There’s been a lot of speculation about when the 2024 iPad refresh is going to happen. Rumors have gone from claiming they’d arrive alongside the MacBook Air 2024, onto later March or sometime in April. Now, to throw another wrench into the works, is a claim we’ll have to wait until May.
There are two bits of news that suggest May might be the month of new iPads. The first is a report from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, who previously suggested a possible late April launch for the new iPad Pro 2024 and iPad Air 2024. Now he believes early May is the more likely launch window.
91mobiles also spotted that two new iPads have just passed through the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). While we don’t know much about the devices beyond the model numbers, A28326 and A2837, these numbers do relate to iPads and suggest similarity between the two. It’s possible that this is the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros that have been rumored.
Passing through local regulators is an essential process for devices to go on sale in a particular region. Typically this only happens when the devices in question are ready to launch, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that launch is imminent. But it does mean launch day is inching closer, and we can probably expect to see these iPads hit other regulators around the world in the coming weeks — including the FCC.
The real question is, why have these iPads been delayed so much? Originally we expected them to arrive alongside the new MacBooks, including the MacBook Air M3, but nothing ever came of it. Well, Gurman claims the blame lies with production issues, specifically manufacturing the iPads’ new OLED displays and preparing the software.
Gurman claims that we’ll have four new iPad, each powered by Apple’s M3 chip. The new iPad Pros are expected to come with 11 and 12.9-inch displays, and will be the first iPads to offer an OLED display — an upgrade that is long overdue. We’re also expecting to see an upgraded Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil 3.
We’re just going to have to wait and to see what Apple has in store for us. And in the meantime you can check out all the latest news and rumors in our iPad Pro 2024 and iPad Air 2024 hubs.
