Apple may have a surprise iPad update announcement in store for this week. 9to5Mac initially said it corroborated a report from Supercharged that Apple will announce spec bumps for three of its iPads — the base model, the iPad Air, and the iPad Mini. Meanwhile, other rumors say we won’t get any new iPads, or there is an announcement but it’s actually a new stylus, or that maybe there is a new version of the iPad getting announced on Tuesday after all.
However, MacRumors points out that the Japanese blog Mac Otakara reports a more likely announcement is a third-generation Apple Pencil instead of new versions of the tablets. Since then, 9to5Mac said its sources indicate only “something” iPad-related is landing this week.
In a story Sunday morning for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman said, “I don’t believe updates of any significance are imminent,” while also mentioning Apple has versions of the iPads with new chips in development.
A September post on X from the leaker Majin Bu said that the Apple Pencil 3 would add interchangeable magnetic tips to the mix. On Monday evening, MacRumors pointed out another post from Majin Bu claiming that “the new 11 gen 10.9 inch iPad that Apple will present tomorrow will have the exact same design as the 10 gen model, furthermore the accessories will be perfectly compatible.”
9to5Mac says Apple will issue a press release announcing that the iPad Air and the iPad Mini will be bumped to M2 and A16 Bionic chips, respectively. Apple refreshed the iPad Air and 10th-generation iPad last year, but it’s been twice as long since the company updated the iPad Mini with an A15 Bionic chip.
Update October 16th, 5:03PM ET: Added additional reports about a possible Apple Pencil 3 announcement.
Update October 16th, 5:57PM ET: Added report of a new base iPad.
