The 12th-generation iPad is shaping up to be a straightforward spec bump rather than a redesign. The headline addition is Apple Intelligence support, finally arriving on the entry-level iPad after the current 11th-generation model shipped with an A16 chip that couldn’t run it. Everything else stays largely the same: the thick bezels, the unlaminated display, and almost certainly the $449 starting price.
Release date: Q1 2027 at the earliest
Earlier this year there was some expectation that a new entry-level iPad could arrive before the end of 2026, but that timeline has since slipped. The device is now expected in the first quarter of 2027 at the earliest, putting it roughly two years after the 11th-generation model that launched in March 2025. Apple also has a new iPad mini expected by October 2026 and updated iPad Air and iPad Pro models lined up for the first half of next year, so the entry-level iPad appears to be last in the queue.
Chip: A18 or A19, with Apple Intelligence finally on board
The chip is the real story here, the 11th-generation iPad shipped with the A16, which lacks the 8GB of RAM required for Apple Intelligence, leaving the most affordable iPad as one of the few Apple devices that couldn’t run the company’s AI features at all. The iPad 12 is expected to use either the A18 or A19, both of which clear that 8GB threshold, which means every Apple Intelligence feature currently locked out on the current model should be available. RAM will reportedly increase from 6GB to 8GB to make that possible.
Price: $449, same as now
Apple raised the entry-level iPad’s starting price from $349 to $449 in June 2026, citing higher RAM costs, and there is no expectation that component prices will fall enough before launch to bring it back down. The iPad 12 is expected to hold at $449, which means buyers will be paying $100 more than they would have just a year earlier for what is still Apple’s most affordable tablet. Whether the Apple Intelligence support justifies that price depends largely on how much you actually use those features.
Design: no changes expected
There are no rumors of a redesign, so the iPad 12 should look identical to the current model: an 11-inch edge-to-edge Retina LED display with a Touch ID side button and notably thick bezels relative to the iPad Air and iPad Pro. The display remains unlaminated, with no ProMotion support and no P3 wide color. At 7mm, it is still Apple’s thickest tablet. Anyone holding out for a more significant hardware update will need to look at a different model in the lineup.
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 7 is possible, not confirmed
The 11th-generation iPad tops out at Wi-Fi 6, so an upgrade to Wi-Fi 7 would be a meaningful addition, opening up access to faster 6GHz networks for the first time on the entry-level model. This is tied to Apple’s N1 chip, which supports Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread networking for smart home devices. Apple may reserve the N1 chip for more premium devices, in which case the iPad 12 won’t see any connectivity improvements. Treat this one as speculative until Apple confirms otherwise.
The iPad 12 exists largely to correct the biggest oversight of the 11th generation: shipping a new iPad in 2025 without Apple Intelligence support was a strange call, and the 12th generation is built to fix that gap. The design, the display, and the price stay exactly where they were, which leaves the chip as the only meaningful reason to upgrade.
