2026 iPad: Everything we know about Apple’s next entry-level tablet
The current iPad was released in March 2025, and while it’s a perfectly good iPad for most people, it’s the only iPad that doesn’t support Apple Intelligence. Apple is reportedly planning to update the iPad in 2026 to address that shortcoming. Here’s everything you need to know about the new iPad.
2026 iPad: Performance and specs
- A19 chip with 6-core CPU
- 5-core GPU
- N1 chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6
The major upgrade to the upcoming iPad will be a new chip, rumored to be the A19, the same processor that powers the iPhone 17. It’s a significant jump from the A16 in the current iPad—not only is the A19 faster, but it’s also compatible with Apple Intelligence.
The iPhone 17’s A19 chip has a 6-core CPU and a 5-core GPU. It’s likely Apple uses so-called “binned” A19’s with one fewer CPU or GPU core for the iPad, a technique it has implemented in the iPad mini and iPad Air.
The A19 comes with 8GB of RAM, about 30 percent more than the 6GB in the A16. The increase in RAM makes the upcoming iPad compatible with Apple Intelligence. Regardless of whether you decide to activate Apple Intelligence or not, the extra RAM will help with performance.
The A19 chip offers a 50 percent performance improvement over the A16.
Apple
With the iPhone 17 lineup and the iPhone Air, Apple introduced the N1, a chip used for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Thread wireless connectivity. The N1 will likely make its way into the new iPad, which could give the device a jump to Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 6.3, up from the current Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3. If you opt for one of the 5G models, you’ll probably get Apple’s C1 modem or some variant of it.
2026 iPad: Design and display
- Same LED display as A16 model
- Brightness, resolution are identical
- Same dimensions and thinness
The current iPad was released in 2022 with an 11-inch Liquid Retina display. We haven’t heard any reports about a change, so we expect the upcoming iPad to have the same 2360-by-1640 display with 500 nits of brightness.
With the same screen, the A19 iPad is also expected to have the same dimensions: 9.79 by 7.07 by 0.28 inches (248.6 by 179.5 by 7 millimeters) and weigh 1.05 pounds (477 grams).
Apple currently offers the iPad in four colors.
Apple
We haven’t heard anything about new colors, but since Apple hasn’t changed the color palette (blue, pink, yellow, silver) since its original release, it’s possible we get a couple of new options.
2026 iPad: Cameras
- 12MP rear camera
- 12MP Center Stage front camera
The A18 iPad has two 12MP cameras, with the front camera having support for Center Stage. Apple isn’t expected to make changes to the camera for the upcoming A19 iPad.
2026 iPad: Release date
Reports say the A19 iPad will be released in early 2026. The current A16 iPad was released in March 2025, so it seems like Apple could release the new iPad during the same time frame, possibly alongside the iPhone 17e.
2026 iPad: Price
After launching at $449 in 2022, Apple cut the price of the entry-level iPad to $349 in May 2024, and doubled the starting storage from 64GB to 128GB with the 11th-gen model. However, there are a few factors that could impact pricing this year: tariffs and the rising cost of RAM. Apple has yet to adjust the price of any of its products to reflect these additional costs, so it’s unclear if the ipad will be affected.