A follow-up to last year's iPad Pro, now being dubbed the iPad Pro 2, will be released next year, according to renowned KGI Securities analyst Ming Chi-Kuo.
The expert claims that Apple will not only release the iPad Pro 2, but also a "low-cost" iPad at 9.7 inches and a new 10.5-inch iPad Pro for "commercial and education markets."
The iPad Pro 2 and the 10.5-inch iPad Pro are expected to be powered by the new A10X processor, which should be extra powerful owing to the 10nm process technology they will be built on.
A 10nm process-based processor should allow the iPad Pro 2 to take advantage of lower power consumption, thus prolonging its battery life while boosting its performance.
The low-cost 9.7-inch model will reportedly be fitted out with an A9X processor. Both the processors are to be supplied exclusively by TSMC.
As for the rest of the specs of the iPad Pro 2, Kuo had no more information to offer. However, rumors have it that the device is coming with the same storage configurations as the first one.
A 32GB version of the iPad Pro 2 is expected to still be the base model, although PC Advisor hopes that a 64GB should be the entry-level instead considering what the tablet caters to as well as its size.
Meanwhile, Kuo had something to say when it comes to the future of the iPad. He believes the sales will continue to decline but a big design change that Apple wishes to implement in 2018 could help.
He said that a "revolutionary iPad model" will be released in 2018, "with radical changes in form factor design [and] user behavior on adoption of flexible AMOLED panel," Kuo said via Macrumors.
"We believe iPad will follow in the footsteps of the iPhone by adopting AMOLED panel in 2018F at the earliest. If Apple can truly tap the potential of a flexible AMOLED panel, we believe the new iPad model will offer new selling points through radical form," he went on to say.
That being said, the iPad Pro 2 would sport a design not that different from its predecessor. However, users can expect improvements.
