Deeply questionable rumor claims 14.1-inch iPad Pro arriving in 2024
A serial leaker has shared ludicrous rumors about Apple's 2024 lineup of iPad Pro models, but the claims include highly doubtful specs, such as a 14.1-inch model with a 3,000-nit screen.
iPad Pro
Short of any surprise announcements, Apple has effectively concluded its hardware releases for 2023, with the rumor mill turning towards 2024's introductions. However, sometimes those rumors seem far-fetched, or at best, a wild and hopeful piece of speculation.
In a Tuesday tweet on X, frequent leaker @MajinBuOfficial offers information that they were "told" about the iPad Pro lineup for 2024.
The list of specifications starts off with a "new design with thinned bezels," in 11-inch, 12.9-inch, and 14.1-inch sizes.
The 14-inch iPad Pro is an outlier, and there have been claims a 14-inch model could've launched in 2023, which helps make it somewhat plausible. However, the rest of the rumor mill has kept very quiet about larger sizes for the most part, making it hard to believe it's actually on the way.
With the exception of the largest offering, these measurements would be at best an educated guess, since they match up to Apple's existing range. The next item, the use of M3 with a 12-core GPU and 8GB of memory, isn't much better, since Apple has put M-series chips into the iPad Pro for two generations already, so a third generation isn't much of a stretch.
This is what I was told about the new iPad Pro 2024 lineup.
New design with thinned bezels, 11, 12.9 and 14.1
The first two OLED, the 14.1 mini LED to keep costs down
M3 with 8GB RAM, 12 core GPU
Display up to 3000 nits
New Apple Pencil 3 with interchangeable magnetic tips (for pic.twitter.com/PtOV7y93IW-- Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial)
The leaker then goes on to say the models will sport OLED and have a brightness of up to 3,000 nits. While other leaks and rumors do propose an OLED model will be on the way, the brightness claim may be a bit excessive.
The current M2-based iPad Pro range, using mini-LED backlighting, manages a peak brightness of 1,600 nits for HDR content. Meanwhile the OLED-based iPhone 15 Pro can get to 2,000 of peak brightness when pushed outdoors, making 3,000 seem decidedly excessive.
MajinBu then goes on to discuss accessories, including a new Apple Pencil 3 with "interchangeable magnetic tips," which patent listings have offered in the past. Majin Bu has also made claims about an interchangeable Apple Pencil 3 in September, so this could be a continuation of that fairly impractical concept.
A new aluminum Magic Keyboard is also offered as on the way, complete with two built-in USB-C ports. However, this seems implausible unless Apple changes how the keyboard connects to the iPad itself, due to those two USB-C ports.
There is a belief that MagSafe will be included instead of the Smart connector, but that also introduces questions such as how the Magic Keyboard would connect to the iPad Pro, and where MagSafe would be used instead.
There are also lines stating there is no mention of the "material used" in the iPad Pro's production, and that it will have a "software-only Dynamic Island." The software Dynamic Island is extremely hard to believe, as the Dynamic Island's purpose is to effectively hide the camera hole with a UI change, something that wouldn't matter for the iPad Pro and its unblemished-with-cameras display.
It is doubtful that many elements of the post are true, considering MajinBu's very poor track record when it comes to leaks and rumors. In the post itself, Bu also couches how true the post is, by stating "I'm not sure of the source so I can't take this information too seriously but I think it's okay to report it anyway."
An early comment from fellow leaker Mark Gurman admonishes Bu, declaring "I disagree with the idea of reporting false info, with all due respect." Bu responded that information should be "considered false" until Apple's launch events prove otherwise, but that they feel they "can trust the people who report the information."
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Comments
* in-app scripting support without app store review would do it.
iPad at 10.9" with an A Series Processor
iPad Air 10.9" with an M1 Processor
iPad Air 12.9" with an M1
iPad Pro 11" with M3
iPad Pro 12.9 with M3
iPad mini 8.3" (8.5" with thinner bezels) with an M1. (Basically, a Air Mini)
That gives people enough of a difference between models and two larger size models to pick from. The idea of a 14.1" iPad is just dumb.
not the first time the rumor has been posited.
Then, the 11" and 13" iPad Pros have OLED while the 14" has miniLED? Sounds crazy, especially if the OLEDs are the tandem stack OLEDs. The only was that makes sense is the OLEDs have limited brightness and use a lot of power, necessitating the need for miniLED in the 14".
The 13" and 14" tablets have to weigh 1.5 lb, maybe 1.7 lb at the most. They are under a lot of pressure to keep the weight down to less than 1.5 lb. So, those displays have to be as efficient as possible.
I grew up using 11x8.5 inch paper for basically everything. That is 13.9" diagonal. So, a 14" size would be perfectly great to me! Issue remains is that the current iPad aspect ratio is too wide at 4:3. That is 1.33:1. 11x8.5 inch paper has an aspect ratio is 1.29:1, a little more square.
If I was on the product marketing team, I would really push for 2 iPad Pro models at 11.5" and 14.4" models with 5:4 aspect ratios. It's that specific due to having 12 and 15 full size keys on the virtual keyboard. This also would provide separation to the rumored iPad Air lineup at 11" and 12.9".
I don't think Apple should adopt the old way of doing this but they have shown with playgrounds there is a way to have code writing on the iPad that is more than caned shortcuts but not open season on the OS. In App Scripting, by definition, has a limited language set and is interfacing with code that is known. Seems odd given that VisionPro as a platform is going to be limited by the restrictions that Apple isn't trying to find an answer to.