Uncovered Apple chip identifiers reveal surprising slate of unreleased iPads

Image: Apple

After the iPad Pro and iPad Air launch earlier this year, we’re still expecting a new 11th-gen iPad and iPad mini before the end of 2024. Now a new leak sheds some light on what they could be packing under the hood.

According to a reference in Apple’s backend code discovered by Nicolás Álvarez on X (via @aaronp613), the company is working on several new iPads that are likely to launch this fall, including:

iPad15,7: 11th-gen iPad (Wi-Fi)

iPad15,8: 11th-gen iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular)

iPad16,1: iPad mini 7 (Wi-Fi)

iPad16,2: iPad mini 7 (Wi-Fi + Cellular)

According to the identifiers, the 11th-gen iPad will sport an A16 processor—a decent upgrade from the A14 Bionic in the 10th-gen model—while the mini will get a newer A17 chip, also a two-generation bump. Apple could opt to put an A17 Pro in the mini if it wants it to run Apple Intelligence. Also spotted in the code are references to several seemingly scrapped iPads that were once in development but didn’t make it to production:

iPad13,20: “Base” A14 iPad (Wi-Fi)

iPad13,21: “Base” A14 iPad (Wi-Fi + Cellular)

iPad15,3: 11-inch M3 iPad Pro (Wi-Fi)

iPad15,4: 11-inch M3 iPad Pro (Wi-Fi + Cellular)

iPad15,5: 13-inch M3 iPad Pro (Wi-Fi)

iPad15,6: 13-inch M3 iPad Pro (Wi-Fi + Cellular)

Those first two models on the list are not the 10th-gen iPad (which also features an A14, but has the designators “iPad13,18” and “iPad13,19”). Rather, these appear to refer to a planned A14 update to the 9th-gen iPad, which was retired in May and was the last iPad with a Home button.

Additionally, the leak shows that Apple was indeed working on an M3 iPad Pro that we expected to launch this year. At its “Let Loose” event in May, however, Apple instead surprised us by leaping from the M2 to a brand-new M4 chip in the new iPad Pro. It wasn’t the first time a new chip made its debut in an iPad—the iPad Air got the A14 chip a month before the iPhone 12 due to Covid production issues—but it was the first time Apple chose to launch a new M-series chip in a non-Mac device.

Finally, there are 4 references to “iPad 17,” which seemingly refers to the M5 iPad Pro that will likely launch sometime in 2025 or early 2026.

Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld

Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.