Faster, 5G, mini-LED iPad Pro rumored for spring 2021

What’s Apple’s iPad Surprise? Photo by Kira auf der Heide on Unsplash

The next big product upgrade in Apple’s arsenal is slowly emerging into the light, and it may be the iPad Pro.

What we’ve seen so far

In 2020, we saw Apple Silicon debut inside Macs with the M1 chip, the first 5G iPhone 12, impressive improvements across the Apple Watch, services, operating systems and more. Apple’s new Macs shone, while iPad Air became the tablet of the season.

All the same, Apple’s pro products (Mac Pro, iMac Pro, and iPad Pro) didn’t get the same kind of attention, but this begins to change in 2021, when the latest report tells us to anticipate an iPad Pro model with mini-LED backlight technology.

This is (we’re told) scheduled for Q1 2021, probably this spring and probably starting with the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

An earlier note from one-man rumor machine Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently told us to expect mini-LED in other Apple products beginning next year, including MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models, which (along with the rest of the Mac range) may feature a new design. mini-LED means Macs and iPads will deliver better HDR images with deeper black and richer colors.

You can draw!

Chips, 5G and a redesign

However, with Apple expected to introduce faster models of M1 chips inside Macs and space to tweak its current iPhone/iPad architecture for iPads, you can also anticipate faster machines based on a new iteration of the chip, possibly boosted with camera improvements and built-in 5G chips (potentially featuring mmWave in those markets that support it)  as Apple begins the transition to home backed mobile radios inside its devices.

https://youtu.be/0XJg74qnvxE

Bottom line?

Faster machines delivering even closer to desktop performance with limited battery life, impressive new displays and likely thinner and lighter than before alongside 5G mobile broadband and a potential new design. And I’ve a feeling we’ll hear some more surprising speculation in the next few weeks.

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