Apple may launch an iPad Pro with an M2 chip this fall: Report

According to Apple tracker Mark Gurman's Power On newsletter, Apple reportedly plans to launch an iPad Pro with the rumoured M2 chip between September and November of this year. In addition, Gurman expects Apple to release a significant update for the next generation of iPad Pros, reportedly including support for MagSafe charging.

As Gurman points out, Apple last gave the iPad Pro a significant upgrade in 2018, when Apple introduced a design with harder corners, an edge-to-edge display, and a USB-C connector. This update came about a year and a half after the iPad Pro 10.5 was released in 2017.

This year, Apple is on track to repeat the same pattern, having released the most recent generation of M1-equipped iPad Pros in May 2021. Rumoured release date of September-November 2022 means Apple will spend between a year and four months and one year and six months preparing the new model.

During Apple's "Peek Performance" event earlier this month, the company showed off its newest iPad Air but left out an updated model of the iPad Pro. Last year, Gurman predicted the iPad Pro would come with wireless charging capabilities and a glass back. A report from 9to5Mac corroborates this claim, but their sources say that Apple may have ditched the glass back design, potentially opting for an aluminium back with a glass Apple logo.

There hasn't been much information on the rumoured M2 chip either, as Apple hasn't confirmed it yet. However, Gurman believes the chip's CPU will be slightly faster than its predecessor and come with the same octa-core architecture. He also expects Apple to add the M2 to both the new iPad Pro and the new 13-inch MacBook Pro, Mac Mini and 24-inch iMac, rumoured to launch later this year. However, predictions for an M2 chip powering the redesigned MacBook Air are divided: Gurman says it will include the rumoured chip, while Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks it will come with the M1.