Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Apple’s powerful M2 chip may come to the iPad Pro this September

Nadeem Sarwar
By

Apple is reportedly planning to launch an iPad Pro refresh that will bring both wireless charging and the new M2 chip to Apple’s tablet lineup. In the Q&A section of Bloomberg’s Power On newsletter, the ever-reliable Mark Gurman says that an iPad Pro upgrade will break cover sometime in September or October.

Adding more about the upcoming tablet, Gurman mentions that we’ll see 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro updates, both powered by the M2 silicon. The next-gen M-series chip was revealed at Apple’s WWDC event earlier this month and has already found its way inside the redesigned MacBook Air and the 13-inch MacBook Pro refresh.

Related Videos
Apple iPad Pro 2020
Andy Boxall/DigitalTrends

“Upgrades to the camera system” are also expected, but Gurman didn’t go into detail about what that will entail. Apple may add another camera lens, make upgrades to the existing dual-camera hardware, or just add new software capabilities in the imaging department. Regardless of what happens, expect better cameras on this year’s Pro-grade iPads.

Related

MagSafe is going the tablet way

The most notable change, however, will be support for wireless charging. And it’s not just normal Qi charging that we’re expecting. Instead, the MagSafe charging system — which is already serving iPhone users — could very well be on this year’s iPad Pro lineup.

In June of last year, Gurman wrote in a Bloomberg report that Apple’s team was experimenting with wireless charging on the iPad Pro with a version of MagSafe hardware used inside the current-gen iPhones. While wireless charging on an iPad would be convenient, adding that support will also bring a major design change. To facilitate wireless power transfer, Apple is reportedly planning to ditch the metal enclosure in favor of a glass-made rear panel for the 2022 iPad Pro.

iPhone and MagSafe

Of course, a glassy rear panel on an iPad Pro will raise concerns regarding durability, as the heavier profile of Apple’s tablet compared to the iPhones will prove to be a risk with the fragility of glass. Another possibility is that Apple could use a glass cutout for the Apple logo and fit the MagSafe coil underneath, while the remaining portion is metallic.

Faster chip, slimmer bezels, and a glass design

The 2021 report mentions that the iPad Pro refresh will also trim the bezels, a treatment that Apple has given to the iPad Air and mini tablets in the past few years. The Thunderbolt port, however, is going to stay. Another cool possibility for Apple’s upcoming iPad Pro is support for reverse wireless charging. What this means is users will be able to charge their iPhone or AirPods by simply putting it on the back of their iPad Pro.

It looks like Apple’s next hardware reveal event in the fall season will be quite stacked, with new iPads joining the iPhone 14 lineup, and possibly, new Macs with more powerful versions of the M2 silicon, too.

But it appears that Apple has even more ambitious tablet plans. The company is reportedly working on a larger iPad Pro model with a screen size hovering around the 15-inch mark, akin to Samsung’s own Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra. However, it is unclear if the jumbo-sized iPad Pro will make an appearance this year, or the next.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
The 11-inch iPad Pro is a great tablet that Apple needs to kill
The Apple Pencil attached to the iPad Pro (2022).

Apple’s iPad has come a long way since it first launched in 2010. It now spans four different variations: iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. The iPad Pro lineup is the most peculiar because it has always come in two sizes ever since it debuted in 2015. There was always a 12.9-inch size, but the smaller model started with a 9.7-inch display, then a 10.5-inch one, and we now have the 11-inch model that exists today.

For some time, there wasn’t much difference between the two iPad models except for the screen size — if you wanted something more portable, the smaller one was the way to go. You could choose it and not miss out on any features that were only available on the larger, less-portable iPad Pro model. But since Apple added M-series chips to the iPad Pros, the 11-inch version has felt a bit out of place, as Apple only gives the larger 12.9-inch version the much-improved Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED technology.

Read more
Why I hope Apple makes iOS 17 as boring as possible
iPhone 14 Pro with Widgy and Siri Suggested apps widget on a home screen

It’s a new year, which means Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference will commence in just a few months now. At that time, we’re definitely going to see the next round of software updates for iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, and possibly, tvOS. On the iPhone and iPad front, this means we’ll be getting iOS 17 and iPadOS 17.

But according to recent reports, this may be a quieter year for software updates for current devices. That’s because it seems Apple is putting most of its attention on the long-rumored mixed-reality headset, which may finally be announced this year.

Read more
The 5 worst iPads of all time
The iPad (2022) with an Apple Pencil plugged into it using a USB-C cable and adapter.

In 2010, Apple launched the first iPad, and it basically changed the tablet industry forever. Since then, the iPad product lineup has split up into four different models, and there have been a total of 33 iPad releases, making it harder than ever to keep them all straight.

Though Apple has had great success with the iPad, it hasn’t been without some fumbles here and there. We’re going to take a look at some of the worst iPad models that Apple has released so far, and why they made this list.
iPad 3
'The new iPad' that didn’t even last a year

Read more