A big iPad Pro rumor dropped over the weekend that I didn’t see coming. A well-known Apple reporter said the OLED iPad Pro that will launch on May 7th will feature a new M4 System-on-Chip (SoC) instead of the expected M3 chipset.
As stunning as the claim might have been, I realized it made complete sense. The OLED iPad Pro delay, the special launch event, and the short period between the iPad event and WWDC 2024… the M4 upgrade explains it all. Also, reporter Mark Gurman said the M4 upgrade is all about generative AI coming to Apple’s ecosystem of devices. That’s what ties everything together.
However, while I saw these puzzle pieces making sense, we had no real evidence to support Gurman’s claim. Now, however, it turns out Apple might have provided the missing pieces via its own code. Findings in iPadOS 17.5 beta files indicate that Apple is indeed skipping a generation of M-series chips and moving straight to the M4 in its upcoming OLED iPad Pro.
A few weeks ago, 9to5Mac found display firmware for four unreleased iPad models in iPadOS 17.5 beta files under these identifiers: iPad16,3, iPad16,4, iPad16,5, and iPad16,6.
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We’re looking at four models, which probably account for the Wi-Fi and Cellular versions of the upcoming 11-inch and 13-inch OLED iPad Pro. That’s nothing out of the ordinary, but the codenames might hint at an M4 chip upgrade.
