Surely there’s no doubt any more: the next iPad Pro is about to be announced. And that it looks like it’s going to be the biggest upgrade the tablet has yet seen. Now a leaker answers one question and leaves another hanging.
1. The release date
Kang, a reliable tipster, is reported on Apple Track to have said in a highly cryptic tweet that the iPad Pro is coming and that it will be here by the middle of this month.
Personally, my belief has been that it will be announced on Tuesday, April 14 or Wednesday, April 15, so I think Kang’s prediction is sound, though I’d also say there’s just a chance it could be the week after, as mentioned here.
Not long, then.
2. Will it be 5G?
This is the tantalizing question. Kang’s clear about one thing: the tablet will be released as wi-fi only first, as mentioned in my AppleUnboxed newsletter (you can sign up here).
While it’s not unprecedented for Apple to release the wi-fi version before the cellular model of its iPads, it’s certainly very unusual.
And it leaves the question hanging, will the tablet have 5G connectivity? Given that it’s nigh-on certain that it will feature a chip akin to the A14 Bionic in the iPhone 12 series, it seems overwhelmingly likely that Apple will have put 5G in the next iPad Pro. But, you never know. There may be design constraints which prevent this—and, remember, the iPad Pro design looks like being almost identical to the current model whereas the iPhone 12 had a whole new design, partly to accommodate the better connectivity option.
It would have been great if Kang had been able to confirm a 5G iPad Pro, but instead, we’ll have to wait for Apple’s announcement.
One more thing: a cleaning cloth
Kang does mention another thing, and it seems to imply there’s going to be a cleaning cloth with the next iPad Pro. If that seems a curious addition, it’s worth knowing that if you bought the recently update iMac 27in with the nanotexture finish display, a pricey optional extra, there was a special cleaning cloth supplied then, too.
So, perhaps this fits with the most widely-leaked iPad Pro rumor: that the 12.9in version will have a new screen technology, miniLED, to deliver a bright, high-contrast, colorful display. So, maybe that needs a special way to clean it…
We’ll find out soon enough.
