The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite is one of the best cheap tablets that you can buy, especially if you're looking for a network connection on one of the nationwide cellular networks. Today, AT&T is launching a kids bundle with a connected version of the tablet, including a rugged cover, for around $250, a $50 premium over the basic tablet.
That premium gets you the case you see here, as well as some preloaded software to make setting up Samsung Kids easier. Samsung Kids is an interface that puts strict limits on what your children can do with the tablet. It's great for very young kids, but tweens and older will find it a bit too childish.
Otherwise, there are no differences between the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite Kids and the normal tablet. Even the tablet color is the same under that bright, rubbery cover. This still represents a fine deal, as kid-friendly rugged tablet covers can cost up to $50 or more, so the premium is not excessive.
If you want to chop up your payments, AT&T will let qualified buyers finance the tablet at 0% interest over three years. You can pay for this tablet until your two-year-old turns five at a rate of $7 a month. Or you can just buy it for $250. The AT&T service plan is extra.
(Image credit: AT&T)
The Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 Lite has an 8.7-inch touchscreen with a 1340 x 800-pixel resolution. It has a microSD card slot, in addition to the 32GB of onboard storage. There's a welcome headphone port, so you can plug in a cheap pair of kid-friendly headphones if you don't want to hear all of the Toca Boca from the backseat.
We haven't had time to review the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite, but we're very familiar with Samsung tablets, and this is an easy one to recommend. Samsung Android tablets use a version of its One UI, and they can run almost any Android app from the Google Play Store.
Amazon Fire tablets, on the other hand, look like a great cheap option, but those are much more limited in the software they can run. Amazon tablets cannot run any Google apps or use the Google Play Store. You still get apps for all of your favorite streaming services, but the Galaxy Tab A7 Lite will have a much larger library of apps and games available for you and your child.
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Apple has some new Macs on the horizon, but we won’t see these devices this year sadly – the fresh hardware supposedly won’t turn up until early 2023.
This is the latest from well-known leaker Mark Gurman, who made the prediction in his newsletter as published by Bloomberg.
The theory is – stay sceptical as ever, and note that Gurman only believes this is the probable outcome of near future Apple launches – that revamped Macs will come in the first quarter of 2023, and that will include MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch laptops packing M2 Pro and M2 Max chips.
That hardware will arrive alongside macOS Ventura 13.3 (and iOS 16.3), Gurman asserts, software that’ll likely debut in February or March 2023. With the hardware, however, a February launch seems unlikely – Apple generally waits until the spring, so the date for the new MacBook Pros (and whatever else is coming) to pencil in to your diary is March 2023.
Speaking of what else might be in Apple’s PC product pipeline, as has long been rumored, Apple is testing a Mac mini with the M2 chip, and also an M2 Pro version.
Gurman reckons the M2 Max will push to 12-cores (from 10 with the M1 Max) and complement that with 38-cores for the integrated GPU (up from 32-cores).
Analysis: Clear signs that MacBook launch has been pushed back
Things are changing fast in the Mac rumor landscape, because as you may recall, just two weeks back, Gurman believed that the MacBook Pros with the M2 Pro and M2 Max would most likely arrive in November. But to be fair to the leaker, from the get-go when he first aired speculation around these refreshed MacBook Pros, he gave a timeframe of the end of 2022 to early 2023 for launch – and March (just) qualifies for the latter.
Apparently Apple’s plan was to debut the MacBook Pro models before 2022 was out, but recently, we’ve seen some pretty clear signs that this is not happening, as Gurman outlines in his newsletter.
Namely CEO Tim Cook telling us that Apple’s product line is ‘set’ for the holiday season, meaning there’ll be no new additions. Furthermore, CFO Luca Maestri has also made it known that Apple is expecting less revenue growth for the holiday quarter – with Mac revenue dropping due to not having a new MacBook (whereas we did get a new MacBook Pro last year at this point).
So there you have it. This time around, no mention was made of what to expect with these new M2-toting MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch portables, so we can assume nothing has changed on that front. Previous predictions have pointed to there being not a lot of difference with the next-gen machines, the main upgrade being that change of SoC from M1 to M2 variants.
With the Mac mini, the working theory is that there’ll be a base model with M2 chip, and one with the M2 Pro which will sit above that entry-level PC, but below the Mac Studio. That three-pronged approach makes sense in effectively giving buyers a trio of options at the low, mid-range and higher-end of the spectrum.
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The Google Pixel Tablet is taking its time on the journey between the first reveal of the device (May 2022) and it actually being available to buy (sometime in 2023), and that means a wide window of opportunity for leaks and rumors to appear.
As spotted by the team at 9to5Google, we may have been given our first look at the software running on board the Pixel Tablet, via a blog post on keyboard shortcut updates that are coming to the Google Keep app on Android.
It's difficult to know for sure, but it makes sense that Google engineers would already be using the tablet internally, and the size of the GIF scales up to the expected Pixel Tablet screen resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels.
Details, details
The animated image doesn't tell us too much about how the Pixel Tablet is going to look in terms of its software, but we can see a docked row of icons along the bottom of the screen, and the familiar Android status bar along the top.
That status bar is bigger than it would normally be on an Android phone, making room for what looks like a Google account switcher button – enabling you to quickly jump between different users on the device.
The green and black color scheme matches some of the promotional material that Google has already put out as well, further evidence that this image has indeed been grabbed from a Pixel Tablet running Android 12L.
Analysis: what we know so far
When it comes to what we know so far about the Google Pixel Tablet, we've got a mixture of officially confirmed details plus a few unofficial leaks and rumors. For example, Google has itself said that the tablet will use the same Tensor G2 chipset that runs the Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro phones.
We also know that there will be a Charging Speaker Dock accessory available for the Google Pixel Tablet, which will charge up the slate and also turn it into something of a smart hub for the home – much like the Google Nest Hub, in fact.
When it comes to unconfirmed rumors, a 10.95-inch screen, Wi-Fi 6, and internal storage options of 128GB and 256GB have been mentioned. There has also been chatter that the tablet is going to come fitted with 4GB of RAM.
Those leaks suggest something a bit more mid-range rather than premium, but we'll have to wait and see to know for sure. Google has told us that the device is going to make an appearance at some point in 2023 – we can't be more precise than that, but considering it was announced in May 2022, we're expecting it sooner rather than later.
It’s the season of major computer hardware releases, with everything from new laptops and PCs to new graphics cards and processors.
