With Apple’s official iPad event now less than a week out, the rumor mill around what to expect is shifting into high gear. Separating the possible truth from attention-seeking noise in these situations is never easy. Still, based on the mountain of possible “leaks” that have circulated to date, it now seems increasingly likely that the 7th generation of Apple’s premium tablet has received a significant overhaul in the form of the soon-to-be-revealed 2024 iPad Pro, including a few changes that would represent new firsts for the iPad line as well as even potentially Apple hardware overall.
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Below is a rundown of what we’ve read about the upcoming 2024 iPad Pro lineup, ranked in our humble opinion by the likelihood of it coming to pass during Apple’s official announcement event on May 7th.
VERY LIKELY: THE NEW IPAD PRO WILL BE THE FIRST IPAD EVER TO FEATURE AN OLED DISPLAY
The longest and most consistent rumor surrounding the 2024 iPad Pro involves the lineup’s screen. Sources ranging from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman to Display Supply Chain analyst Ross Young to Korean-language outlet The Elec have all published stories indicating signs of Apple ramping up its supply chain and manufacturing capabilities in anticipation of offering new iPad Pros equipped with OLED displays.
Yesterday, Jul Clover of MacRumors spotted further information from Ross Young stating that the display could even be an LTPO display, which, in the simplest of terms, is a more advanced version of OLED display technology that enables more significant power savings and the ability to operate at variable refresh rates. If it sounds vaguely familiar to you, it may be because Apple has already included LTPO displays in the iPhone Pro line since the launch of the iPhone 13, as well as in the Apple Watch starting with the series 5.
From a usage POV, such a display on the new 2024 iPad Pro should be expected to deliver vibrant, accurate colors, deep blacks, speedy refresh times, and improved peak brightness and HDR performance, all while at least not noticeably impacting the battery life of the 2024 iPad Pro. The shift to an OLED display, especially an LTPO display, could potentially even increase battery life.
LIKELY: THE NEW IPAD PRO WILL FEATURE A THINNER DESIGN / FORM FACTOR
According to dimensions provided by 9to5Mac’s sources in late February, the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models will be noticeably thinner than the current models, with the bigger size potentially being almost a millimeter and a half thinner.
If the stated 5.1mm thickness of the upcoming 2024 11-inch iPad Pro and 5.0mm thickness of the 2024 12.9-inch iPad Pro are accurate, both new iPad Pro models would rank as the two thinnest portable devices Apple has ever made. For perspective sake, the 7th generation of the iPod Nano was 5.4mm thick. The current generation iPhone 15 measures 7.8 mm thick.
Reports from Ross Young at Display Supply Chain have also stated that both models will be thinner, with potentially slimmer bezels. However, they do not indicate the exact measurements to expect.
Both sources cite the expected OLED display as the key new space-saving component that has allowed Apple to reduce the iPad Pro’s thickness further.
LIKELY: THE NEW IPAD PROS WILL BE ANNOUNCED ALONGSIDE A REVAMPED APPLE MAGIC KEYBOARD
Given that the physical dimensions of the 2024 iPad Pro are likely to change, it’s safe to assume that Apple will introduce a new version of the device’s companion Magic Keyboard, at least if you trust recent history.
In 2021, Apple created confusion when it revealed that the freshly announced 12.9-inch iPad Pro would not be compatible with older versions of the Magic Keyboard, even though the accessories looked virtually identical across both generations. However, the newer 12.9 was technically 0.5mm thicker than the outgoing model, which meant that the older version of the Magic Keyboard wouldn’t close fully. That said, real-world testers found that the difference in sizes didn’t ultimately prevent older versions of the Magic Keyboard from working with the new iPad.
Based on how much more dramatic the size changes may be with the 2024 iPad Pro, we don’t expect current Magic Keyboard owners to luck out again.
In his Powered On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has also stated as far back as September of last year that the 2024 Magic Keyboard will “make the iPad Pro look even more like a laptop” and will “add a larger trackpad.” He also stated the keyboard could feature an aluminum top case – i.e., the areas surrounding the keys.
Anecdotally, a new Magic Keyboard release also makes sense to us, given how many deals we’ve seen lately for the current generation Magic Keyboard, which can signal that retailers are clearing stock in anticipation of new models.
POTENTIALLY: THE NEW IPAD PRO’S FRONT-FACING CAMERA WILL MOVE TO THE DEVICE’S LONGER SIDE
Apple also could be ready to solve one of the last major hardware gripes users have had with the iPad Pro line to date. 9to5Mac has reported seeing code from internal iOS 17.4 beta files indicating that the Face ID camera on the new 2024 iPad Pros will be optimized for landscape orientation.
Beyond this insider information, such a change would also follow nicely with the new design precedent established by the 10th generation iPad, which was the first iPad to position its front-facing camera on the long edge of the device. However, it’s worth calling out that the 10th generation iPad camera is a simpler piece of hardware, given that it did not feature FaceID capabilities.
POSSIBLY: THE NEW IPAD PRO WILL BE THE FIRST APPLE DEVICE TO BE POWERED BY APPLE’S M4 CHIP
Undoubtedly, the new 2024 iPad Pro will feature a new iteration of Apple’s M line of CPUs. The current 6th generation units feature the M2 chip, initially launched with the redesigned MacBook Air and updated 13-inch MacBook Pro in June 2022. And until recently, it’s been assumed that the forthcoming 2024 iPad Pros would jump to the M3 chip, Apple’s most recent baseline iteration of its powerful CPU.
However, a recent report from Bloomberg’s Mike Gurman suggests the 2024 iPad Pro series may be the first Apple device to feature the M4 chip. Gurman provided additional context to this potential move by adding that he believes Apple will pair the introduction of the new chip with a solid push to position the new iPad Pros as “AI-Powered” devices.
On May 2nd, Apple CEO Tim Cook added potential fuel to this fire with some of his comments on Apple’s Q2 2024 earnings call. “We continue to feel very bullish about our opportunity in generative AI. We are making significant investments and we’re looking forward to sharing some very exciting things with our customers soon,” said Cook. He also added, “We believe in the transformative power and promise of AI and we believe we have advantages that will differentiate us in this new era, including Apple’s unique combination of seamless hardware, software and services integration, groundbreaking Apple silicon with our industry leading neural engines, and our unwavering focus on privacy, which underpins everything we create.” While nothing in his comment calls out the iPad explicitly as the company’s first-foray into this new AI frontier, his words do seem to align with Gurman’s insights about Apple wanting to emphasize its own AI capabilities in the near future.
The daily use case implications of this AI move and positioning are unclear for now. Still, there’s no doubt that the M3 or presumed next-generation M4 chip would provide the 2024 iPad Pro with noticeable performance gains over the previous generation.
If the new 2024 iPad Pros do indeed receive the M4 chip, at least for a while, they could potentially post the highest performance benchmarks of any Apple product, at least for certain kinds of computing tasks. While this kind of result might not translate into any significant real-world value for users, it would be an appealing marketing statement to build a new sense of momentum around a product category from Apple that has faltered significantly in sales lately.
