The next entry-level iPad from Apple – which will be the 11th generation of this particular device – hasn't appeared in 2023, but we just found out more about when the tablet might be showing up in 2024.
According to a report from Nikkei Asia (via MacRumors), which goes into detail about the production processes of Apple's manufacturing partners in Vietnam, we can expect a launch for the 11th-gen iPad in the second half of next year.
Sources speaking to Nikkei Asia say that engineering verification, part of the quality control process, is scheduled for the middle of February 2024. The job of shifting new product resources over to Vietnam is apparently underway.
The report doesn't go into any detail about the specs and features we can expect from the 2024 iPad, or how much it might cost. However, we're not expecting any massive changes from the model that you can currently pick up today.
Timing is everything
For reference, the 10th-gen iPad was launched via a press release in October 2022. Before that, the 9th-gen iPad got its unveiling at an Apple event in September 2021 – it was announced alongside the iPhone 13 series.
Other iPads sometimes get launched alongside the entry-level model, and sometimes they don't. The 5th-gen iPad Air, for example, was unveiled in March 2022, at the same time as the iPhone SE 3 and the Mac Studio.
All of that means it's difficult to be sure about which month the 10th-gen iPad is going to show up in – although September or October seem like sensible bets. It's possible it might get announced at the same event as the iPhone 16.
The current, 10th-gen iPad has a 10.9-inch, 2360 x 1640 pixel IPS LCD screen, and is powered by an Apple A14 Bionic chipset paired with 4GB of RAM. At launch, the tablet was priced at $449 / £499 / AU$749 and up.