And as we saw with our recent Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 and Intel Core i9-13900K reviews, this new crop of gaming hardware is more powerful than we could have imagined before we got our hands on it all and tested it. But there is one thing that is also undeniable: the best graphics cards are increasingly more expensive than the average consumer in even the wealthiest western nations can afford, much less gamers in the global south – assuming they aren’t simply ignored by major product launches entirely.
In many ways, this is at the heart of the disappointment around the end of Google Stadia. For all its faults, it did allow gamers who were priced out of the best gaming PCs to play games like Cyberpunk 2077, and experience these games along with the fortunate few who managed to grab one of the even the best cheap graphics cards during the past couple of years.
With the shutdown of Stadia, one might draw the conclusion that cloud gaming itself had failed, but I think that would be a serious mistake. Cloud gaming’s success was always going to be tied to the speed of a user’s internet connection, and despite a frustrating delay, the rollout of 5G networks around the world will finally put cloud gaming services in the position to succeed.
Cloud gaming is primed to be 5G’s ‘killer app’
(Image credit: YouTube)
Every cellular telecommunication network generation had a single app or service that came to define it, the so-called “killer app.” First-generation mobile technology brought wireless voice communications to the masses, while the second-generation networks of the late 1990s and early 2000s gave us SMS texting. 3G networks powered the social media revolution on smartphone devices, and 4G LTE networks empowered streaming media like Spotify and Netflix.
What 5G’s killer app will be remains to be seen, but David Cook is all-in on cloud gaming. Cook is the CEO of Radian Arc, a cloud gaming infrastructure firm that’s partnering with AMD to lay the foundation for making cloud gaming a practical reality worldwide.
“We would sit in these meetings with the telecom operators, and they had all made huge investments in 5G,” Cook told me earlier this year, “And there were some very interesting applications that they would talk about, such as drones and self-driving cars. I would always smile and say, ‘yeah, I don’t see many of those out the window though I do believe it’s an important use case, but what we do know is that everyone is playing games’.”
When cloud gaming services like PlayStation Now, Google Stadia, and Nvidia GeForce Now first launched several years ago, even the best home internet services with wired fiber optic connections struggled to deliver the kind of experience that gamers were hoping for. Network bottlenecks would often cause games to lag or graphics quality to suddenly plummet, which has really caused cloud gaming adoption to stall. With 5G though, there is a much greater opportunity to take advantage of the significantly less congested 5G frequencies and provide a smoother gaming experience without sacrificing quality.
Improving AAA gaming access globally
(Image credit: Shutterstock / Dean Drobot)
There are literally billions of gamers around the world, and the market is only going to grow in the years ahead. But not all gamers have the same opportunity to enjoy the best PC games the way many of us take for granted. Many, if not most, gamers don’t even have a PC or console to play on, instead needing to rely on their phones or dedicated gaming cafes where they can play modern AAA titles using better hardware than they could buy themselves.
This is reflected in the economics of video games itself. Mobile gaming is far and away the largest segment of the global video game market – it’s not even close – whether you’re talking number of gamers or the revenue these games bring in. But gamers the world over aren’t playing Candy Crush over Elden Ring because they don’t care about the deeper gameplay experience that a modern PC or console game can provide, it really does come down to access.
“In territories like Latin America, Southeast Asia, India, and Africa, the use case is more mobile, but gamers still would love the ability to get access to better graphics and games on their mobile devices,” Cook said. “And same with the game publishers, the game publishers would love to have more creativity and more functionality in those games and be able to get that out across a wider range of mobile devices.”
Laying the groundwork for the cloud gaming revolution to come
Recently, one of our partners in Central Africa was literally on the phone, and the closest server they could reach...was in South Africa
David Cook, CEO Radian Arc
And while the physical interface a gamer might use to play could be anything from a smartphone to a Chromebook or even an older gaming PC, the key is to offload the actual hard work of rendering a game somewhere else and simply output the video to a network connection rather than an HDMI or DisplayPort cable.
Transmitting the visual output of a server to a client device is something we have been doing for literally decades, but gaming has been held back by the real-time, low input latency required to play a modern video game. 5G networks are the first telecom infrastructure that can provide that kind of responsiveness and network stability - all you have to do is look at the remote surgeries performed in recent years using 5G networks to see that.
All that’s missing now is the physical servers to actually run the game you’re playing remotely, but it won’t be missing for long. Already, companies like Radian Arc are moving GPU servers into telecom network centers to lay the groundwork for a proliferation of cloud gaming services.
“What we see is quite a difference in the market need in North America, Australia, or western Europe than what we see in places like Southeast Asia. Recently, one of our partners in Central Africa was literally on the phone, and the closest server they could reach, even for traditional mobile gaming, was in South Africa,” Cook said. “So getting these GPU servers inside some of these smaller telecoms, we suddenly open up a whole new world of functionality, on both sides with the consumers and the publishers.”
Getting gamers to the cloud
(Image credit: Google)
With the demise of Google Stadia and the fairly tepid adoption of cloud gaming services in the past few years, convincing gamers to make the move to cloud gaming is a genuine challenge. Many are going to be coming in with prejudice, prefering physical hardware they can hold, while others might have tried it in the past and been turned off by the experience.
Cook believes there’s a secret weapon in cloud gaming’s arsenal though: the telecom providers themselves.
“When we walk into a telecom,” Cook said, “we walk in and say we want to put the POP (point of presence) inside your network so that we can all have the benefits of low latency, scale, cost benefits, etc., but we also sit down with them and actually come up with a marketing plan to say, here’s how you market these games to this user base – kind of team up with them on that. Part of that marketing plan does include a controller, and that controller can be quite different. So, what you’ll see in a lot of those markets is an Android set-top box for the living room and we can run an application on that set-top box and create a similar game console-like experience.
“One thing that telecoms are really good at is selling those kinds of bundles,” Cook said, “selling hardware plus a data plan, or hardware, plus a data plan, plus a gaming plan, which is a really unique value proposition.”
This distributed, localized telecom network approach might be an unexpected asset for cloud gaming. Google Stadia was a single cloud gaming provider, so its demise was a significant blow to the cloud gaming industry. If Google or Nvidia are the sole providers of cloud gaming services, then cloud gaming will always be held back by the level of commitment to the project that a small handful of companies have.
By going through the telecoms most people already use, you might not get the kind of extensive catalog that Google could leverage, but you end up with more cloud gaming providers overall, which should help speed its adoption.
“So if you’ve got the GPU inside of the telecom network, you can really take advantage of scale. The new AMD GPUs can run twelve games per GPU. They’re very energy efficient, about 30% less power on a per-user basis. All those things really ought to make cloud gaming the potential killer app for the 5G rollout.”
