Some big changes to the iPad lineup could arrive in the next two years. According to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple plans to unveil three new iPads, including a 10.5-inch variant of the iPad Pro, next year – before a “revolutionary” iPad with OLED display technology hits possibly as soon as 2018.
In a new research report extensively quoted from by MacRumors, Kuo expresses his expectation that, next year, a 12.9-inch “iPad Pro 2”, the aforementioned 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and a “low-cost” 9.7-inch iPad – not specifically mentioned as a “Pro” model – will all be launched.
Kuo believes that the A10X processor will feature in the two new Pro models, while the A9X chip in the currently available 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch Pro tablets will make it to the new inexpensive iPad. Kuo doesn’t even mention what will happen to the 7.9-inch iPad Mini line, but it looks like Apple might be intending the 9.7-inch line, now to be shorn of Pro features, to replace it as the cheapest iPad range.
Kuo further believes that a “revolutionary” new iPad, with a “flexible OLED panel” and “radical changes in form factor design” is set for 2018 “at the earliest”. In April, Kuo predicted that next year’s iPhone will come with an AMOLED display; therefore, it makes sense that the iPad line would follow the OLED route.