iPad Pro - about to be updated, it seems.
The next iPad Pro looks like being the biggest-ever update, although for all the rumors, one key question is still hanging in the air. It’s very nearly with us, it seems, and now a new leak has photographs to show what it’ll look like. Just as intriguingly, the iPad mini features in the images, too.
The pictures, which come from Sonny Dickson, give us some important new clues and confirmations. The images are of dummy units, so there’s no screen to see here. The pictures show what’s claimed to be the iPad Pro in two sizes, presumably the 11in and 12.9in models we’re expecting and the iPad mini, which is where things get interesting.
These, allegedly, are the iPad Pro in two sizes and the iPad mini.
See, there have been plenty of enticing rumors in the last few months that the iPad mini was about to get a bigger screen, up from 7.9 inches to 8.4 inches while retaining a shape and size similar to now, thanks to slimmer bezels. In other words, the cool, flat-edged design of the iPad Pro and new iPad Air would not be replicated on the new mini which would instead have the actually-still-quite-cool curved back found on the mini now and the regular iPad.
It was even said that the next iPad mini would continue to have the Touch ID home button at the bottom edge.
Well, all may not be lost. Although the leaked images show an iPad mini that is drastically similar to the current model, remember these are chassis dummies only, not the final things.
And I’ve just compared the mini in the picture to my own and I’d say the Touch ID button on the alleged model is way lower on the front that on my tablet. So, maybe there will be a bigger display. The camera up top doesn’t look much different to me, however.
Well, we’ll have to wait and see but the very fact that these presumed tablets are all together at the very least seems to confirm that Apple is poised to launch three new iPads in the near future.
Claimed to be the iPad Pro in two sizes and iPad mini (in one).
On to the iPad Pro models. We think we know that a whole new screen tech, miniLED is coming to the 12.9in iPad Pro, but that the 11in will stick with LCD.
Recent rumors have also hinted that the overall design will be near-identical to current models and that’s borne out here, apart from two things:
1. The camera unit looks thinner on the 12.9in version
That’s entirely consistent with the rumor that the 12.9in iPad Pro was going to be very slightly thicker than now. If that’s the case, then Apple could have made the most of this extra thickness to sink the camera unit slightly so there’s less protuberance.
2. There’s no Smart Connector
I’m rarely certain of much, but I’m sure of this: this is a mistake. Apple has gone to such lengths to make the magnificent Magic Keyboard fit perfectly to the Smart Connector on the iPad Pro, that it’s unlikely to ditch it now. What’s more, it’s even more unlikely there would be inconsistent design between two otherwise very similar tablets.
There have also been rumors of Apple switching the connectors on the Pro tablets to Thunderbolt instead of USB-C but as these would look the same on dummies like these, it’s impossible to know. So, when can we expect these iPad models to appear?
Well, regular readers will know that I have said I think iPad reveal day will be either next Tuesday, April 13, Wednesday, April 14, Tuesday April 20 or Wednesday, April 21.
I’m sticking to that, save to add that I think we’re too close to April 13 for that to be right, and April 20 or 21 now seem favorite.
