Apple To Launch Entry-Level iPad In Spring 2025, But Apple Intelligence Could Be Absent As It Would Ruin The Dynamics Of The Lineup

Apple was speculated to announce the iPad mini 7 and the entry-level iPad together back in October, but the company only decided to go with the prior. The company is gradually upgrading its entire product line to offer Apple Intelligence features, and the iPad mini 7 is the cheapest device you can buy right now, and it supports everything iOS 18 would have to offer. The company is now expected to upgrade the entry-level iPad next year in the Spring of 2025, but it remains to be seen if the device will feature Apple Intelligence capabilities.

Apple plans to launch its next entry-level iPad in Spring 2025, but Apple Intelligence seems unlikely

While Apple Intelligence is a pretty nifty part of iOS 18, it does have a few hardware requirements. We believe that the A17 Pro chip, coupled with 8GB of RAM, is the baseline for iPhone and iPad models to bolster the company’s new AI features. However, since the company has launched the iPad mini 7 with its slightly tweaked A17 Pro chip and 8GB of RAM, the entry-level iPad sits in a strange place.

For instance, if the company wants to bring Apple Intelligence to the entry-level iPad, it would equip the device with an A17 Pro chip and 8GB of RAM, the same specifications as the iPad mini 7. If this is the case, the iPad mini 7 will become redundant as it has always been a slightly upgraded machine compared to the entry-level iPad since its launch. If the company opts to bring Apple Intelligence to the cheaper iPad with an A16 series of chips, it questions why the AI features have been absent on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 14 Pro models. While these questions remain unanswered, a source with a proven track record claims that an entry-level iPad running iPadOS 18.3 will be launched in the Spring.

According to MacRumors, a tipster claims that Apple will release iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3 in late January or early February. The timeline aligns with the M3 iPad Air and the iPhone SE 4 launch. The source also claims that the cheaper iPad will not support Apple’s custom 5G modem, which is expected to arrive with the launch of the iPhone SE 4 and the iPhone 17 Air. Mark Gurman believes that the entry-level iPad will feature support for Apple Intelligence, but we believe that the device would stick to the basics and Apple would not introduce a trimmed-down version of the platform for a single device. Do you think Apple Intelligence will be a major part of the entry-level iPad?