We’ve seen a bunch of new iPad releases over the course of 2024, but there’s one upgrade that has been noticeably absent. Rumors claimed that an iPad 11 could be on the way, but so far there’s been no sign of the entry-level machine. Now, a new rumor claims that the successor to 2022’s iPad 10 could arrive in the early months of the new year.
According to a report from 9to5Mac, citing an anonymous user on X, Apple may be launching the iPad 11 around the same time as iPadOS 18.3. Apparently, this will allow Apple to release the tablet with iPadOS 18.3 pre-installed. However, don’t expect the software to offer many substantial upgrades.
While the beta version of iPadOS 18.3 has just been released to developers, the final version isn’t due until sometime next year. Considering iPadOS 18.2 and 18.1 have come with some notable upgrades, including several Apple Intelligence features, that doesn’t seem to be the case with 18.3. In fact, the most substantial upgrade seems to be HomeKit support for robot vacuums.
That might change in future versions of the beta, but we won’t be holding our breath for that. That means the launch of the iPad 11 could add a little extra fanfare to a software launch that would otherwise go mostly unnoticed. As for a release period, it’s likely iPadOS 18.3 will follow previous versions and arrive around late January. Though we won’t know for sure until Apple actually releases it, since it typically likes to keep these things quiet.
We have heard a few things about the upcoming iPad 11, including rumors that detail at least one surprising change. It could be one of the first devices to come with Apple’s new in-house wireless modem, offering Wi-Fi and 5G connectivity — just like the iPhone SE 4 is rumored to be doing.
Sadly, there may not be much else to get excited about. Rumor has it that this tablet will be an iterative upgrade, and might come running the same A14 Bionic chipset as the iPad 10. However, according to 9to5Mac’s source, this A14 model may have just been a prototype to test the new modem. Apparently, the final model could come with the same A17 Pro chipset as the iPad Mini 7 so that it can run Apple Intelligence.
That seems just a little bit unbelievable to me. While I can appreciate Apple wanting to push Apple Intelligence on as many users as possible, I find it hard to believe that it would be putting new and expensive hardware into the entry-level iPad. Especially when you remember that Apple Intelligence requires at least 8GB of RAM, and the current iPad 10 only has 4GB. There’s only so much you can squeeze into a $349 tablet and still expect to make money.
But maybe Apple will surprise me, and prove that assumption wrong. After all, the iPhone SE 4 is also expected to support Apple Intelligence, and that should cost under $500. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens when January rolls around.
