Apple may be done releasing new hardware this year, but fans will only have to wait a few months into 2024 for brand new tablets and laptops. A new report claims that Apple will soon reveal details of new, more powerful iPads and MacBook Airs. They’re all set to get a shiny new M3 chip, but the iPad Pro could finally hit shelves with a fancy, long-awaited OLED screen.
Citing several anonymous sources, Bloomberg’s Apple guru Mark Gurman reported that the iPad Air will offer two different screen sizes. Perhaps the biggest change to Apple’s tablet range is the iPad Pro, which could finally get access to an OLED screen next year. These organic displays tend to be more expensive than LCDs, but they offer sharper colours and are both brighter and more energy efficient.
As for iPad Air sizes, we could see one with a 10.9-inch display – the same as the current iPad Air model – and another that measures 12.9 inches. That’s the same size as the latest iPad Pro. The iPad Pro uses Apple’s “Liquid Retina XDR”, a kind of mini-LED display, but the iPad Air still uses an LCD. There will be four models in total, with two Airs supporting 5G and the other two supporting WiFi only.
All of these devices will have access to the latest M3 silicon. The MacBook Air will also get the M3 upgrade. All of these devices could be available in March at the earliest. Apple’s iPadOS will see the jump to version 17.4, while the new MacBooks will be upgraded to macOS 14.3. Both of these software patches should arrive within the first few months of 2024.
The OLED rumours again confirm what the reporter has been saying for almost a month. Other sites that have tracked major display manufacturers such as Samsung and LG have noted that Apple has been in talks about OLEDs for iPads. We’ve also heard rumours for a long time that Apple was trying to create a 16-inch option for its tablet range. It’s interesting to note how much sooner we might see an OLED iPad than we’re likely to see an OLED MacBook Pro. The latest rumours suggest that we won’t see an Apple-branded desktop with an OLED screen until 2025.