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If you’re someone who loves the idea of an iPad but thinks even the iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) is still just too small, then Apple might have a solution in the works, as a new leak suggests the company is working on a gargantuan 16-inch iPad.
That’s according to The Information (via Phone Arena), who spoke to “a person familiar with the project,” and this new larger model will apparently go on sale in the last few months of 2023.
Apparently, the plan is to make the iPad even more laptop-like, with this 16-inch screen matching the size of Apple’s largest laptop: the 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021).
That extra screen real estate would have obvious benefits: more room to split-screen windows and, among other things, a bigger canvas for drawing with the Apple Pencil.
That said, if Apple really wants to make an iPad that’s more like a laptop, then there’s still work to do on the software side, as in our review of the 2022 iPad Pro, we found the new Stage Manager multitasking feature to be a little under-baked, and that iPadOS as a whole has workflow issues that hold it back from facilitating serious productivity.
In any case, this larger screen size will, of course, come at a cost – literally. While the report doesn’t mention a price, the iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) starts at $1,099 / £1,249 / AU$1,899, so a 16-inch Pro model would likely be significantly more expensive.
That said, the report doesn’t actually say whether this monster slate would be part of the Pro line, but we can’t imagine it would be a lower-end model, so presumably it will either be an iPad Pro or a new super-premium slate. Perhaps an iPad Pro Max or an iPad Ultra?
As ever, we’d take this leak with a pinch of salt, but Apple has clearly been trying to bridge the gap with its laptops for a while, so it’s believable that a larger iPad would be in the works to further that goal.
An iPad Pro 12.9 (2022)(Image credit: Future)
Analysis: this isn’t the first time a larger iPad has been leaked
While this is the first we’ve heard of a 16-inch iPad specifically, there are already previous leaks suggesting that we might see an iPad that’s bigger than 12.9 inches.
Mark Gurman – who has a very solid track record for Apple information – claimed back in 2021 that bigger iPads were being developed, then followed that up with a claim that we might see a 15-inch model. More recently we heard from another source that a 14.1-inch model was in the works.
With multiple sources pointing towards larger iPads, it seems very likely that at least one is coming. But which of these sizes it will be – or whether we’ll see several new sizes contending to be among the best iPads – is unclear.
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We’ve been fans of Boox ereader and tablet devices from Onyx for a while now, especially the Boox Nova Air C, one of our picks for best ereader. The Air C has a color LCD layer on top of the black and white E Ink, but now, the company is pushing its E Ink even closer to full-featured tablet territory by adding features we normally expect on a tablet such as the iPad 10.9.
The Onyx Boox Tab Ultra is a 10.3-inch E Ink tablet with a 16MP camera on the back, a feature we would never expect paired with an E Ink display. E Ink is very slow to refresh, but Onyx has done tremendous work making the Boox Tab Ultra move as fast as possible. The tablet features a Qualcomm 8-core processor and a GPU that Onyx says was custom-made for faster refresh rates on its screen.
The 16MP camera on the Boox Tab Ultra(Image credit: Onyx)
The camera won’t be used for normal photography, we suspect. Instead, Onyx touts the sensor’s ability to photograph and scan documents, which is more in keeping with the technology. We’re curious how well the E Ink handles the viewfinder tasks with the camera.
Onyx says the Boox Tab Ultra builds off of the Note Air 2 Plus spec, and we found the Note Air 2 to be an excellent digital note-taking device. The Boox Tab Ultra gets a stylus, and Onyx wisely sticks with Wacom-style EMR technology, a much better choice than going with proprietary tech, like Apple and Microsoft prefer. Samsung uses this technology in its S Pen stylus.
The tablet strangely runs Android 11, putting it two generations behind the latest Android 13 release. It seems doubtful to expect such a unique offering will get regular updates, but hopefully Onyx manages to keep the Tab Ultra secure.
The Boox Tab Ultra gets 4GB of RAM, which should be plenty to drive apps on the monochrome display, and 128GB of storage. Don’t worry about the lack of space, because Onyx happily provides a microSD card slot.
The Boox Tab Ultra will launch on the Boox online store on October 27. The tablet will cost $599.99 in the U.S.. Pricing in our other favorite markets is not yet available.
Onyx Boox Leaf 2(Image credit: Onyx)
In addition to the Tab Ultra, Onyx is also updating some of its other popular E Ink tablets. The Nova Air 2 updates the Boox Nova Air that we called “cute-looking, super-slim and incredibly flexible 7.8-inch device for digital note-takers on the go.”
The new device has a 7.8-inch E Ink display, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage space, plus it supports the Onyx Pen Plus stylus. The Nova Air 2 will cost $399.99 in the US, though we’re still awaiting pricing in other markets.
The Onyx Boox Leaf 2 updates the company’s simpler line of ereading devices. Rather than a stylus, this device is for reading and gets updates with page turning buttons. It has a 7-inch display, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and a microSD card slot. The Leaf 2 sells for $199.99 in the US – again, pricing in other markets isn’t available just yet.
The new iPad 10.9 (2022) and the two new iPad Pro models are available in stores starting today. The new tablets are expensive, but our reviews found them to be among the best iPads Apple has ever made. The base model iPad gets a complete redesign, while the iPad Pro 11 (2022) and iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) get the laptop-class Apple M2 chip.
The iPad 10.9 starts at $449 / £499 / AU$749 for a 64GB model with Wi-Fi only, which would be fine for web browsing and streaming movies and shows. If you plan on downloading a lot of games and shows for taking the tablet on the go, you’ll want to upgrade to 256GB of storage, which will run you $599 / £679 / AU$999; a hefty increase.
(Image credit: Future)
If you’re also interested in picking up an Apple Pencil to go with your new iPad, remember that the new iPad 10.9 only works with the older Apple Pencil, not the second generation stylus. If you have a Pencil already, you’ll need to pick up the USB-C adapter to charge it, as the new iPad uses USB-C instead of Lightning (one of the reasons we recommend buying an older iPad Air 4 over this new model).
The new iPad Pro comes in two sizes. We got a chance to review the iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) at launch, and our editor Matt Bolton said it was “Apple's biggest and boldest iPad to date, with a new M2 chipset that serves up more power than 99% of us will ever need.” The tablet at the top of Apple’s lineup starts at $1,099 / £1,249 / AU$1,899.
Sadly, you’ll definitely need to upgrade the storage on the iPad Pro to at least 256GB, because the new ProRes video recording feature is weakened if you don’t. If your iPad Pro 11 or 12.9 has only 128GB of storage, it will only record ProRes at Full HD resolution, not in 4K. The 4K video files are around 7GB per minute.
