Apple's Next-Gen Budget iPad: AI-Ready Hardware Expected in Late 2025

Apple's $299 iPad to get AI-ready hardware by next year

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. Something to look forward to: Despite a slow start, Cupertino has been working hard to equip everything with a screen with Apple Intelligence (which is yet to arrive, of course). The iPhone 16 lineup and the iPhone 15 Pro hardware are good to go. All of its M1 Macs or later installed with Sequoia 15.1 are capable. The iPads are straggling behind but should get caught up by next year. Last week, Apple unveiled the new iPad mini with an A17 chip and Apple Intelligence. Its big brothers, the M2 iPad Air, launched in May, and the ever-ready iPad Pro were just waiting for the iOS update enabling the new AI feature thanks to a delay. That leaves only the middle child, the standard iPad, as the only one in the family without Apple's new AI capabilities. So, Apple has recently refreshed the entire iPad family except for the cheaper model, which hasn't gotten any hardware love since 2022. It still runs on the old A14 Bionic, which Apple introduced with the iPhone 12. However, we might not have much longer to wait. Apple has already indicated that it wants all of its products to implement Apple Intelligence by 2026. It's nearly there, lacking only the iPad and the iPhone SE. Display supply chain consultant Ross Young recently revealed that Apple device screens will start shipping to assembly lines by the end of this month. This claim supports an earlier prediction by noted Apple leaker Mark Gurman, who tweeted that these shipments include screens for the iPhone SE, which he claims will launch in Q1 2025 alongside a new M4 MacBook Air. While it is possible that a refreshed iPad could be on the horizon for early 2025, Gurman's most recent speculation pegs an iPad refresh closer to the end of next year, after the SE launch. Also read: Leaked internal report shows Apple Intelligence is two years behind ChatGPT However, take the information with a grain of salt. A lack of official confirmation and little to no details regarding the refreshed device - leaked or otherwise - it's really just a craps shoot. The only solid bet is that the next iPad will have at least an A17 regardless of when it releases. Apple has already said that the A16 in the base level iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 lineup is not powerful enough to run Apple Intelligence. Therefore, if Cupertino equips a refreshed iPad with anything less than the A17, it throws a wrench into its timeline of having AI on every Apple device by 2016. On the same note, it could get an M1 chip, but that might put it above the typical $350 price tag that fans expect from the entry-level model.

New Entry-Level iPad With Apple Intelligence Likely Coming Late 2025

Apple's most affordable iPad model will receive an update with Apple Intelligence capabilities in late 2025, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has suggested. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman said that the iPhone SE is expected to gain Apple Intelligence features in March 2025, with the entry-level iPad following "later in the year." Gurman went on to suggest that nearly every Apple device with a screen will support Apple Intelligence by 2026. The timeline indicates a significant gap since the last refresh of the entry-level iPad, which occurred in October 2022. The delayed update could be attributed to the technical requirements of implementing AI capabilities in a budget-friendly $349 device. The current 10th-generation iPad has an A14 chip that was first used in the iPhone 12 lineup, and it's getting outdated. The logical choice for the next iPad is the A16 that was used in the iPhone 15 models, but if Apple wants to make Apple Intelligence as accessible as possible, an A17 Pro chip or A18 chip would likely be necessary. Notably, Apple last week announced the latest iPad mini with Apple Intelligence support via a standalone press release. The company also lowered the price of the existing iPad 10 and stopped including a charger with the device in Europe. It's highly unlikely that Apple would have changed its iPad lineup in this way if an iPad 11 was imminent. It is unclear if Apple is still planning to host a Mac-focused event in October, but it seems that an iPad 11 will not be announced this month either way.

New affordable iPad tipped for 2025 launch with Apple Intelligence

As 2024 draws to a close it's looking less and less likely we'll get a base iPad refresh - a shame especially after last week's surprise iPad Mini 7 reveal has left the base model as the only iPad to not get an update this year. The latest rumors now suggest it won't arrive until 2025. That means those of you desperate for an update will have to make do with an iPad Mini 7, or upgrade to an iPad Air (2024) or iPad Pro (2024) to get a new Apple tablet in 2024 - or wait a little longer. This is based on reports that Apple iPad display shipments are set to begin this month (via Ross Young in a subscriber-only tweet), which would line up with an early 2025 launch - the same time as when the next MacBook Air is expected. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman backed up these display shipment claims, and - in the latest edition of his Apple newsletter - has said that the iPad "will probably get updated" with Apple Intelligence features sometime next year adding further support to the iPad refresh being on the way. The current iPad model only uses an A14 Bionic chipset, which isn't set to support Apple Intelligence, so a new model would need to be released to change this hardware deficiency. This is far from a confirmation, but if the iPhone SE leaks hold true and it gets Apple Intelligence in March 2025 as expected, the iPad would remain the only main Apple product (except for the Apple Watch) to not have a model which supports the Apple AI. It seems unlikely Apple would want to leave it alone in this bucket for too long, so a 2025 refresh feels inevitable. Unless Apple comes out and explains precisely why a new iPad didn't launch in 2024 we'll never know for sure, but Apple Intelligence is likely one key factor. As we started to highlight above, Apple wants Apple Intelligence to be a major feature of as much of its tech as possible. However, because it needs to rely on as much on-device processing as possible for user privacy reasons the hardware required for the software has to be fairly powerful - limiting it to the most recent A17 and later chipsets. However the iPad usually lags a little further behind with two year old iPhone Pro chips. That'd mean it would boast an A16, which Apple says doesn't have the juice to deliver Apple Intelligence - as it has confirmed it's skipping the base iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 Pro models. If Apple wants to maintain this release gap and launch an iPad with Apple Intelligence then it can't do so before 2025. And we know this does all sound rather silly as Apple is sticking to arbitrary limitations it has kinda imposed on itself, but when you also factor in the iPad is designed to be an entry-level gadget (and older tech costs less, helping to achieve that goal) as well as the fact the iPad Mini 7 just launched with an A17 chipset (eating into Apple's supply) it makes some sense why Apple might want to delay its next iPad launch a little longer. As with all leaks, rumors and speculation, we should take these details with a pinch of salt. However given the tablet's popularity, an iPad launch is a matter of when, not if. We'll be keeping our eyes peeled over the coming months and year to be ready when a launch finally comes our way.