This year’s new cheap iPad model could be much larger than its predecessors
Below the iPad Pro and iPad Air lines sits the ‘basic’ iPad, a cheap and cheerful entry-level device that recently has been getting yearly iterations with small tweaks. But it seems that this year one of those ‘small’ tweaks could actually be another increase in size.
According to an investor note written by Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst with a great track record for Apple leaks, and published by Macrumors, the new 2020 iPad will have a 10.8-inch screen. That’s quite a step up from the iPad 10.2 in 2019, which was itself a jump from the iPad 9.7 in 2018.
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The new iPad 10.8 wasn’t the only product Kuo mentioned though, as he also claimed that there’s a new iPad mini coming in the first half of 2021, which will supposedly have an 8.5 to 9-inch screen.
Again, that’s much bigger than the iPad mini (2019), which has a 7.9-inch display. In fact if it’s 9 inches then it’s a more dramatic size increase than the standard iPad is said to be getting.
Upsizing
If this note is correct, Apple is in the process of bolstering its iPad range with devices that are larger than before.
It’s possible this is indicative of a larger trend and we’ll see this size increase in the iPad Air and iPad Pro ranges too, although the latter is already so big that a size increase is arguably unlikely (the iPad Pro 12.9 would be bigger than some Apple laptops if it got a larger screen).
Kuo didn’t actually mention any new iPad Pro models though, and it’s possible he would have done if any were coming this year. That’s worth noting as elsewhere there have been rumors that there is a new iPad Pro coming later in 2020.
Either way, we’ll find out if Kuo is correct later in 2020 – the iPad 10.2 was released towards the end of 2019, and if the iPad 10.8 is real it will likely be out towards the end of this year.