Apple skipped updating their cheapest iPad this year (and last year as well), leaving it with the over four year old A14 chipset. They did lower the price earlier this year, from $449 to $349, but we should finally see a real refresh next spring. Here’s what to expect.

Apple Intelligence

The next gen entry-level iPad will likely have support for the Apple Intelligence, although it’s unclear on what chipset it’ll use. It’s likely to be the A18 chip, given the fact that the first generation 3nm process is costly. Apple is likely only using the A17 Pro chip in the new iPad mini because there were readily available binned chips, left over from the iPhone 15 Pro manufacturing process.

That means you’d be able to take advantage of features like notification summaries, Image Playground, Genmoji, the all-new Siri, ChatGPT, and more on the new iPad. If it launches next spring, Apple should have launched all the Apple Intelligence features by then.

Other upgrades

iPad 11 will likely gain support for newer connectivity standards, including Wi-Fi 6E (or Wi-Fi 7), and Bluetooth 5.3. This would be a step up from Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 on the current entry-level iPad, allowing for lower latency and so on.

Apple is also working on a new lower-end Magic Keyboard for iPads, which the iPad 11 could possibly support. This would be a more traditional keyboard design, rather than the folio style that the iPad 10 currently sports.

We’ll also potentially see support for Apple Pencil Pro. There aren’t rumors suggesting this, but Apple could potentially update the magnet placement to allow for Pencil Pro support. When Apple released the iPad 10 in 2022, the Apple Pencil 2 couldn’t work with the landscape front camera.

Although, it could end up being a cost thing, as Apple would also have to add the wireless charging coil. We’ll see.

Release date

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple is indeed planning to release the iPad 11 next spring, alongside the iPhone SE, iPad Air, and more:

It will have roughly the same design as the current version from 2022, while getting a speed boost. This model is scheduled to be released around the same time as the new iPhone SE and iPad Air in the spring.

Assuming nothing changes, that means Apple’s lowest end iPad will be 2.5 years old when it finally gets refreshed.

Are you excited for the upcoming entry-level iPad? Let us know in the comments.

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