NEW iPad

About iPad.  What we know and what we want from the next basic Pad Bucking usual trends, a new Pad didn't show up alongside the iPhone 14 at Apple's big September launch event - each year's new version of the entry-level tablet usually comes alongside the annual smartphone, but that wasn't the case this year.

However that wasn't as much of a surprise as it should be; that's because leaks before the event pointed to it happening. Instead, we're expecting a launch event in October to bring the gadget, as well as the new iPad Pro for the year.

It's worth paying attention to this event though, because it sounds like the upcoming entry-level Pad could present the biggest redesign for this range of low-cost tablets that we've seen in quite some time.  Then further down we’ve included a wish list of what we want to see from the new iPad 2022 to make it the best budget possible. And make sure to check back regularly, as we’ll be updating this article whenever we hear any news or rumors about this tablet.  The first 2022 release date rumor pointed to late 2022, and that makes sense, as the iPad 10.2 (2021) was unveiled on September 14, the 10.2 (2020) was announced on September 15 of its launch year, and the iPad 10.2 (2019) on September 12. You’re probably noticing a pattern here.

That said multiple sources have recently said the new Pad (2022) will actually land at a separate event in October.

That said, in September 2022, reputable Apple leaker Mark Gurman shared a list of the devices they're expecting to see from Apple before the end of the year, and a new basic Pad wasn't among them, so there's a chance we won't see it until 2023.

The time between announcement and availability is variable, but it’s unlikely to be more than a couple of weeks.

As for the price, the iPad 10.2 (2021) starts at $329 / £319 / AU$499, and the 10.2 (2020) had a similar starting price, so we’d think roughly the same again is likely, but there’s no news on that yet.  any leak has pointed to the Pad 2022 as having 5G for the first time in the range. This is a believable claim, especially because it's been corroborated since, multiple times.

The same source says to expect Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 6, an A14 Bionic chipset (which was previously used in the iPhone 12 range and would be an upgrade on the iPad 10.2 (2021)'s A13 Bionic), and a Lightning port.

While we'd take all of this with a pinch of salt, it's all believable. In fact we'd be surprised if that new Pad 2022 didn't get the A14 Bionic chipset, given that it's a generation newer than the previous slate's chip (though notably not the newest chipset available).

That said, on the 5G front there's an outside chance that won't be supported, as the Pad Air 4 (2020) doesn’t have 5G either, so Apple might add that to the iPad Air 5 but leave it off the basic iPad for another year.

Beyond that, we'd guess there probably won’t be any significant changes to the front-facing camera, as that’s only just had a big upgrade for the latest model.  1. Face ID
The lack of Face ID on the new Pad 10.2 (2021) isn’t overly surprising given that Apple currently reserves this tech for the Pad Pro range. But over in iPhone land it’s basically now a standard feature and has been for years, so we’d like to see the company make it standard on Pads too.

We don’t particularly expect the new Pad 2022 to get Face ID, since it will presumably be last in line for it, with the Pad Air and Pad mini ranges likely to get it first, but it would be nice to see.

This tech has been around so long that it doesn’t feel like it should need to be a premium feature anymore, so Apple, stop holding it back.

2. A modern design
The basic iPad range is now alone in being the only tablet range from Apple that doesn’t include a modern design with smaller bezels and no home button, with even the iPad mini (2021) sporting this look.

Instead, you’re stuck with a very dated and relatively cheap appearance on the iPad 10.2 (2021), and it’s one that we want to see gone with the new iPad 2022.

3. Support for recent accessories  The iPad 10.2 (2021) supports the original Apple Pencil and the Smart Keyboard, but it lacks support for the Apple Pencil 2 and the Magic Keyboard, making it less good both for typing and sketching than it could be – or than other Apple tablets are.

Supporting these accessories shouldn’t be hard, and we wouldn’t think they’d add much if anything to Apple’s costs, so there’s really no reason to block the iPad 2022 off from them.

4. Recalibrating speakers
The iPad 10.2 (2021) doesn’t have bad speakers, but unlike the iPad mini (2021) and the iPad Air 4, they don’t recalibrate based on the orientation of the tablet.

With one of those tablets then you’ll be getting the best from the speakers whether you use the slate in portrait or landscape orientation, but not here. Hopefully, Apple fixes that for the next model.

5. 128GB base size
With the iPad 10.2 (2021) Apple upgraded the base storage size from the pathetically tiny 32GB of the iPad 10.2 (2020), to a still rather small 64GB.

We know this is a cheap slate, so the company wants to keep the cost down as much as possible, but 64GB is a just barely acceptable amount of storage in 2021, let alone 2022 when the next model is expected. So we want to see the new iPad 2022 start with 128GB of storage, especially as there’s no microSD card slot.

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