There are also new accessories for the iPad, including the unusual split-design Apple Magic Keyboard Folio. The Folio is actually a back protector for the iPad 10.9 with a fold-out stand, and a separate keyboard that covers the front as well. The new Magic Keyboard costs more than half as much as an iPad, so it’s a premium addition, for sure.
Apple iPad Air (2022)(Image credit: Future)
Now that the new models have hit the market, it’s a fine time to start scoping out some great iPad deals. There is still a month to go before Black Friday, so it’s possible we could see a tiny little discount on these new models as a late Black Friday iPad deal or maybe a Cyber Monday special.
If these new iPads don’t float your boat, check out the iPad Air (2022). That device gives you plenty of what you like about the look and feel of the new iPad 10.9, but with a more premium finish and a faster processor inside. All of these devices have earned their place on our list of the best tablets you can buy.
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Off the back of new entry-level iPads and iPad Pros being released on October 18, non-US markets have seen a significant price increase for the existing iPad mini models on Apple’s website.
In the UK the 64GB iPad Mini is now listed at £569, up from £479, while the 256GB model now costs £749 from £619. All in all that's a 19%-21% increase, which is no small amount. Similar price hikes can be seen across the EU market, and no explicit reason for this has been given by Apple as of yet.
Raising the prices of the existing iPad models to make the newer versions appear more budget-friendly is bad news for non-US consumers and not particularly consumer-friendly in general. The same thing happened not too long ago with the iPhone SE when the iPhone 14 was released, though at a smaller scale in comparison.
There seems to be a pattern emerging here, with Apple dropping new products on us with heavier and heavier price tags. In our review of this year's M2 MacBook Air, we made a note of the startling new asking price for the MacBook Air compared to the MacBook Air M1 when it launched in 2020. It will be interesting to see if this trend will continue across new launches and products in the future and if we should get accustomed to dreading a new product dropping with the suspicion that its predecessors will become more expensive.
The scary thought creeps in and we have to wonder: will MacBooks and iPads continue to go up in price from here on out, and by how much each time? With rumors flying around that we might be getting a new fleet of MacBooks any day now, this costly consistency does not bode well for those of us itching to get a new MacBook anytime soon.
Analysis: If you want a cheap Apple device, wait until Black Friday
If MacBooks are indeed getting more expensive - does it make sense to buy one now? With Black Friday approaching, there’s a good chance that we’ll see prices drop for existing MacBooks. A cheap MacBook is a relative thing - they're not inexpensive laptops at the best of times - but now more than ever are you likely to find the best MacBook for you at a less painful price.
In fact, if Apple does indeed announce new laptops, perhaps followups to the MacBook Pro 14-inch and MacBook Pro 16-inch, Black Friday could be a superb time to get the older models, as retailers clear stock ahead of the newer versions going on sale.
Buying a new MacBook or any big tech purchase so close to Black Friday is risky, as you don’t want to risk buying something that ends up getting a price cut a few weeks later. We have a feeling there will be plenty of Black Friday MacBook deals later this year - so more expensive iPads might not be the awful news you might have expected.
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If you’re enticed by one of the brand-new iPads then you’re probably weighing up the benefits of getting an official keyboard or an Apple Pencil for it too. Well, we’re here to tell you that’s a terrible idea – you should get Logitech’s cheaper versions instead.
Apple has finally shown off the new iPad (10th-generation) and two M2 iPad Pro tablets, and alongside them Apple has launched a brand new Magic Keyboard too. This stand-plus-keyboard hybrid makes it easier to use your iPad like a laptop but it comes at a pretty high cost. On top of the price of Apple’s tablet you’ll have to shell out $249, $299 or $349 / £279, £319 or £379 / AU$399, AU$489 or AU$579 for a compatible keyboard for the iPad (10th-generation), the iPad Pro (11-inch, M2) or iPad Pro (12.9-inch, M2) respectively.
Thankfully, for those of you after the convenience of a keyboard and case to keep your shiny new iPad safer, there’s a great solution that isn’t as bank-breaking. Logitech produces its own iPad-compatible accessories that do exactly the same stuff, for a fraction of the cost.
(Image credit: Logitech)
Right now on Apple’s official store, you can find the Logitech Combo Touch Keyboard Case with Trackpad for the new iPad Pros. While still not the cheapest accessory in the world it’ll only set you back $199.95 or $229.95 / £219.95 or £239.95 / AU$299.95 or AU$349.95 for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch compatible options respectively.
Additionally, you can head to Logitech’s own store and grab a Combo Touch for the iPad (10th generation) for $160. If you’re happy to forgo a trackpad for your iPad (10th generation) then you could alternatively opt for Logitech’s Slim Folio keyboard case ($100) or the Rugged Folio keyboard case ($140). They’re currently not available on Logitech’s UK and Australian stores but we’re finding out when and if this will change.
It’s not just cases that Logitech makes though, it also makes its own Apple Pencil. The Logitech Crayon (which is a great name by the way) promises to deliver pixel-precise drawing on any iPad with a USB-C connection, and it even uses the same tech as the actual Apple Pencil. If you want to pick up this digital stylus it will set you back $69.95 / £69.95 – it’s not currently available in Australia.
The Logitech Crayon; it looks just as sleek as an Apple Pencil(Image credit: Logitech)
Logitech’s add-ons aren’t a must-buy for every iPad owner – some people don’t need a fancy stylus or a keyboard they just want a simple-to-use tablet – but if you’re planning to get an official iPad keyboard case or Apple Pencil then we’d seriously suggest you get one of these products instead.
Sure these accessories aren’t Apple-made, but considering they’re sold on Apple’s store they’re about as official as third-party add-ons can get.
However, if you're still dead-set on getting the proper Magic Keyboard for your iPad, then be sure to check out our guide for the best iPad Pro Magic Keyboard deals to make sure you're getting one for the best price. Plus, we've got all the new iPad preorders and iPad Pro M2 preorders info you need right here.
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We’re already up to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, but the first foldable iPhone might still be years away, with a new report suggesting that it won’t land before 2025 at the earliest, with a foldable iPad instead landing first, in 2024.
That’s according to analyst firm CCS Insight (via CNBC), which argues that right now, a foldable tablet makes more sense for Apple than a foldable phone.
Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, told CNBC that there are two reasons for this. Firstly, a foldable iPhone "would have to be incredibly expensive in order to not cannibalize the existing iPhones,” with the firm predicting a price of at least $2,500 (around £2,220 / AU$3,970).
