It was a quiet 2023 for iPads – Apple didn't launch a single new tablet – but 2024 seems likely to make up for it. As far as an iPad Pro refresh goes, complete with OLED upgrades, the latest leaks suggest one model might be easier to get hold of than the other.
As per well-known analyst Ross Young (via 9to5Mac), production of the 11-inch OLED iPad Pro "looks to be behind" the 12.9-inch OLED iPad Pro, because of issues in the supply chain. Apparently it's only Samsung making panels for the smaller tablet at the moment, with LG expected to start helping out in the not-too-distant future.
That means we might see longer shipping times for the 11-inch version of this tablet when it launches. The best information we have suggests that'll be at the end of March or the start of April, which doesn't leave too much time for Apple to ramp up production and get these two versions of the 2024 OLED iPad Pro on an equal footing.
However, there's no indication that the unveiling of the 11-inch OLED iPad Pro will be delayed, as Young confirmed in a follow-up post. You'll still be able to put your preorders in at the same time, it's just that stock supplies might be more limited.
What might be coming
We've heard a lot about these new iPad Pro models in recent months – we actually expected them to launch in 2023 – and it's the switch to OLED technology that's the headline upgrade. It would be a first for Apple's iPad series.
There's also been chatter about a much larger screen size, perhaps as big as 16 inches, corner to corner. However, it now looks like we're getting the standard 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes, for this year at least. If Apple is going to super-size one of its tablets, it's probably not going to be the 2024 iPad Pros.
Other rumors doing the rounds are that these slates could adopt MagSafe technology, just like the best iPhones. Another leak suggests the selfie camera will move to the longer edge of the tablet, as on the entry-level iPad launched in 2022 – which would make video calls in landscape mode much easier.
It should only be a few weeks until we find out for sure what Apple has been up to with its flagship tablets, and there are plenty of signs that we'll see the sixth-generation iPad Air launched around the same time.
