While there will probably be a launch of the OLED iPad mini in late October, users face a long wait until early 2027 before they get to see a revised base-model iPad.
Apple is poised to hold a pair of events in October, with the smart home-centric one confirmed for October 13. A second is apparently planned for October 27 for new Macs and the OLED iPad mini, but it may be a little light on other iPad models.
In Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman writes that the later Mac and iPad event should be the last Apple launches of the year. That means a bunch of expected products will be bumped into early 2027 instead.
That list includes things like updates to the MacBook Air and MacBook Neo lines, the second-generation iPhone Air, and the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e. For iPads, the list includes the iPad Air and iPad Pro refreshes, and the entry-level iPad.
The claim is in line with Gurman's previous reporting in July, which also outlined an iPad mini update in October followed by Q1 2027 for the iPad. Again, iPad Air and iPad Pro updates were scheduled for the spring.
As for what to expect from the next entry-level iPad, code leaks in September pointed to the use of an A19 chip and 8GB of memory, making it capable of running Apple Intelligence. The model is also thought to have a C1X modem with sub-6GHz 5G support, as well as Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread thanks to the N1 networking chip.
Pricing is currently expected to be the same as the current model, starting at $449.
