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.
https://twitter.com/dylandkt/status/1483097411845304322
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
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.
