The iPad 11 is coming with an A17 Pro chip, 8GB of RAM, and new AI features, but it's just a minor upgrade after a two-and-a-half-year wait.
Apple hasn't updated its cheapest iPad since October 2022, when it introduced the 10th-generation iPad, which brought significant improvements since its first launch in 2017. After two and a half years, the 11th-generation iPad is not expected to have many notable changes.
According to sources, the iPad 11 will only be upgraded in terms of specifications, similar to the iPad mini 7 launched last fall. Specifically, this new iPad model will switch from the A14 Bionic chip to the A17 Pro chip, upgrading from the chip launched in 2020 with the iPhone 12 to the latest chip launched in 2023 with the iPhone 15 Pro. This upgrade promises to improve CPU speed by about 40%. In addition, the system memory will also be increased from 4GB to 8GB, helping to improve multitasking and other functions.
One notable point is that the iPad 11 will be equipped with Apple Intelligence, bringing Apple's latest AI feature set to the low-cost iPad for the first time. These features include Genmoji, Image Playground, ChatGPT support, and a completely new version of Siri. However, there is no information about other notable upgrades. There could be a slight change in color, and Apple could upgrade the connectivity standards to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
Another potential feature is Stage Manager, which Apple introduced in iPadOS 16, which requires an iPad Pro A12X (or newer) or iPad Air M1 (or newer). While Apple hasn’t brought it to other iPad models yet, the A17 Pro chip and 8GB of RAM should offer better software performance than the A12X chip with 4GB of RAM.
Finally, despite the long gap between updates, the iPad 11 only brings a minor spec bump. One of the bigger improvements to the entire iPad lineup in 2024 was a move to landscape mode, but the base iPad model got that upgrade in 2022. We’re hoping Apple bumps the base storage from 64GB to 128GB to make it more appealing. The new iPad is expected to launch this spring.