Apple’s next budget iPad refresh could introduce a big performance boost. It will reportedly use the A19 chip, the same SoC that’s found inside the iPhone 17.
Additionally, the tablet will switch to Apple’s in-house N1 chip to handle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity.
iPad 12 and M4 iPad Air incoming
Apple refreshed its entry-level iPad in March 2025 with a faster A16 processor. Still, the processor is hardly new. It dates back to the iPhone 14 Pro, introduced in September 2022.
More importantly, the older chip meant the base iPad missed out on Apple Intelligence support. It seems the company will rectify this mistake with the next-gen iPad.
Internal code found in iOS 26, as spotted by MacWorld, points to the iPad 12 using an A19 chip. This SoC is currently found inside the iPhone 17 and brings a noticeable leap in performance and efficiency. It also features more RAM (8GB), which should help with multitasking. Plus, it supports Apple Intelligence.
Alongside the iPad 12, Apple is also working on an M4 iPad Air refresh. References to this model with codenames J707, J708, J737, and J738 were found in iOS 26’s internal code.
Given that the iPad Air sits between the iPad Pro and the base iPad, its next update will likely amount to a modest spec bump rather than a major overhaul.
Apple’s N1 chip will handle connectivity on both iPad models
Both upcoming iPads will switch to Apple’s in-house N1 chip as part of their 2026 upgrade. Tests point to the new chip improving the Wi-Fi performance on iPhone 17 by up to 40% in some cases. More importantly, they deliver bigger performance gains in challenging conditions.
The upcoming iPads should also deliver a similar improvement in Wi-Fi connectivity.
Since references to these iPads appeared in an iOS 26 build, Apple will likely unveil them before WWDC 2026. A March launch seems the most plausible timing, especially given that the previous base iPad refresh also landed around then.
Rajesh has been writing about consumer technology for over a decade, with a strong focus on iPhones, Macs and Apple’s ecosystem. He enjoys digging into Apple software updates, hardware changes, and discovering new Mac apps that make work faster and more enjoyable.
