It’s been over a year since the last iPad Pro came out, and that’s too long as is typical for Apple. What’s coming?
If there’s a chance you’ve been eyeing Apple’s iPad Pro and you’re I thinking it could be a good model to buy, you might just want to stop in the name of tech before you spend your cash, and think it over.
The rumour mill has been spinning over the past few weeks, and there’s little shock as to the reason why: the iPad Pro is now seriously due for an update.
Announced and released in October 2018, we’re now over a year on from the release of the most recent iPad Pro, the model did away with the fingerprint-supported home button and opted for the FaceID equipped front screen, showing more of the display than before.
Available in both an 11 inch and a 12.9 inch, it also arrived with a new and optional set of extras, an updated “Pencil” stylus and a new keyboard case, and together with an iPadOS update last year, helped to make the iPad Pro more like the tablet middle-ground the MacBook computers weren’t quite sitting in.
Apple’s iPad models typically see an update at least once a year, though, and with no release in 2019 for the iPad Pro range, you’d have to know something new is coming, and likely coming fast. Apple typically runs launches all throughout the year at different times, and while its mid-year Worldwide Developer Conference is a possible time for launches, WWDC is often reserved for software, and not so much on the hardware side of things for its phones or tablets.
But March announcements have been a thing for Apple, and given the lack of a new iPad Pro A year on and up to this point, there’s a general feeling that March 2020 could see the iPad Pro 2020.
So what could be on the cards, and what is the rumour mill suggesting?
We might see the 2020 iPad Pro
The year 2020 is one of those years that kind of gives companies a bit of marketing clout, because it sounds like it’s from the future, while also looking at things in hindsight, so we’d be surprised not to see updates to crucial products this year.
In fact, the first iPad when on sale in March 2010, and that could be ideal for Apple to make a comparison with a March 2020 launch for the iPad Pro 2020.
Current rumours suggest roughly the same body and metal design language for the new iPad Pro, but with updated internals likely to reflect what’s going on in the iPhone 11 Pro Max, albeit slightly improved.
Alongside the iPhone 11 Pro Max features, an updated triple rear camera system is to be expected, making the iPad Pro more like its top-end smartphone. The current 2018 iPad Pro sports one camera, which is more like the iPhone XR, and could be an obvious update.
An interesting rumour we’ve heard points to a backlit Smart Keyboard Cover, which would help immensely when you’re typing in the dark with a dark mode enabled.
March is the expected announcement and release date for the 2020 iPad Pro, though the Coronavirus affecting Chinese manufacturing plants could see Apple delay the release, or even see the product released in short supply.
What else could Apple announce in March?
An Apple announcement for one product seems a little un-Apple, and there are a few other rumours popping up on the cards.
One product due for an update is the HomePod, which was released in February 2018, and hasn’t seen updated hardware since. Given the competition from Sonos and Bose, we’d be surprised to see Apple not update this a couple of years on, even if the Apple HomePod is still a thoroughly excellent bit of sound gear.
There’s a neat rumour suggesting we’ll see a new variation of the iPhone SE, possibly early this year, too.
Built to take on the mid-range price point and provide iPhone 11 components in a smaller iPhone 8-style body, notable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested it will be launched in the first quarter of this year.
And there may even be some Apple headphones on the way, rumoured as the StudioPods.
Given that Apple owns Beats, there’s no reason Apple has to make its own branded headphones, as the Beats headphones are technically considered Apple headphones by many in the industry. However, Kuo has previously suggested that Apple is working on its own headphones, which have yet to see the light of day.
Apple already has its popular AirPods and its improved AirPods Pro, so a pair of full-sized headphones with noise cancellation makes some sense, we’re just not sure when they’ll be announced.