Secondly, there’s a chance that Apple’s first foldable device will have technical issues, and Apple wouldn’t want to risk that with a device as high profile as an iPhone, since it could lead to a “feeding frenzy” from critics.
Yet Wood does think a foldable device of some kind is coming, “because the trend toward foldables is gathering momentum.” And as well as a foldable iPad being a lower risk proposition than a foldable iPhone, it would also help “breathe new life” into the iPad range.
These are broadly compelling arguments, but it sounds like they’re more educated guesses than inside information, so we’d certainly take all of this with a pinch of salt.
Still, plenty of sources and even patents suggest that Apple is exploring foldable devices, so it’s likely only a matter of time before one gets released, be it a phone or a tablet, and it’s also obvious that whatever foldable Apple does launch will be extremely expensive.
The iPad Pro 2022 doesn't seem like much of an upgrade(Image credit: Apple)
Analysis: ahead of the game on tablets
While not mentioned here, a foldable tablet could also prove a very compelling option for buyers, as it’s something that other companies aren’t yet offering.
If Apple does launch a foldable iPad in 2024 then it will likely be among the first companies to offer a foldable slate, so it probably won’t have much competition.
The iPad line is also arguably in more need of fresh ideas than the iPhone. This year Apple offered a new design for the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, coupled with new forms of interaction powered by the Dynamic Island, but for the iPad Pro 2022, which was just announced, the most significant change was simply a new chipset, making that a rather boring upgrade.
For now, the best iPads rank among the best tablets, but Apple will need to shake things up sooner or later if it’s going to maintain its top tablet position.
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Apple has announced an update to its iPad Pro that will bring the powerful Apple M2 chip from the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) to the tablet. The new Pro tablet won’t get the fancy colors of the new iPad 10th Gen models, but it does get some fancy new capabilities for the Apple Pencil 2, as well as enhancements to the media recording and playback, thanks to the M2. The iPad Pro is available now for pre-order, and will be in stores on October 26.
The iPad Pro is powered by the Apple M2 chip, which will include new image processing and media engines that enable enhanced video capture and editing. The iPad Pro will be able to capture ProRes video, but the cameras themselves have not received an upgrade from the Pro Camera array of the last model. You still get the same 12MP main camera and 10MP ultra-wide lens, with a 12MP selfie camera up front.
(Image credit: Apple)
The Apple Pencil 2 gets some new tricks with the updated iPad Pro. When the pencil is 12mm above the screen and closer, the iPad Pro can detect its presence and enable new Hover features. These seem mostly geared towards art and drawing types, but Apple says the iPad Pro will grow a text box when it detects the pencil, giving you a larger space to write.
The new iPad Pro will convert writing to text more quickly, thanks to the performance of the new Apple M2 chip. The processing cores will only be 15% faster, which is an unnoticeable upgrade, but there will also be more dramatically improved Neural Engine performance. The Neural Engine is the part of the chipset that handles machine learning tasks, which includes tasks such as speech recognition and handwriting detection.
(Image credit: Apple)
Apple has made significant upgrades to the networking capabilities of the iPad. The new tablets will support Wi-Fi 6E, a ‘fast lane’ flavor of Wi-Fi 6 that uses its own radio band. Even the iPhone 14 Pro lacks this Wi-Fi capability, though other new phones like the Google Pixel 7 Pro support it. The iPad Pro also gets more radio bands for 5G compatibility.
The iPad Pro is a pricey beast, sitting at the top of Apple’s sizable tablet pyramid. The 11-inch model starts at $799, or you can get it with 5G networking for $999. For the 12.9-inch iPad Pro you pay $1099 to start, or $1299 with 5G.
The 12.9-inch iPad Pro gives you a more advanced display than the 11-inch iPad Pro. You get Apple’s XDR brand, which includes mini-LED backlighting with local dimming. Both displays have the same 264ppi pixel density.
Analysis: An iPad Pro update to support an advanced OS
The iPad Pro update is not the most exciting. The processor is only marginally faster. The pen hover features are similar to what we saw on the Samsung Galaxy Note II phone way back in 2012, and we didn’t find them very useful then, either. So what’s new?
The Apple M2 chip isn’t a braggy chipset, but it will provide support for major new features coming in iPad OS 16.1. The new Stage Manager feature will make multitasking useful on iPad, a historic struggle. New external display support will let you connect a monitor to an iPad, instead of just using the iPad as an external display.
Apple has been saying that the iPad is a full-blown computer for a long time, now we’re seeing them creep closer and closer through the updated OS. Of course all of the new iPads will get the same iPadOS, but the new iPad Pro will just do a better job at the things that help the iPad tablet approach iPad desktop status.
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Today's the day that Apple finally showcases a new range of iPads to the world (if rumors are to be believed); more specifically the first batch of the company's tablets to sport its upgraded M2 chipset, which itself debuted in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from earlier this year, in June.
The M2 iPad Pro range serves as a direct follow-on from last year's models, both of which utilized Apple's M1 chipset and could be had with an 11-inch or a 12.9-inch display.
While both models boasted 120Hz, only the larger Pro boasted a Mini LED display; a technology many are hoping trickles down to this year's 11-inch model too.
Without further ado, here's everything on the new iPads, as it happens.
(Image credit: Apple)
Good Morning (or afternoon, depending on where you're tuning in). All signs point to Apple releasing it's new iPads any time now, with the Apple Store buy pages for iPads set to 'be right back' and Tim Cook throwing out a tempting tweet.
Let's dive in.
(Image credit: Future / Josephine Watson)
The iPad's ability to facilitate a range of digital creatives wasn't lost on TechRadar's managing editor for Lifestyle - Josie Watson, who's also an artist in her spare time.
The possibilities are endless. #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/msmJg865trOctober 18, 2022
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Here's that tweet from Tim Cook we mentioned. '#TakeNote' is the slogan for today's announcement and as the included video pinch-zooms through what first appears to be an endless tunnel of animated doodles, you'll start to notice clues about what Apple's focus will be today.
Zooms in on Apple Pencil. Detects no obvious change pic.twitter.com/s603Q9WoTGOctober 18, 2022
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Our US Editor in Chief, Lance Ulanoff is practically pixel-peeping to figure out whether this is secretly an Apple Pencil 3 in Cook's post, or just the company's current-generation stylus. At a glance, it looks like the latter, sadly.
(Image credit: Future)
Whether you're already tempted by the current iPad lineup or are holding out hope for the potential price drop on the new iPads we're expecting today, keep your eyes peeled on our Best iPad Deals roundup, which is constantly being updated to bring you the best prices on Apple's prized slates.
