Skip to main content

Apple’s 2022 iPad will keep old design with 5G and A14 chip

A new entry-level iPad is coming later this year, and might possibly be unveiled alongside the iPhone 14 series. According to Dylan (@dylandkt), the 10th-gen iPad is slated for an official introduction towards the end of 2022. So, what’s changing this time around? Not much, actually.

Potential buyers are in line for the customary generation-over-generation chip upgrade. In this case, the silicon upgrade is still lagging by a whole generation. The 2022 iPad refresh will reportedly come equipped with an A14 Bionic chip. The 6th-gen iPad Mini that came out last year offers the faster A15 Bionic processor, the same system on a chip that also serves as the brains inside the iPhone 13 series phones.

Why go with an older chip when you’ve got a new one? The answer is simple: Keeping the price low. The A14 Bionic is not a laggard by any means and continues to fly on devices like the iPhone 12. However, by the time Apple’s 10th-gen iPad comes out rocking the A14 Bionic, the new and improved A16 Bionic (tentative name) will already be out swinging its silicon muscles inside the iPhone 14 series.

The iPad 10th Generation is coming out towards the end of this year with 5G, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 6, A14 processor, 10.2 inch display, and the lightening connector. This will be the last model before a redesign is to take place in 2023.

— Dylan (@dylandkt) January 17, 2022

As for the rest of the upgrades, they are minor. 5G will finally be coming to Apple’s entry-level tablet, while Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6 will handle the wireless connectivity part. The display size remains unchanged at 10.2-inch, but it remains unknown whether Apple will add more pixels to it compared to the ninth-gen iPad. And before you get your hopes high, do NOT expect any mini-LED or 120Hz ProMotion upgrade for this one.

Shattering dreams of a fresh design

The entry level iPad from 2020.

And now comes the worst part: An ancient, overworked design. The 2022 iPad will look like the 2021 iPad, which in turn looks like its predecessor. The cycle of design resemblance (read: mimicking) goes all the way back to the 2nd-gen iPad Air that arrived in 2014. It was the first Apple tablet to sport a Touch ID fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button.

The vanilla iPad soon borrowed those looks, and loyally carried it all the way into 2021. And if the latest leak is anything to go by, that design loyalty will carry over into 2022 as well. However, Dylan mentions that a design makeover will finally happen next year. Let’s hope you count patience as one of your virtues if a fresh-looking, entry-level iPad has been on your holiday shopping wishlist lately.

Editors' Recommendations

I tried replacing my $4,000 camera with the Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. and iPhone 14 Pro.

The smartphone-versus-DSLR camera debate divides opinions rather sharply, and for good reason. Each has its own set of benefits and drawbacks. However, unless you’re doing photography for professional reasons, the phone in your hands is an extremely powerful imaging tool that can run circles around a DSLR or mirrorless camera.

I’ve been exploring the foothills of the Himalayas for the past few weeks and decided to take along Samsung and Apple’s best smartphones, instead of carrying a professional DSLR camera with me (one that, in total, costs around $4,000). My travel-logging companions have been the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and the iPhone 14 Pro. I’ve been blown away by what these smartphone cameras can accomplish, and the dramatic upper hand they hold over your average DSLR camera in a healthy bunch of scenarios.
Night mode is the magic mode

Read more
The 5 biggest announcements we expect from Google I/O 2023
The Google "G" logo surrounded by renders of the Pixel 7a, Pixel Fold, Pixel Tablet, and Android 14 logo.

Google I/O 2023 is right around the corner. Can you believe it? Google's annual developer conference acts as a showcase for the biggest and most interesting things the company is working on — including new Google Search tools, Android updates, and even upcoming hardware products.

Each year, Google I/O comes with more announcements than you can easily keep track of, and I/O 2023, which is scheduled for May 10, likely won't be any different. But what news from this year's conference are we most looking forward to? Here are a few of the biggest and most exciting things we expect to see at Google I/O 2023.
Android 14

Read more
How the iPhone became the most boring phone you can buy in 2023
iPhone 14 Pro Max in the middle with Galaxy S23 Ultra on the left and Honor Magic 5 Pro on the right.

It says a lot about a phone when the most-talked thing about its next iteration is its new volume buttons. That’s what the Apple iPhone is in 2023. It doesn’t fold, it doesn’t have a periscope zoom lens, it doesn’t fast charge, the design has been the same for years, it’s uncomfortable to hold, and its cameras are no longer the best — something proved most recently in our Galaxy S23 Ultra and iPhone 14 Pro camera test.

In the past few years, iPhones haven’t seen any kind of big new innovation. The Dynamic Island had the potential to be the innovation we'd been waiting for, but that hasn't come to fruition. When you add all that together, it makes the iPhone the most boring phone you can buy in 2023. Here’s why.
The iPhone has a folding problem

Read more