Entry-level iPad with Apple Intelligence still a long wait
Rumor has it that Apple's standard tablet will soon get an A18. But the CFO has now made other suggestions.
Entry-level iPad – here the older 10th generation.
(Image: Apple)
A look at Apple's tablet lineup reveals an important discrepancy: The current entry-level model, the iPad 11, also known as iPad (A16), is the only iPadOS device that is still not ready for Apple Intelligence. Now, one might say Apple's AI service is unpopular anyway. However, without the feature, buying a new tablet is actually not future-proof. Accordingly, the rumor mill had assumed that Apple was planning an update quite quickly. But there is no sign of it so far. Last week, the manufacturer made some hints about how long users will still have to wait.
Chief Financial Officer Leaks Timeline
At the analyst call for the announcement of the latest quarterly figures, CFO Kevan Parekh said that the March-to-June quarter would be “difficult to compare [with the previous year]” in terms of iPad revenue. Because last year – more precisely, in March 2025 – the iPad with A16 was launched. Conversely, this means that Parekh does not expect new models to be released before June. Therefore, it is to be expected that Apple will not prepare new entry-level iPads before autumn.
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Most recently, well-known market observers such as Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman claimed that a low-cost tablet with an A18 chip (from the iPhone 16) was “ready” and still in the pipeline for this year. Other rumor mongers even claimed that Apple would jump to the A19 (from iPhone 17 and 17e), but that would be extremely unusual, as Apple is usually several generations behind with its standard iPads. What is clear is that both A18 and A19 would be a solution for Apple's Apple intelligence problem; both are officially compatible.
Not Together with the Latest Hardware Wave
It was generally assumed that Apple would introduce the entry-level iPad along with the latest hardware wave, which included the iPad Air M4, MacBook Neo, and the new MacBook Pro models with M5 Max and M5 Pro. However, the device was omitted, just like the long-awaited new Apple TV and HomePod models.
It is still unclear how things will proceed with the iPad Pro. The M5 model was released last October. Accordingly, Apple could also target autumn for the M6 variant. However, sales of the expensive OLED tablet have reportedly been sluggish recently.
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