We were hoping for Apple to drop the announce its new slates just over an hour ago and 60-minutes later, still nothing from Apple's newsroom. All that means, however, is go time is edging that much closer - maybe things'll be difference in 50 minutes time...
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If you’ve been holding out for a new model of the iPad Pro then your wait might almost be over, as it looks likely that the iPad Pro 2022 line will be announced sometime today (October 18).
That’s according to Mark Gurman, who has an excellent track record for Apple information, and while he’s the only source specifically pointing to today, others suggest the launch should be imminent too.
Multiple leakers have said that the iPad Pro 2022 will land in October, for example, and Gurman has also noted that most iPad Pro configurations are now out of stock at many Apple stores across the US; with shipping estimates slipping into November for some models online.
In case it wasn’t obvious with the “days away” wording from Saturday, the launch should be tomorrow. https://t.co/moc5PU8hLkOctober 17, 2022
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That’s notable because Apple would be unlikely to have stock issues with these models, so the fact that the company has allowed them to go out of stock suggests they’re about to be replaced.
And on top of all that, Apple has a tendency to announce new products on Tuesdays, with the iPad Pro 2021 line announced on a Tuesday, for example. As such, while we can’t be certain that today is the day when we’ll see the iPad Pro 2022 line, it’s looking very likely, and if not today then we’ll probably see these slates very soon anyway.
Analysis: a new basic iPad and iPadOS 16.1 as well
The iPad Pro 11 (2022) and iPad Pro 12.9 (2022) might not be the only things Apple is about to announce, as leaks suggest we’ll see a new standard iPad (2022) as well, so there could be new options at both ends of Apple’s tablet line.
Plus, we’re still waiting for the finished release of iPadOS 16 – or rather iPadOS 16.1, as Apple is jumping straight to that for the final release. Leaks suggest that this will land in October, and announcing it alongside new hardware would make sense.
Of course, the actual shipping date of these new best iPad contenders and the availability of iPadOS 16.1 might come a bit later, but at the very least we might have those dates soon too. Don’t expect a big affair for this though – leaks suggest today’s announcement – if it happens in the next few hours – will be done via press release.
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Apple’s new MacBook Pro models which will theoretically debut with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips won’t be out this month, but should arrive before the end of the year, according to the grapevine.
This comes from one of the more reliable sources on all matters Apple, Mark Gurman (and his ever-present Bloomberg newsletter), in which among other things he claims that the new iPad Pros are imminent (excitingly), but the MacBook Pros aren’t (less excitingly).
But the good news is that the MacBook Pros with the M2 Pro and M2 Max silicon – which are the pepped-up takes on the M2, just as was the case with the M1 which came with these variants later on – are “on track to launch in the near future”.
Gurman theorizes that the most likely time for these revamped laptops to arrive is November, because as the leaker points out, that has traditionally been when new Mac hardware is unleashed. It certainly sounds like he believes they’ll be here before the year is out, at any rate; with all the usual skepticism around rumors applied. (Although it’s worth remembering that this isn’t the only time we’ve recently heard speculation about these MacBook Pros turning up before 2022 is out).
Gurman notes that the first version of macOS Ventura adds support for these incoming MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch notebooks.
Also on the Mac front, Gurman asserts that Apple is currently working on a new version of the Mac mini which will have the M2 chip inside.
Analysis: Minimal changes, minimal fuss…
The major change for these MacBook Pro laptops will be the addition of those beefier processors, and Gurman observes that other than this, any differences with these devices will be minimal. So don’t expect much apart from the upgrade for the engine of the MacBook Pro 14-inch and 16-inch.
This will be a low-key launch, the leaker believes, simply because there aren’t any huge moves to be seen with the hardware which would make it worthy of some big glitzy event (or even a small moderately showy event).
Also worth noting is that Gurman says he doesn’t expect the MacBooks to come alongside the iPad Pro imminently, but that doesn’t mean Apple couldn’t pull a surprise move and wheel them out. So, you never know, the laptops might just turn up early than anticipated (or for that matter, the iPad Pro models may come later).
As for the Mac mini, an M2 version fits with Gurman’s previous rumors in which he claimed Apple was working on an M1 Pro-toting spin on the compact PC (for a launch late in 2021, or early 2022), but dropped that idea in favor of using the M2 chip instead.
Previously the idea was seemingly that there’ll be a Mac mini with vanilla M2, and also a model with the M2 Pro, which makes sense in terms of slotting those alongside the Mac Studio (the latter being at the top-end). But we shall see, and Gurman doesn’t mention what chips might be employed this time round.
Apple is running out of months to get its 2022 iPad Pros launched actually in 2022, but they're said to be arriving "in a matter of days" – and Apple is also said to be working on a new role for all of its iPad tablets.
This comes from the usually reliable Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, who says the refreshed 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros are going to be running the latest Apple M2 processor for a performance boost of around 20%. The design is said to be similar to the current 11-inch iPad Pro and 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Gurman says the new tablets won't warrant an actual event – matching previous predictions – and while he says a new entry-level iPad with USB-C and a revamped design is also in the works, he doesn't specify when this will appear (we think it might show up at the same time as the iPad Pros).
Extra smarts
Gurman has another interesting piece of iPad information to divulge: Apple is apparently also working on an iPad dock accessory that will turn its tablets into smart displays. It's not going to launch this month, but it might be unveiled at some point next year.
This is a market category we've been expecting Apple to jump into for a while now: earlier leaks (also from the same source, by the way) had pointed towards a HomePod with a display, or an Apple TV 4K with a display, and now it seems Apple might be coming at the product from a different angle.
It matches the approach that the Google Pixel Tablet is taking. When the budget slate finally does show up, we know it's going to come with an accessory that will essentially turn it into a Google Nest Hub when the tablet is docked.
Analysis: blurring the smart speaker lines
It's no surprise really that Apple is plotting to launch a dock that turns the iPad into a smart display – it's an idea so obvious even we've thought of it. The iPad already comes with the Home app and Siri on board, so all the basics are there: all that's needed is a power source and some extra audio oomph.
As we've mentioned, it's an approach Google is taking with its Pixel Tablet, but Amazon is already there – the Amazon Fire HD slates come with accessories that turn the tablets into Echo Show displays when they're docked. It's just a question of a few interface tweaks.
It means your tablet can do all the tablet-y things it needs to while you're carrying it around the house, while also doing double-duty as a home hub screen when you're busy with something else – it's not as if many of us take our tablets out of the home.
