The iPad Pro overhaul might bring all the wrong upgrades

It’s been about a year since Apple launched the M2 iPad Pro, nearly 30 months since the M1 model, and roughly five years since its last major redesign. So we were naturally excited when we heard last month that Apple was planning to launch a “major overhaul” of its high-end tablet in 2024.

We don’t have a ton of details about the new tablet—most notably we’re missing any clear evidence of what it will look like—but what we do know has us wondering whether Apple is headed in the right direction. Here’s what we know so far:

No 14-inch model: There have been rumors for a while that Apple was planning a larger version of the iPad Pro, but according to Mark Gurman, the product is no longer in development despite being “close” to launching earlier this year. Instead, Apple will increase the size of the 12.9-inch iPad by a whopping tenth of an inch to 13 inches.

OLED display: Speaking of the display, Apple will reportedly switch to OLED tech for the displays in the next iPad Pro. The iPhone’s OLED displays are great, but we had a hard time seeing the difference between the 11-inch iPad Pro’s Liquid Retina display and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro’s Liquid Retina XDR display, so we’re not sure if OLED will make much of a difference.

4TB storage option: We don’t know anyone who spent $1,100 to upgrade to 2TB, but Apple is reportedly considering an option for 4TB of storage in the next iPad Pro. Even if it doesn’t cost $1,500, we don’t know why anyone would need that much space in an iPad.

Magic Keyboard: Apple’s Magic Keyboard is one of the best tablet accessories ever made, with a brilliant folding design that “floats” the display over the keyboard. Apple is reportedly working on a new model for 2024 that will “look even more like a laptop than the current setup.” According to Gurman, that means replacing the current material with aluminum to address one of the keyboard’s common complaints. Well, if it weighs more and costs more, people will have something new to complain about.

M3 chip: We know the next iPad Pro will get the M3 chip, but we still don’t know why Apple started using its Mac chips in the iPad. The M1 was already too fast for the iPad. We’re starting to wonder if the new chip will be a disappointment for the Mac, so we can’t imagine it bringing much to the iPad other than speed we don’t need.

Mind you, none of these upgrades are bad, but we just don’t know what they really change about the iPad Pro. The current model is already head and shoulders above the closest competitor, and an OLED display and 4TB of storage won’t do much to convince people to buy one.

Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor