Fall 2020 iPad Line-up

Everything You Need to Know About 2020 iPads!

The world was thrown a curveball, but the tech world has regained steam after a shaky start. The rippling effects of the situation have affected even the biggest companies – not even sparing Tim Cook and his Cupertino bandmates. While the nerdy eyes and iPhone lovers look to the fall for the impending announcement (either to slate them or praise them), you have to wonder: where’s the iPad love?

 

A Pro Taste – The First of Many?

The Apple faithful have already been blessed with the new 2020 iterations of the iPad Pro 11 and 12.9-inch models. Was this to qualm the anticipation or whet our collective appetite? Who knows! Announced back in March, the 2020 iterations brought improvements on the 2018 models as opposed to overhauls. But that’s just the Pro, right? What about the standard iPad? The Mini? The Air??

 

First of the Bunch – 2020 iPad Pros

The 2020 iPad Pros doubled down on making them as close to a laptop replacement as they could be. They retained the 120Hz ProMotion display which iPhone users are crossing their fingers (and toes) for this fall. They are premium in both build and eye-watering prices. Nothing short of what is expected from Apple’s high-end iPads.

Under the hood is the A12Z Bionic chipset, a beefed-up A12 Bionic that was included in the 2018 iPhone range. Apple’s blazing fast processor does nothing to tarnish its great reputation here. A lot of things look and feel similar, with noticeable improvement. What’s new, however, is the camera.

 

Li-What? – Augmented Reality

The new camera unit now sports an ultra-wide lens, as well as a LiDAR scanner. A compressed word standing for Light Detection and Ranging, LiDAR uses light pulses to map objects and rooms by calculating the time taken for the pulses to bounce back. Cool, but why? AR. That’s why.

According to Apple, ‘… The LiDAR Scanner, along with pro cameras, motion sensors, pro performance, pro audio, the stunning Liquid Retina display and powerful apps, extends the lead of iPad Pro as the world’s best device for augmented reality (AR).’

So Apple went ahead and put a great camera and a SpaceX-worthy depth sensor on an iPad. You don’t want to be that guy who takes pictures on an iPad – who does that? This though, this is tipping the scale.

 

All About the Accessories

A huge selling point of the 2020 iPads is the accessories; the Magic Keyboard in Particular. Sold by Apple, it is a backlit keyboard that doubles as the iPad Pro’s case. It has a pass-through USB-C port and attaches to the iPad via magnets. It has a 130° hinge which makes the iPad float. Oh, and it has a trackpad!

All this is partly thanks to iPadOS 13.4 with its mouse and trackpad support. This fall is supposed to see the release of iPadOS 14, which Apple teased in its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). iPadOS 14 is said to support all iPad models starting with the iPad Air 2.

 

Split Opinions – Bendgate 2.0

Zack from JerryRigEverything – Judge Dredd for phones and iPads – did manage to snap the 2020 iPad Pro in half, just like the 2018 model. This just shows that not a lot has changed in terms of build and design. It is all in the name of science though, whatever your opinion about breaking iPads may be.

See the summarized 2020 iPad Pro specs below:

  11-Inch iPad Pro
Screen 1668×2388 pixels | 120Hz ProMotion | 600 nits | IPS LCD
Processor A12Z Bionic
Memory 6GB
Storage 128GB | 256GB | 512GB | 1TB
Camera 12Mp Main | 10Mp Ultra-wide | LiDAR Scanner
Ports USB-C
Battery 18W Fast Charging | 28.65Wh Li-Po Battery

 

Rumor-Ville – Upcoming iPads

There is a whole lot of speculation about what’s coming this fall. The standard 2020 iPad is certainly causing the most buzz, but so are the iPad Mini 6 and the iPad Air 4.

Word on the virtual street is that the iPad Mini 6 will at the very earliest see a 2021 release. Bummer. As for the iPad Air 4:

  • Apple will ditch the lightning port for the more standard USB-C, as per MacOtakara.
  • Will have a larger display and slimmer bezels like with the 2020 iPad Pros
  • Could have a 10.8-Inch screen and will arrive in this half of 2020, as per Ming-Chi-Kuo.
  • Could use Mini-LED technology with no notch or FaceID. It will instead have in-screen TouchID
  • Could launch in October alongside the iPhones, as per Jon Prosser.
  • Could be called the iPad Air 2020, going with the iPhone SE naming scheme.

 

All Aboard the Hype Train!

For the standard iPad, specific news has been a bit scanty. Most rumors do not refer to the iPad specifically, and most specs sound similar to those of the rumored iPad Air 4. Same device? Are we getting one or both? Whatever the case, stay tuned for more iPad rumors!

Finally, show your iPads and other devices some love. Check out some of our screen protectors!