Apple is planning to hold its first event of 2021 on Tuesday, April 20, and it’s looking like it will be an iPad-centric event. There are several…
Apple is planning to hold its first event of 2021 on Tuesday, April 20, and it’s looking like it will be an iPad-centric event. There are several iPad refreshes rumored to be coming for the iPad Pro, iPad mini, and low-cost iPad. Refreshed iPad Pro models are expected to be the main event at Apple’s April event. Apple will overhaul the 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models, but don’t look for major external changes — much of what’s new will be internal. Both models will feature an updated A14X chip that’s just as powerful as the M1 chip in the Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro. There may be some tweaks to the number of speaker holes and their positions, and the camera lenses may protrude less from the camera bump at the back of the tablets. The new iPad Pro models could support Thunderbolt, making them compatible with additional external monitors, hard drives, and peripherals in addition to adding faster data syncing speeds. The most notable new feature aside from the A14X will be limited to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, which is expected to gain a mini-LED display. Mini-LED technology offers impressive wide color gamut performance, high contrast and HDR, and local dimming, which dims the backlight behind black areas of the screen while keeping the bright parts lit for blacker blacks and better contrast. More information on what’s expected for the 2021 iPad Pro refresh can be found in our iPad Pro roundup. There have been a few rumors about a third-generation Apple Pencil in the works, and it’s possible that the next iPad Pro models will be accompanied by a refreshed Apple Pencil. We haven’t heard particularly reliable rumors about a new Apple Pencil, so it’s not really clear if we’re going to see one at the April event. More on what we know about the third-generation Apple Pencil can be found in our roundup. There’s an iPad mini 6 in the works, but don’t expect major changes. Recently leaked dummy models suggest the iPad mini 6 will look quite similar to its predecessor with thick bezels and a Touch ID Home button. Models are often designed for case makers and sometimes it doesn’t matter what the front of the device looks like, so it could be that the general sizing is accurate except for the display, which could perhaps feature smaller bezels. It’s also possible that there’s another more significant update for the iPad mini in the works for the future, but it will come at some point after this more minor refresh. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that Apple is working on an iPad mini with a mini-LED display, but it doesn’t seem like that’s a feature that’s going to be included with this refresh since it’s currently technology rumored only for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Japanese site Mac Otakara said the iPad mini 6 will have an 8.4-inch display with slimmer bezels and a design similar to the iPad Air 3, and that’s perhaps the most convincing rumor we’ve heard because the same design is also rumored for the next low-cost iPad, and right now, the iPad mini 5 and eighth-generation iPad are quite similar. There were some not so believable rumors that Apple would introduce a “Pro” version of the iPad mini with an 8.
