Changes forecast for iPad Pro in '22 are coming next year: MagSafe support, 3nm chips, OLED panel

In March 2022, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman wrote that the next version of the iPad Pro coming that fall could be powered by a 3nm chipset and include support for MagSafe charging. Gurman, at least in this case, was absolutely wrong. Or perhaps we shouldn't say that he was wrong as much as he might have been a little early. Today MacRumors, citing a source that it says is familiar with companies that manufacture magnets for Apple products, says that the 2024 iPad Pro models might support MagSafe.

Apple is already reportedly looking at making some changes to its top-of-the-line tablets for 2024. We could see a slight increase in the screen sizes from 11-inch to 11.1-inch and 12.9-inch to 13-inch displays. More importantly, both tablets could feature the first OLED panels ever used in the history of the iPad. Currently, the 11-inch iPad Pro uses an LCD screen and the 12.9-inch model is equipped with a mini-LED backlit screen.

The 2024 iPad Pro could also feature a glass back, something that Gurman also mentioned as a possibility for the 2022 iPad Pro. With all of the other changes, it is possible that Apple decides to go with the glass back for the upcoming iPad Pro in order to support MagSafe wireless charging. The iPad Pro (2024) could also support the new 15W Qi2 wireless chargers that third-party manufacturers are making. The MagSafe wireless charger will give iPad users slower wireless charging options besides the faster wired USB-C charging option.

And with the iPad Pro (2024) expected to be powered by the 3nm M3 chipset, Gurman's 2022 call for that year's iPad Pro series which included MagSafe compatibility and a 3nm SoC, will finally come to fruition although it will come two years later than Gurman first expected.

There also has been a rumor that Apple will introduce a larger third iPad Pro model with a 14.1-inch mini-LED display. This speculation has been around for a few years and the 2024 displays are supposedly going to feature 3000 nits of peak brightness.

Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo expects mass production of the iPad Pro (2024) to take place in the first or second quarter of next year.