It's only been two months since Apple unveiled the refreshed M2 iPad Air and brand new M4 iPad Pro. But thanks to a new device identifier leak, we may already know what the Cupertino crew has in store for us in 2025.
According to details spotted by Nicolás Álvarez and shared by @aaronp613 on X, there could be as many as four new iPad models in development, with Wi-Fi and Cellular editions potentially on the way, including:
- iPad15,7 - A16 11th Gen iPad Wi-Fi
- iPad15,8 - A16 11th Gen iPad Celular
- iPad16,1 - A17 iPad mini 7th Gen Wi-Fi
- iPad16,2 - A17 iPad mini 7th Gen Cellular
- iPad17,1 - M5 11-inch Pro Wi-Fi
- iPad17,2 - M5 11-inch Pro Cellular
- iPad17,3 - M5 13-inch Pro Wi-Fi
- iPad17,4 - M5 13-inch Pro Cellular
The leak only detailed the code identifiers, but the team at AppleDB hazarded some best guesses on which models the IDs represent. Although only speculation at this point, these may turn out to be fairly accurate as Apple's code identifiers follow a familiar pattern.
The codes are often a value lower than the chip inside the device, so the iPad (2022) is identified as iPad 13,18 and iPad 13,19 as it comes with the A14 chip. This pattern is also why the same group managed to identify four new iPhones that may be on the way before long.
Devices with Apple 'M' SoCs also use a similar technique, but from a different starting point; the 13-inch iPad Air (M2) is iPad 14,10 and iPad 14,11, while the iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) is known as iPad 16,5 and iPad 16,6, so it's reasonable to assume that iPad 17,3 and 17,4 are a M5-powered tablets.
So, according to the identifiers found so far, it looks like there could be new iPad, iPad mini and iPad Pro models on way. Given that Apple already refreshed some editions of the iPad this year, it seems unlikely we'd see a second round anytime soon, with new models more likely to come some time in 2025.
Of course, while the hardware powering the tablet plays a role, the software is just as important. Apple gave us our first glimpse at iPadOS 18 at WWDC this year, and there look to be crucial performance upgrades on the way for some existing iPad models, including the launch of Apple Intelligence for M-powered tablets.
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