New iPad Pro 2022 Rumours Surface – This Is What I Want

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We didn’t get a sniff of a new iPad Pro at the Peek performance event in March, did we? An M1-based iPad Air, yes, but no update to Apple’s most expensive tablet.

The last big update to the iPad Pro took place in 2018, when Apple reduced the bezels, removed the home button, and gave their premium iPad a brand-new squared-off look. It was a huge step forward… but that was quite a while ago, wasn’t it?

I have a rather complicated relationship with the iPad, but I am rather excited about what Apple could do next with the iPad Pro.

Given my incessant whinging about the presence of the M1 chip in the iPad, this might come as a surprise.

So, let me explain.

The iPad Pro 2022 rumour round-up

In Mark Gurman’s latest Power On newsletter, the renowned Apple leaker reveals some supposed details about a forthcoming update to the iPad Pro.

According to Gurman, the new iPad Pro will arrive sometime between September and November this year and feature both MagSafe charging and a glass back.

Oh, and it’ll have an M2 chip in it, too.

That’s the extent of the rumours, I’m afraid, but they left me with one thought: I hope the Gurmanator is wrong; I hope we’re going to see something far more interesting from the new iPad Pro later this year.

But for me to get through the rest of this article, I’m going to have to bite my tongue.

Thinking beyond my problems with iPadOS

As I’ve said many times before, I don’t understand why Apple hasn’t unleashed the power of the M1 chip in its iPad Pro and iPad Air. But that particular gripe isn’t for today. Because let’s be honest, you’re probably bored of me waffling on about how pointless it all is.

So, I thought, with iPad Pro rumours beginning to surface, why not think beyond my inherent issues with the M1 and iPadOS, and instead have a think about what I’d like to see, hardware-wise, from the top-end iPad?

I know. I’ve changed.

5 requests for the new iPad Pro

I’d got to the point with the iPad where I thought we’d reached ‘peak hardware’ (now, there’s a strapline Apple will never use). What more can they do to a slab of aluminium and glass, I wondered?

As it turns out, I have some thoughts. Five, to be exact.

1. Two-day battery life

The iPad’s crowning glory since its inception has been all-day battery life. But there are two reasons I think Apple needs to ‘get over itself’ on this one, and press on.

I’ve used several smartphones recently that provide two-day battery life. It makes a massive difference to the user experience and completely changes your relationship with a device. You leave it unplugged overnight; you care less about screen brightness settings; you even head out of the house with the battery at a once-perilous 25%.

These are tiny devices compared to the iPad. If they can do it – so can the iPad Pro. It’d be a huge differentiator from the other versions of the Apple tablet, too.

The second reason relates to one of Apple’s latest and greatest ecosystem features – Universal Control.

For the uninitiated, this is where you can use the same mouse (or trackpad) and keyboard across multiple Apple devices. It is quite simply brilliant. Place your iPad next to your MacBook Pro, and you no longer have to touch the iPad if you want to interact with it; just move your Mac’s cursor to the end of the screen, and boom! you’re suddenly controlling your iPad – keyboard and all.

There’s just one issue. I want to leave my iPad next to my Mac for as long as possible without having to plug it into power. Two-day battery life would give me the confidence to do just that.

2. A lighter Magic Keyboard

I’m a huge fan of the Magic Keyboard. It’s capable of turning the iPad Pro into a laptop replacement for many people and abstracts away any form of Bluetooth connectivity shenanigans.

It’s just so bloody heavy – particularly if you’re wielding the 12.9” iPad Pro.

I think much of the Magic Keyboard’s heft relates to the material used and what feels like needless thickness. And while I don’t want Apple to revert to some form of awful new low-travel keyboard technology, I do think they could work some engineering magic to make the thing a bit lighter.

3. MagSafe (but in what form?!)

I like this rumour. But I’d also like to know how it’ll work in practice.

Will it be simply lifted from the iPhone in the form of magnets buried into the rear of the iPad Pro? Or will Apple adopt some kind of MacBook Pro-like MagSafe in the form of a connector attached to the side of the device?

I think I’d prefer the former. But, as always, the winner will be whatever affords the most interesting accessories, and Apple is a master at surprising us with “why didn’t I think of that?!” stuff. After all, very few of us saw MagSafe for the iPhone coming.

4. A relocated FaceTime camera

The current placement of the iPad’s FaceTime camera is silly; it never fails to amaze me how daft I look when using the iPad for conference calls.

If I look at the screen (like ninety-nine percent of people do during FaceTime calls), it looks like I’m either staring at my crotch or out of the window. This is because the iPad’s FaceTime camera is a country mile from the centre of the screen.

I’ll keep this ultra-simple and join the throng of people who have already requested it: please move the iPad Pro FaceTime camera to the ‘side’ of the device, Tim.

5. No 11-inch version

I’ve heard a few arguments for the continued existence of the 11-inch iPad Pro. But I don’t really buy any of them.

The iPad Air is brilliant. Sure, it’s missing Face ID and ProMotion (not to mention some upper storage tiers), but if you want to get serious with your iPad, I’d suggest you buy the 12.9” version and be done with it.

Next year, the iPad Air will probably gain much of the stuff it is currently missing. Which will make the presence of the 11-inch iPad Pro even more pointless.

To make the process of providing iPad buying advice far easier, I’d therefore like to politely request that the 11-inch iPad Pro is put out to pasture. Its time has come.

What about you? What do you want from the new iPad Pro? Get involved in the comments!