I think it’s fair to say October was a monumental month for Apple. Not only did it finally launch the iPhone Duo, its first-ever foldable iPhone, but it also held two major events where it announced a slew of new products, including its new HomeView smart home hub, a new Apple TV 4K, its redesigned OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro, and, finally, a little love for the iPad in the form of a new iPad mini.
The iPad mini was long overdue for an upgrade, with its last refresh dating back to 2024, when Apple updated it with its A17 Pro chip. This time around, the company delivered a much bigger update, giving the mini a larger 8.5-inch OLED display, a more powerful A20 Pro chipset, and a thinner, lighter design.
Aside from the new iPad mini, which launches on November 6, Apple released only one other iPad this year: the M4 iPad Air in March. However, 2027 is shaping up to be a much bigger year for the iPad, with Apple reportedly developing three new models that could arrive in the first half of the year and fundamentally reshape its lineup.
A new iPad, iPad Air, and iPad Pro could launch in early 2027
Some much-needed updates are on the way
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is working on three new iPad models, all of which could launch in the first half of 2027.
The first is a much-needed update to its entry-level iPad. Apple last refreshed its base iPad in March 2025 with the A16 chip, so it’s definitely due for a faster chipset and more RAM so it can finally support Apple Intelligence. According to MacRumors, evidence found in Apple’s code points to the new iPad featuring the A19 chip, 8GB of RAM, and Apple’s N1 networking chip, which would bring support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. Considering Apple raised the price of its base iPad by $100 earlier this year, from $350 to $450, an upgrade like this is pretty much a necessity to make that $450 price tag worthwhile. Hopefully, Apple doesn’t decide to push the price even higher.
The next iPad getting an upgrade in early 2027 is the iPad Air, which Gurman reports will also get an OLED display, similar to what Apple just did with the iPad mini. Since Apple typically refreshes the iPad Air with its previous-generation M-series chip, it’s likely to get a bump to the M5, with the M6 already out. Personally, I’d love to see Apple finally bring 120Hz ProMotion to the iPad Air, but considering the new OLED iPad mini didn’t get it, I’m not particularly optimistic about that happening.
…with the iPad Air reportedly getting an OLED upgrade next year, that will make most of its lineup OLED, with the only exception being the base iPad.
And finally, there’s the iPad Pro, which is also reportedly getting a refresh in the first half of next year. Apple last updated the iPad Pro in late 2025 with its M5 chip and 12GB of RAM, so the next model will likely move to the M6 chip, which Apple has already brought to the Mac mini, 14-inch MacBook Pro, and iMac. However, the biggest change could actually be on the cooling front. Gurman reports that the new iPad Pro is expected to feature a vapor chamber cooling system, which should help keep its chipset cooler during intensive workloads.
All things considered, while I’m excited to see all these new iPads launch next year, the one I’m most looking forward to is the base iPad. It’s long been in need of a substantial update, and if it gets an A19 chip, that will be a game-changer for performance on Apple’s cheapest iPad, and also finally bring Apple Intelligence support. Additionally, with the iPad Air reportedly getting an OLED upgrade next year, that will make most of its lineup OLED, with the only exception being the base iPad.
It’s unclear exactly when Apple will announce these new iPads beyond sometime in “the first half of next year.” However, given that Apple has unveiled new iPads in March in the past, I wouldn’t be surprised if we see these updates start to arrive around then.
