Analyst predicts Apple’s 2024 iPad upgrade with new 12.9-inch iPad Air

According to Ming-Chi Kuo from TF International Securities, the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Air‌ will feature an LCD screen without the mini-LED technology found in Apple's current iPad Pro models.

San Francisco: Apple will upgrade the entire lineup of iPad in 2024 and add a new larger 12.9-inch iPad Air along with the 10.9-inch model, a leading analyst has said.

Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities, in his latest outlook, predicted that Apple will make up for this year’s lack of movement in its iPad lineup by updating all existing models, beginning with a refreshed 10.9-inch and new 12.9-inch iPad Air with new chips, which are set to go into mass production in the first quarter of 2024.

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He mentioned that the 12.9-inch ‌iPad Air‌ will have an LCD screen that lacks the mini-LED technology of Apple’s current iPad Pro models, but will benefit from the same oxide backplane.

“The 12.9-inch iPad Air is an all-new model, and while it lacks mini-LED, it benefits from an Oxide backplane (the same spec as the existing mini-LED iPad Pro’s), offering better display performance than the 10.9-inch iPad Air with a-Si backplane,” Kuo wrote in a Medium post on Sunday.

According to the analyst, key upgrades will include the M3 processor and OLED displays in the iPad lineup.

Kuo forecasted total iPad shipments of 52-54 million units, a minor increase over the estimated 50 million units shipped this year but still far short of the 63 million pandemic peak of 2022.

He also predicted that the two new OLED iPad Pros, replacing mini-LED, will go into mass production in late 2024 and feature an M3 processor and improved form factor designs.

“Shipments of the two OLED iPad Pro models will be 6-8 million units in 2024, with slightly weaker shipment momentum than the existing iPad Pros, possibly due to the higher price of OLED iPads and potential cannibalisation from the 12.9-inch iPad Air,” the analyst said.