The only problem is these smart-displays-that-are-really-just-docked-tablets might need a new name – to distinguish them from smart displays where you can't detach the screen – so any suggestions are welcome. Presumably battery-powered smart displays that can be carried around would be the logical next step...
If you own a recent iPad, iPadOS 16.1 is something you're going to want to know about – it's the next version of Apple's iPad software, and it's coming to most iPads later in the year.
This new version of iPadOS was launched at Apple's annual WWDC 2022 conference, which is where the company shows off its new operating systems – iOS 16 was the biggest upgrade showcased with a new lock screen and more.
iPadOS 16.1 is the fourth generation of the tablet OS since Apple spun it off from its iOS smartphone operating system – although iPadOS 16.1 does share many features in common with iOS 16.
Recently Apple announced that iPadOS 16.1 would instead launch later in 2022 instead, with more time needed to improve upon Stage Manager, its new take on multitasking on the tablet. There's a rumored release date of October 24, but we'll be sure to update you as to whether this rings true.
Upgrades include improved collaboration tools, including a new joint markup app, and new features to make the iPad experience closer to that of working on a computer. The public beta is still available, but be aware - it's an early version so it may be prone to bugs.
Below we've covered all the features Apple announced on-stage, as well as details on when iPadOS 16.1 will roll out, and who can get it.
iPadOS 16.1: Cut to the chase
What is it? The latest big update for iPads
When does it come out? Allegedly October 2022, but the public beta is available
How much does it cost? It's free
iPadOS 16.1 release date
The iPadOS 16.1 developer beta and public betas are already available, but the full rollout will be later this year. In a rare move, Apple delayed iPadOS 16.1 until October in order to give it more polish - with the new Stage Manager feature in particular needing attention.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
iPadOS 16 compatibility
So which iPads will get iPadOS 16? Here's the official list that Apple has provided.
If you need to check what iPad you have, go into the Settings app, select the About option then find Model Name.
iPad (fifth generation) and newer
iPad Mini (fifth generation) and newer
iPad Air (third generation) and newer
Every iPad Pro model
It should come as no surprise that Apple's current iPad portfolio makes up some of the best tablets in the business but thanks to entries like the 2021 iPad 10.2, even some of the best cheap tablets benefit from the latest and greatest features iPadOS 16.1 has to offer.
iPadOS 16.1 features
Here's what you need to know about the iPadOS 16.1 update:
iPadOS 16.1 borrowed features
Lots of iPadOS 16.1 features are ones that are primarily iOS 16 features and expanded upon.
Another comes from Apple Maps - you'll be able to create a route in the app on your iPad and then send it to your iPhone – so you'll be able to plan a journey more easily on a big screen before viewing it on the smaller one.
You'll also be able to schedule emails to be sent at a certain time, retract emails you've just sent, and set reminders for emails you don't want to deal with straight away.
Apple's new Weather app is also coming to iPad and macOS Ventura, expanding on its iOS 14 debut. It showcases an expanded layout, letting you look at more information on the tablet's display, such as predicted rain, detailed maps for temperature and more.
Another new app coming to iPad is Reference Mode, which is designed to keep your iPad's screen colors in sync with those of monitors and other displays, which would be useful for color graders – though Apple didn't go into much detail.
(Image credit: Future)
iPadOS 16.1 collaboration features
Improved collaboration features are a big focus for the next iPad update.
Now, when you share a document (from certain apps) with your friends or co-workers, you'll shared the actual document, rather than a copy of it – this makes it easier for collaborators to make edits together.
You can also use FaceTime to work on these documents with other people, by sharing links and files across the video calling platform. Among other things this should make it super0convenient to use Freeform, another feature which we'll get to later.
iPadOS 16.1 desktop focus
A new multitasking method is coming to iPadOS in the form of Stage Manager, which gives you desktop-like functionality – you can have overlapping windows, you can move all your background apps to the side to see them in one list, and you can resize windows.
This feature will be available to iPads released from 2018 onwards, barring the iPad mini.
Apple has also pledged to upgrade more first-party apps to make them 'Desktop-class', although this seems to involve hundreds of tiny little tweaks, such as different ways to list files or view folders with different icons.
(Image credit: Future)
Thanks to Stage Manager, you can finally hook up your iPad to an external monitor. This will allow you to use Ulysses on your iPad for example, while viewing the Photos app on a connected monitor, but this feature has been delayed to a later release.
(Image credit: Apple)
iPadOS 16.1 Freeform
An upcoming app called FreeForm was announced, which is coming to iPadOS 16.1, and macOS Ventura later in the year. It's basically a joint digital message board, or a shared version of the Notes app, so multiple users can sketch and jot down ideas.
In its presentation, Apple showed lots of people drawing loads of different mind maps with sticky notes, colored lines and annotations – the Apple Pencil was shown as a useful tool for contributing to this kind of document.
If you've used Google Jamboard, this feels like Apple's equivalent, although since it works on a stylus-toting tablet it should be a little more convenient to use.
Gaming improvements in iPadOS 16.1
After detailing Mac's gaming prowess at WWDC 2022, Apple revealed that the iPad will get many of those features too.
This includes a feature called Metal 3, which automatically upscales gaming footage (basically boosting the framerate and resolution), and it should make iPadOS games feel a little bit more like console alternatives. Now we just need Fortnite back!
However, this also means that other games previously exclusive to the PC and Steam Deck are coming over to Apple's platforms, with No Mans Sky coming to iPadOS and macOS Ventura soon.
Game Center is getting an activity list, so you can see what your friends are doing – it's similar to the features that exist in many other game networks like Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, so you can see, for example, if someone gets an achievement in a game, or has spent 20 hours playing a certain title.
Finally, it's now easier to instantly share links with your friends so they can join you in a multiplayer game.
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Acer has revealed a gaming-focused Chromebook which uses the power of the cloud to provide on-the-go games playing.
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE packs an Intel Alder Lake processor – up to Core i7 models (P series) – and that’s backed with 16GB of RAM (LPDDR4X) and up to a 256GB PCIe SSD for storage.
Running games will be facilitated by cloud gaming services, and that includes support for Nvidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and the Xbox Cloud Gaming product (still in beta).
One of the crucial elements will be the display, and Acer has equipped this Chromebook with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution IPS panel (boasting 100% coverage of the sRGB color gamut), plus it offers a 120Hz refresh rate (so can support frame rates of up to 120 fps).
Gamers also get the benefit of a backlit RGB keyboard that has anti-ghosting tech, and DTS audio is on-board too.
Acer claims a battery longevity of nine hours, but obviously take that with some caution, as battery life can vary considerably depending on a number of factors.
