the second quarter of 2023, iPad sales declined by 17% year-on-year. While blamed the fall in sales on the launch of iPad Air last year, there’s a major problem with the overall segment and now, Apple has decided to address it with the revamped iPad Pro.