The new iPads are coming on May 7th in a surprising event. Is this the first Apple surprise? And why has Apple decided to announce new iPads in May, when it’s never done so?
It’s been a few months since we’ve been hearing about the next iteration of the iPad Pro and the iPad Air and their ‘imminent release’. The possible announcement was first expected for March, then for April, and then for the beginning of May. And the latter has come true: Apple has now announced a surprise event for May 7. Gurman was right, although after being wrong a couple of times.
Why would Apple make a surprise event and why are things seemingly different this time? Let’s discuss it!
Apple and the iPad: actually, the release timeline isn’t that straightforward
The iPhone and its release dates have been quite traditional. But in fact, the story of iPad releases has not been that straightforward and the months and years of release appear a bit hectic.
iPad Air releases:
As you can see, we have three releases in the fall and two in the spring.
iPad Pro releases:
We have three fall releases, two spring releases, and one summer release during WWDC in 2017. Quite the fun ride, I might add! Based on just that apparent randomness alone, it makes sense to see the iPad Pro right now, in May, although Apple has never unveiled an iPad in May.
Now, let’s glance at the normal iPad and the iPad mini, just to gain some more context.
Entry-level iPad:
We see a shift of release dates towards the fall in the last four years and rather hectic releases previously. In 2023, we didn’t get a release that broke the “one release every year” cycle that’s been on since 2017.
iPad mini:
For the iPad mini, we’re seeing one deviation from the usual fall time-frame for release (in 2019).
But the hectic iPad release schedule is not the only surprise Apple has done over the years. Although the brand is known for being reliable and even serious, it’s no stranger to bringing good news with a twist.
Apple’s “One More Thing”
Steve Jobs was the person who started the “One More Thing” tradition
If you’re a longtime Apple fan, you have probably heard of the catchy phrase “One More Thing”. Basically, that’s a traditional Apple surprise unveiling and dates back to 1999. What “One More Thing” stands for is Steve Jobs’ practice of announcing a pretty big thing at the end of a keynote, when everybody expects the event to be over.