The Chromebook 516 GE is coming out in October in the US where pricing will start at $650. It’ll arrive in Europe in December at €999, with the gaming laptop hitting the UK in Q1 of next year (hopefully January) starting at £849.
(Image credit: Acer)
Analysis: Trading one set of demands for another
Naturally, any Chromebook can be a gaming laptop leveraging the power of the cloud – as the whole point is that makes the hardware irrelevant, to a point – but of course, there are other elements to a good gaming notebook. Such as the quality of the screen, and the inclusion of an impressive backlit keyboard and so forth, as Acer has packed in here.
This could be an interesting option for some, then, in terms of a relatively affordable gaming laptop – though the UK price looks disappointing compared to the US, we have to say. And you are trading out the demands on the hardware (like the requirement for a powerful GPU) to rely on the strength of your internet connection instead, as ever with cloud gaming.
Also, don’t forget to factor in the cost of subscribing to a cloud gaming offering, too. Although the good news on that front is you do get a free 3-month trial of GeForce Now and Luna with the laptop, to give them both a whirl.
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There was a gap of 18 months between the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8, and if a new report is to be believed then it's going to be the same sort of wait for the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9.
As per The Elec (via Android Police), Samsung is pushing back the release of the Galaxy Tab S9 in response to a sluggish market and a general economic downturn – although we don't get much indication of how long the delay might be.
It's not clear exactly when the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 might see the light of day, but the Galaxy Tab S8 was unveiled in February 2022. Presumably we won't see the new model make an appearance in February 2023.
Three models
The expectation is that there will be three models of the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, as with the Galaxy Tab S8: a standard model, a Plus model, and an Ultra model that boasts a gigantic 14.6-inch display.
But with tablet sales in decline at the moment – not least because of the global pandemic we've all been living through, plus financial constraints on a lot of consumers – it seems Samsung is going to wait a while longer before launching its new slate.
We haven't heard much else in the way of leaks and rumors when it comes to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9, but the usual speed and performance increases look likely, perhaps with some upgrades to the display technology as well.
Analysis: we need more high-end Android tablets
Potential delays to the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 are bad news for anyone in the market for a high-end Android tablet – although you can of course go for the Galaxy Tab S8, there aren't that many premium Android slates around at the moment.
The Amazon Fire tablets are good for those who want something affordable, and it looks as though the upcoming Google Pixel Tablet will be at the cheaper end of the spectrum as well – but what about people who have some serious money to spend?
With new iPad Pros expected this month, anyone who wants a premium Apple tablet is well catered for. It's a shame that there isn't much out there for those who prefer Google's mobile operating system on their devices.
Speaking of Google, it continues to make improvements to the Android experience on tablets, most recently with Android 12L. Let's hope as the software gets better, we see more hardware appear to take advantage of it.
The launch of the iPhone 14 and the Apple Watch 8 has come and gone, but Apple most likely isn't done with hardware in 2022 yet: the rumors are that we've got quite a few more new products to look forward to before the year is out.
Although we had an Apple event last October, this time around it's not clear if Apple will host an actual event; instead, it's being suggested that it will content itself with a flurry of press releases and online announcements.
However the unveilings are handled, we've got a pretty good idea of what's on the menu, thanks to multiple rumors and leaks over the past few months.
Read on, then, to find out about the Apple products that we think will appear this month, and what we know about them so far.
New iPads
The 11-inch iPad Pro 2021(Image credit: Future)
Apple's current entry-level tablet, the iPad 10.2 (2021), was launched in September last year, so we're now due a new one — and the iPad (2022) is duly being tipped to show up this month.
There's been talk that the iPad 2022 will at last ditch the range's outdated design, which still features a home button and thicker bezels, to bring the cheapest iPad in line with Apple's other slates. 5G support might also be added for the first time, and it could also get a faster processor.
We're also expecting to see new iPad Pro 2022 models show up. The existing iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) and iPad Pro 11 (2021) made their debuts back in April last year, so they've been around even longer than the entry-level iPad.
The good news is that the new models look like they'll be worth the wait. One rumors has tipped the iPad Pro 2022 to come with MagSafe, and multiple leaks suggest it will get an upgrade to Apple's M2 chipset.
We last got a new Apple TV 4K in April 2021, when it was unveiled alongside the new iPad Pros, and these two product lines seem set to be updated together again in October 2022. While TV streaming boxes don't necessarily need refreshing each and every year, the word is that Apple will indeed launch a Apple TV 4K (2022) very soon.
It might not actually be called that, though; there are signs in the latest tvOS software that the new Apple TV could support 8K video, in which case Apple is going to have to rebrand the device to match. While there's not a huge amount of 8K content around at the moment, that's definitely the direction we're heading in.
We'll have to wait and see what these rumored upgrades do to the price, though – the current model retails for $179 / £169 / AU$249, and though we've argued for a new, cheaper Apple TV model, there's no indication we'll get one any time soon.
New Macs and MacBook Pros
The 14-inch MacBook Pro 2021(Image credit: Future)
There are, of course, always new Macs and MacBooks in the pipeline at Apple, but based on launch patterns of the past, we think several models will probably be updated this month. Apple has already said that a new Mac Pro 2022 is in development, built on Apple silicon, and that's hardly a shock given that the current Mac Pro has been going since 2019.
Other Apple computers now due an update are the MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) and the MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021). Again, these laptops look set to be upgraded to the M2 chip, although as with this year's MacBook Pro 13-inch (2022), we might not see many other changes: the MacBook Pros have only just undergone a significant redesign, so we're expecting that Apple will stick with it for a while longer while.
A new HomePod
The original Apple HomePod from 2018(Image credit: Future)
And what of a new HomePod? The HomePod was officially discontinued in March 2021, but the smart speaker market continues to do brisk business, and there have been rumors that an Apple HomePod 2 is coming.
The original Apple HomePod was one of the best wireless speakers around, so Apple's decision to focus on the smaller (and cheaper) Apple HomePod mini was something of a surprise. The suggestion that a new version could be on the way is therefore welcome, and we're also excited about the rumors that have tipped it to come with a screen, in an evolution that matches what Amazon and Google have done with their own smart speaker lines.
Of course the HomePod mini is also due a refresh - it's nearly two years old now - and there have been leaks suggesting that we might get a refreshed version of that product, too. If a new model does appear, expect some upgrades in terms of the audio quality and features supported.
It's possible that we won't see all of these devices appear on the same day at the same time, especially if Apple doesn't bother with a dedicated event, but all of these products are now being heavily tipped to show up in October 2022. As soon as anything is made official, we will of course let you know.
