Apple may launch 14.1-inch mini-LED iPad Pro with M2 chip

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Whatever it's called, a 14.1-inch M2 iPad Pro could be coming fairly soon.
Whatever it's called, a 14.1-inch M2 iPad Pro could be coming fairly soon.
Image: Cult of Mac

Apple is working on an iPad Pro with a 14.1-inch mini-LED display, ProMotion and Face ID, sources suggested Thursday.

Unfortunately for folks who are already salivating at the idea of such a big Apple tablet, it probably won’t arrive until early 2023.

Apple developing a 14.1-inch mini-LED MacBook Pro with M2 chip

The original rumor about a bigger iPad gained support Thursday from Display Supply Chain Consultants analyst Ross Young, who has a strong record for accuracy.

Young tweeted the upcoming larger ‌iPad Pro‌ model will feature a 14.1-inch mini-LED display and ProMotion like the current 12.9-inch ‌iPad Pro. And he speculated on an early 2023 arrival date‌:

A less-reliable Twitter leaker named Majin Bu shared the rumor first. That tweet said Apple is developing a 14.1-inch ‌iPad Pro‌ model with the M2 chip, configured with a standard 512GB of storage and 16GB of integrated memory, in addition to 11-inch and 12.9-inch M2 versions:

Majin Bu said  “no major changes” are expected for the 11-inch model, but the 12.9-inch model may feature slimmer bezels around the display.

He said new iPadOS 16 features, such as Stage Manager and Display Zoom, suggest a clearer use-case for an ‌‌iPad Pro‌‌ with an even larger display, like the one predicted.

As it stands right now, iPad Pros come in 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro uses mini-LED display technology, while rumors say the 11-inch iPad Pro will add mini-LED with its next update, expected this year with possible delays. But if a 14.1-inch iPad Pro is coming as soon as early 2023, there may not be a late 2022 update.

Young weighs in

It’s notable that Young, with his strong track record of accurate leaks, supports Majin Bu’s rumor about an upcoming 14.1-inch ‌iPad Pro‌.

Young’s accurate predictions in the past include iPhone 13 Pro’s ProMotion display, the sixth-generation iPad mini’s display size and bezels, the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro’s mini-LED displays with ProMotion, the ‌M2‌ MacBook Air’s display size and more.

Majin Bu, while lacking Young’s strong record for accuracy, did appear to accurately predict Apple’s Stage Manager before this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

However, the two appear to differ on launch timing for the 14.1-inch iPad Pro. While Majin Bu talked about an unveiling at an Apple event in October or November 2022, Young appeared uncertain. He said early 2023 “may be more likely.”

Idea of larger iPads isn’t new

The earliest speculation about iPads larger than 12.9 inches goes back to last year, in the first edition of Bloomberg‘s “Power On” newsletter. In it, Mark Gurman said Apple was exploring iPads with bigger displays:

I’m told that Apple has engineers and designers exploring larger iPads that could hit stores a couple of years down the road at the earliest. They’re unlikely for next year—with Apple’s attention on a redesigned iPad Pro in the current sizes for 2022—and it’s possible they never come at all. But a big iPad would be the perfect device for many people, including me, and would continue to blur the lines between tablet and laptop.

Taken together, Gurman’s earlier report and the new tweets from Majin Bu and Young support the idea that a larger iPad Pro is quite likely to launch, and perhaps sooner than previously thought.

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