New iPad Pro 2018: All rumors about the specs, the price and the announcement of September 12

As we count the minutes before the big Apple event on September 12, new and old rumors continue to emerge.

Today, Macrumors presents us with a new research note from Apple's Ming-Chi Kuo analyst with predictions of the so-called iPad Pro that could debut later this week at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California – as well as new details on the three new iPhones, Apple Watch, and Macbook Air rumor of being in the imminent pipeline of the company. Note that Kuo has a very good record with this kind of thing, but that all these predictions are not official. As usual, Apple did not immediately respond to our confirmation request.

Watch: Apple September 12 event: Watch live here Wednesday at 9 pm PT

Regarding the iPad Pro, Kuo suggests that Apple has substituted a USB-C port for its own proprietary Lightning connector on this next generation – and that the tablet will be equipped with an 18-watt power adapter instead of the 12-watt model currently supplied with the iPad Pro. If that's true, it would be a radical change for Apple, which has been using the Lightning connector extensively in its hardware lineup since its introduction in 2012.

Moving to a new power specification could help set the stage for a range of new Pro features. When the company debuted last iPad in March, adding Pencil holder and faster processorhe has narrowed the gap between the entry-level tablet and his Pro siblings. Starting at $ 329 (£ 319 or AU $ 469), the basic iPad now offers most of the high-end features that were previously exclusive to much more expensive services. 10.5 inches Pro and 12.9 inches Pro.

At the moment, these Pro models still retain exclusive rights to the top Retina display and Smart Connector, allowing you to add a plug-in keyboard. But a crowd of experts and sources of supply now suggest that Apple will seek to redefine the iPad Pro range – and will justify its higher price – with a major update here of the end of 2018, and probably as of September 12th. .

Although Apple has not announced anything officially – with the exception of the date of its next big event – there is a lot of buzz around two new Pro models before the end of 2018. Here's what that we have heard so far.

Editor's note, 10 September: This article was published on March 21, 2018 and will continue to be updated with news and rumors about the 2018 iPad lineup.

Rumor: Apple is preparing two new iPad

Bloomberg reports that Apple is preparing two new tablets for 2018 – one that measures "about 11 inches", which could be the approximate equivalent of the current model of 10.5 inchesand a 12.9-inch model. Previously, the publication had reported that Apple was working on at least one new iPad Pro, the 10.5-inch model.

Rumor: New iPads coming this fall

When Apple failed to post new material to its WWDC The developers conference in June, speculation immediately turned to the September-October calendar as the next best opportunity for a start. The company has now announced its next big event for September 12 and it's quite possible that it can release a new iPad Pro with the three new iPhones we expect to see.

There are precedents: iPad Mini 4, for example, started in September 2015 alongside this year's iPhones. Or it could happen a few weeks later – the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 were both introduced in a standalone Mac / iPad event in October 2014. (Of course, November is also a possibility, but Apple has never made its iPad debut in December.)

Rumor: Take design cues from the iPhone X

Mac Otakara and 9to5Mac report that the future iPad Pro will benefit from a major redesign and integrate several new features appeared last year on the iPhone X. An icon for using the battery of an iPad appearing in the iOS version 12 Apple's beta suggests that future models will be a little different – without home button, thin, rounded corners and larger display. According to 9to5Mac.com, the rounded corners of the iPhone X can also find their place on the next iPad Pro.

Rumor: Face ID 2.0 arrives

Note that there is no notch on these icons, however. This suggests that either the next iPad Pro will not have the Face identifier facial recognition system – or that Apple has found how to implement it without a screen.

A growing pile of (unofficial) evidence supports the latter. Bloomberg reports that Face ID will actually find its way into the future iPad – and that it will also be able to unlock the device even in landscape mode, something that the iPhone X can not do today. So even though rumor has it that the new iPad Pro is thinner, it can still be wide enough to accommodate the TrueDepth camera array that feeds the face ID.

Rumor: Faster Charge

Kuo's latest research note on switching to an 18-watt USB-C power adapter reinforces previous DigiTimes reports. The Pro models of the current generation currently support the 18-watt specification, which can reduce load time by 50%, but Apple ships them today with a 10-12 watt adapter.

Do not expect an iPhone-style wireless charging. Nobody seriously expects the metal back panel of the iPad to disappear and more or less prevents the inductive load.

Rumor: 3.5mm headphone jack

Mac Otakara reports that the next iPad Pro – at least the 10.5-inch model – would do without the traditional headphone jack in favor of Apple's Lightning connector.

Likely: performance bumps

The new entry-level iPad is powered by the A10 processor of the 2016 era, making it just half a meter behind the iPad Pros, which runs the A10X. But since the 2017 iPhones work with the A11, and the alleged 2018 iPhones will have an A12, it makes sense that the new iPad Pro have at least one A11 or A11X. Bloomberg suggested in November that the next iPads would have faster processors and GPUs, which have become a key part of almost every upgrade cycle.

Rumor: probably no OLED screen

According to Bloomberg, an iPhone X feature that should not appear on an iPad in 2018 is an OLED screen. Not because Apple would not want to use them. That's because providers simply do not yet have the bandwidth needed to produce them at the size and cost, with the sheer amount required to tackle Apple's massive market. (This is the same reason why laptops with OLED displays are still rare.)

Rumor: Go out, iPad Mini

Speaking of the iPhone: With the September iPhone line rumors to include larger versions of the iPhone X – maybe a 6.5 inch model – it is felt that the iPad mini line is not long for this world. Bloomberg reports that the Mini will not be refreshed this year – and we must ask if it will ever come.

Aside from a minor upgrade in storage capacity in June 2017, the current Mini 4, with its 7.9-inch display, has not been updated since its introduction in 2015. But it is more expensive than the 9.7-inch iPad. version. Given that the new 9.7-incher offers a lot more – that's a bigger screen, a pencil stand and better performance – at a lower price, it's hard to imagine that there's still a lot of demand for the Mini.

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