New Low-Cost iPad Coming Next Week: What to Expect
One of the new products we can see next week is the updated version of the cheap iPad. Like the iPad Air, we don’t expect major changes, but we are expected to get meaningful internal improvements.
Design
The 12th generation iPad won’t get a design update this year, and we expect it to have the same 11-inch display with Touch ID Side Button and thicker bezels.
Apple last updated the design of the iPad with the 10th generation model, giving the device a modern look to better match the designs of the iPad Pro and iPad Air. It’s still a new design, and Apple doesn’t update cheap iPad chassis often.
The cheapest iPad is only available in one screen size, and it’s Apple’s 7mm thick tablet. It features a Retina LCD display that doesn’t support ProMotion, it doesn’t have the wide color range of P3, and there is no lamination (a display technology that reduces glare, offers a responsive feel, and allows for a smaller size) compared to other Apple tablets.
Apple makes a cheap iPad in several exciting colors, and we can see new shades in 2026. Current colors include blue, pink, silver, and yellow.
No changes are expected in the rear camera, front camera, USB-C port, or compatibility with accessories such as Apple’s Pencil.
A-Series processor
The cheaper iPad will likely be equipped with the Apple A19 chip, which is the same chip used by Apple in the iPhone 17. It is built on a 3-nanometer process and will offer improvements in speed and efficiency over the A16 chip in the current model.
The A16 chip used by Apple in 2025 doesn’t support Apple Intelligence, but the A19 does, which will mark a major update to Apple’s affordable tablet. The 2026 model should be able to support Apple Intelligence features not available on the 2025 model.
The A19 also offers hardware-accelerated ray tracing for enhanced gaming. The 11th generation iPad has 6GB of RAM, but Apple will need to bump that up to 8GB for Apple Intelligence.
The N1 Chip
Apple introduced its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, called the N1, in the iPhone 17 models. The N1 was added to the iPad Pro, and it is possible that Apple plans to add the chip to all future devices coming in 2026 and beyond.
The N1 chip supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread network technology for smart home devices.
The 11th generation iPad is limited to Wi-Fi 6, so when the 12th generation version gets Wi-Fi 7, it will be able to connect to faster 6GHz networks for the first time. Bluetooth 6 will also be better than Bluetooth 5.3. There is a possibility that Apple will keep the N1 chip in its more premium devices, based on the leaked internal code. If so, the iPad will not include the N1 chip.
Apple Modem
Apple designed the C1 and C1X modem chips used in iPhones and iPads in 2025, and the next-generation version of the iPad could get a modem chip designed by Apple for mobile models.
Apple modem chips are more efficient than Qualcomm chips while providing similar performance.
The price
The 11th generation iPad is priced starting at $349 for 128GB of storage, and there are no indications that prices will change for the 12th generation model.
Effective Date
Apple will likely launch a cheaper iPad sometime next week, just before the Special Experience scheduled for March 4.
