Last week, Apple officially sent out invites for its live virtual event titled ‘Spring Loaded‘. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives has just released an investor note ahead of the event suggesting that in addition to the expected refresh to the iPad Pro, Apple will also announce a new iPad and iPad mini.
According to the analyst, the current work-from-home and remote education settings have inspired Apple to see a “major renaissance” of growth for the iPad lineup. He believes there is a ton of demand for iPads since an estimated 40% of users only upgraded their tablets in the past year.
Wedbush analyst suggests new iPad will be Apple’s main focus at the ‘Spring Loaded’ event
Ives expects the main focus to be iPad models and specifically refreshes to the iPad Pro, iPad mini, and low-cost iPad lineups. The analyst suggests the most notable upgrades will come to the 11-inch iPad Pro and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
For the iPad Pro models, Ives believes Apple will refresh them with a new A14X chipset, mini-LED displays with better color performance, dimming capabilities, and higher contrast. Furthermore, it is expected that Apple will increase the price for its iPad Pro models but the price for iPad mini and 10.2-inch iPad will stay consistent with previous models. From the note:
Taking a step back, in this WFH environment Apple has seen a major renaissance of growth from its iPad growth showing 40%+ YoY growth the last few quarters as more employees/students went through an iPad refresh. We estimate only ~40% of iPad users have gone through a refresh the last year with some clear pent-up demand that these new iPads will unleash in the next few quarters thus giving Apple another product tailwind… (emphasis his)
We believe Apple is heading into a robust period of growth led by its Services business, which saw considerable strength again in the March quarter based on our analysis. The services business we assign a $1.3 trillion dollar valuation range on a SOTP basis given the increasingly importance of this key revenue stream that is getting a new appreciation by investors as Cupertino further monetize its golden jewel installed base. While chip shortages linger, we believe Apple has a yellow brick road of growth ahead led by its iPhone supercycle and new product launches across its entire hardware ecosystem.
In addition to new iPads, Wedbush believes that “there could be a few surprises,” including new redesigned and colorful iMacs, a new Apple TV model, third-generation AirPods, an upgraded Apple Pencil, and the long-rumored AirTags item trackers. According to Ives, AirPods 3 will be hinted at Spring Loaded but the launch for the earbuds will likely take place at a separate event in early summer.
You can also stay tuned to our Facebook page, Twitter account, and ithinkdiff.com to be updated on the announcements and coverage of the upcoming event. What are your thoughts and expectations from this event? Let us know in the comments below!
Read Also:
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- iPad Pro updates from Apple’s Spring Loaded event to be ‘iterative’, says Mark Gurman
- Mini LED iPad Pro to be unveiled on April 20 at Apple’s ‘Spring Loaded’ event
