Speculating About iPad Pro 2's Release

The site iMore describes the original iPad as an iPhone gone IMAX and considers it the first successful tablet the world had ever seen. Six years later, the stars of the iPad show are the retina iPad mini, iPad Air 2, and 9.7-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

But where does Apple go from here? Will the "Pro" live long and prosper? Will the "Air" pop back in to the lineup? And what about the poor iPad mini?

Although nobody have concrete information one way or the other, the general hunch of iMore on the matter is that Pro is the way of the future: The Air 2 will stick around as a great low-cost education model, but its moniker will likely disappear after that.

As for the iPad mini, its days may be numbered: The 7.9-inch tablet is already close in size with both the 5.5-inch iPhone Plus and 9.7-inch iPad Pro lines, and there's been no speculation in the supply chain about smaller iPads with Smart Connectors and Apple Pencil support.

According to Mac Otakara, Apple plans to release a trio of new iPads, all in the Pro line, in spring 2017. The new iPads are said to come in 7.9-inch, 10.1-inch, and 12.9-inch varieties, all with True Tone displays.

The iPad's release dates have fluctuated throughout the years — many seen a year go by between product updates, and there were also multiple updates in the same year.

1. April 2010: Original iPad
2. March 2011: iPad 2
3. March 2012: iPad 3
4. November 2012: iPad 4 + Mini 1
5. November 2013: iPad Air + Mini 2
6. October 2014: iPad Air 2 + Mini 3
7. September 2015: iPad Mini 4
8. November 2015: iPad Pro (12.9-inch)
9. March 2016: iPad Pro (9.7-inch)

In some ways, the iPad release schedule is starting to resemble its Mac counterparts, rather than its iOS origins: Update when there's a good reason to update, rather than a yearly timing cycle. And given the lengthy iPad lifecycle, it makes sense — these aren't devices people are replacing every year.

So, when is the next one going to hit the stage? The latest musings from KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, as reported by MacRumors, pegs a release sometime in 2017; sorry, folks, doesn't look like anybody will see an iPad Pro 2 at the iPhone event.

But what about a new iPad mini or iPad Air? It's certainly possible that the market will see a revamp of the mini, but based on Kuo's speculation, Apple may be moving away from smaller iPads in favor of more computer-size and style devices.