The iPad, otherwise known as the 10th-generation iPad or if you’re feeling adventurous, iPad 10, has been around since October 2022. That means that while it isn’t long overdue a refresh like other parts of Apple’s lineup, it’s getting ready for some love. And, eventually, it’ll surely get it.
The iPad 11 is a tablet that has been rumored here and there for a little while now, and some quarters expected it to have launched in October 2023. That hasn’t happened, but don’t rush out to buy the current iPad just yet — that refresh is coming.
But when will it come, and when it finally does arrive, what will it have to offer the intrepid iPad buyer? We’ll set out to answer those questions right here, right now.
Apple iPad 11: The headlines
- What is it? The next entry-level iPad will sit below the iPad Air and iPad Pro in Apple’s lineup.
- When can we expect it? There were some rumors that the iPad 10 would arrive towards the end of 2023, specifically in October. So far, that hasn’t come to pass.
- Are there any surprises? Not that we’re expecting. I everything goes the way we expect it to, this will be an iterative update.
iPad 11: Release date rumors
It was recently reported by a couple of different sources that Apple would announce the updated tablet as soon as the week beginning October 16, 2023. But that didn’t happen. Instead, Apple announced a new $79 Apple Pencil.
That leaves us in a bit of a quandary because there are no real rumors now for when the new iPad will arrive. Instead, we know more about when it likely won’t — supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo already said that there wouldn’t be any tablet announcements before the end of the year. So far, he’s been proven correct. If nothing changes 2023 will be the first year without any new iPads of any description
More recently, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says Apple’s new iPad are due in March 2024.
the new 11 gen 10.9 inch iPad that Apple will present tomorrow will have the exact same design as the 10 gen model, furthermore the accessories will be perfectly compatible pic.twitter.com/UPd7SWq6gYOctober 16, 2023
That all means that we’ll now just have to wait and see what happens with not only the new iPad but also the refreshed iPad mini and iPad Air. As for the OLED iPad Pro, that isn’t expected until 2024.
iPad 11: Features and specifications
As mentioned, this refreshed iPad isn’t expected to bring anything new to the table in terms of big new features and capabilities. To that end, this will very much be an iterative refresh — if the rumors are true, buyers can expect much of what’s already on offer from the iPad 10 but with an upgraded chip inside.
The current iPad 10 ships with an Apple-designed A15 Bionic chip inside, and we can expect that to be upgraded to something a little more spritely. What that will be, we don’t know, but the A15 Bionic seems like a good bet. The A16 Bionic is being used in the iPhone 15 currently, and it’s unlikely that the entry-level iPad will benefit from the same silicon.
In terms of what you look at, a 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display is expected to make a return. It’s a great display, albeit one that lacks advanced features like 120Hz ProMotion as you might expect. There’s support for the Apple Pencil 1 and Apple Pencil (USB-C) as well, but not the Apple Pencil 2.
iPad Air 6: What we want to see
Whenever there is a new Apple product there’s some hope that a big new feature will blow us all away. But in the case of the iPad, it’s the fundamentals that matter. It’s there that we’d like improvements.
A cheaper starting price
The iPad 10 currently starts at $449 and we’d like to see that fall. The older iPad 9 is still in the lineup at $329, and that may well go away with the arrival of the iPad 11. Rather than move the iPad 10 down the lineup we’d much rather Apple just make the iPad the budget marvel that it should always have been.
Coupled with this, it’s time the iPad 9 was put out to pasture, so let’s hope that it doesn’t hang around for another year. It’s the last iPad with a Home button and huge borders and it looks like a relic from another time.
More storage
This is a common theme throughout Apple’s tablet lineup, and it’s still the situation with the base model iPad.
That base model gets you 64GB of storage which in 2023 is a sorry state of affairs. Even in a tablet that is designed to prop up the rest of Apple’s tablet strategy, 64GB just isn’t enough for the kind of people this iPad is likely to fall into the hands of — kids. Games aren’t getting any smaller, and does Apple really want kids’ first experience of an iPad to be a daily struggle, offloading apps left and right?
Sure, there’s a 256GB model available to those who want it, but why not 128GB in the current lineup? 256GB is overkill and it almost feels punitive that there’s nothing between the two right now. And nobody should spend almost $600 on an entry-level iPad.
Better battery
Bigger batteries are always welcome, although we have to acknowledge that nobody wants a thicker or heavier iPad. The move to a more modern CPU in the A15 may help here, but we’d still like to see Apple squeeze a few more hours out of this thing.
Sure, the iPad still gets you through a day and Apple can claim all-day battery life. But that’s if you baby the thing — and again, kids playing games very much don’t baby their batteries.
iPad Air: Price
Picking up a 64GB iPad today will set you back $449 unless you can find a deal somewhere. Again, we’d like to see that fall or at the very least, see that money get you more storage.
You can of course spend more on your new iPad — upgrading to 256GB of storage costs you $599 and adding cellular to the 64GB model costs the same.
We’ve seen precious few rumors about what the new iPad will cost, but it’s unlikely to go up given the 2022 price hike. We’d like to see it come down, but we’re not sure that’s really all that likely, unfortunately.