Last week, Apple announced a number of new products, including a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad, a 128GB iPhone SE edition, new Apple Watch bands and a Red iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. The release did offer a refresh of Apple’s lineup, but we’re still wondering when the new 10.5-inch iPad Pro will see the light of day.
IHS analyst Rhoda Alexander recently revealed that Apple’s manufacturing partners are preparing to start limited production of a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro. However, the unveil date is quite uncertain; rumors simply don’t reach a consensus at this point.
Previous reports have pointed towards a launch date at a March event, but obviously, that didn’t happen. The next rumored date is an event in April, when Apple intends to inaugurate the new Apple Park campus, where employees will start relocating soon.
A limited launch could be set in the US and other countries
The IHS analyst says that a launch in April is possible, and Apple intends to conduct a limited spring launch in the United States and select other countries. This would be followed by a wider rollout as production ramps up. Moreover, sources within Apple’s supply chain told MacRumors that the 10.5-inch iPad Pro would launch this spring.
It’s worth mentioning that a number of other analysts expect Apple to release the new iPad Pro this fall, possibly in October. The 10.5-inch iPad Pro is rumored to come with an edge-to-edge display or a very narrow bezel design that somewhat hints of the new iPhone 8. For this reason, Apple might wait until this fall to announce the new iPad Pro so it wouldn’t spoil iPhone 8’s September announcement.
Earlier this month, mobile marketing firm Fiksu spotted four ne iPad identifiers, which supposedly denote WiFi and WiFi + Cellular variants of new 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro variants. At this point, we’ll just have to wait and see if Apple intends to launch the new iPad Pro during its April event or wait for later this year.
