Apple’s earnings call revealed that iPad revenue has declined 10 percent year-over-year. The company is taking steps to improve the numbers as it plans to upgrade its entire iPad lineup next year. According to a prominent analyst, Apple plans to release a larger 12.9-inch model of the iPad Air next year to offset the impact of declining shipments. The company also plans to introduce OLED iPad Pro models, but it appears that the new display technology will be exclusively available on the ‘Pro’ models.
Apple plans to launch a larger 12.9-inch iPad Air model next year with the same oxide backplane as the iPad Pro
Apple is expected to announce its new 10.9-inch iPad Air 6 with an M2 chip and potentially additional features next year. However, we are hearing that the company plans to introduce a larger 12.9-inch screen size for the iPad Air. The larger display will be the same size as Apple’s current 12.9-inch iPad Pro models. However, the 12.9-inch iPad Air will miss out on one of the most prominent features of the iPad Pro.
Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo states that Apple will launch a new variant of the iPad Air with a 12.9-inch LCD. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro features a mini-LED display with 120Hz ProMotion technology. To keep the cost at bay, Apple will potentially use its standard 60Hz LCD panels for the bigger variant of the iPad Air. The analyst coins that mass production for the devices will begin in the first quarter of 2024.
While the 12.9-inch iPad Air will feature an LCD without mini-LED technology, it will feature the same oxide backplane as the iPad Pro models. This could allow the larger model to perform better than the 10.9-inch iPad Air with an a-Si backplane. Henceforth, you can expect some improvements in visual output, but the technology will not match Apple’s forthcoming iPad Pro models with an OLED display.
Apple will potentially announce the OLED iPad Pro ahead of the iPad Air with a redesigned chassis and slightly bigger 11-inch and 13-inch displays. Besides this, Kuo claims that the iPad mini refresh and iPad 11 are last on Apple’s list of iPad models to refresh next year. The company will potentially discontinue the iPad 9, which it still offers alongside the iPad 10. This is not the first time we hear details on Apple’s plans to refresh iPad models next year.
Mark Gurman stated that Apple will upgrade its entire iPad lineup next year. It is not clear which models the company will update first. Potentially, the M3 iPad Pro models will be the first to launch in the first half of 2024. The company also plans to upgrade its MacBook Air lineup next.