New 12.9-inch iPad Air tipped to be part of a whole new 2024 tablet lineup

We've been hearing rumors of refreshed tablets coming to Apple's iPad lineup in 2204 for some time now, and that seems increasingly likely now that it seems that 2023 will be the first year with no new tablets in a decade. But a new report adds more information to the rumored refreshes including one big change coming to the iPad Air/

That report comes via the normally reliable supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo in a long Medium post that outlines Apple's plans for the 2024 year of tablet updates. According to him, Apple will release a new, larger 12.9-inch iPad Air alongside an updated version of the existing 10.9-inch model.

In terms of what the new 12.9-inch tablet will be like, there will be at least one key differentiator compared to the iPad Pro of the same size - Kuo says that the display technology will be different. As a result, it won't have the same mini-LED display but will instead stick with the cheaper, less impressive LCD. That will mean that we shouldn't expect the display's performance to be as strong in terms of contrast and color reproduction.

The new iPad Airs are expected to arrive in the early months of 2024, followed by updated M3 iPad Pros with new OLED displays. Those tablets have been heavily rumored for months now, and will likely be the first iPads to use the upgraded M3 chips that were announced and started to ship in Macs recently.

Following the iPad Pros. a new entry-level iPad is set to ship in the second half of 2024 while the the iPad mini will not arrive until the second half of the year, also. Kuo notes that the tablet was originally expected to ship in the first half of the year, saying that it has now been delayed.

With the 11th-gen iPad being announced next year Kuo also believes that the 9th-gen iPad will finally be put out to pasture, but when that will happen isn't yet clear. Kup simply says that we should expect it to happen before the end of 2024.

It's highly unusual for Apple not to refresh any of its iPad lineup in an entire year but it seems that it has big plans for 2024. Hopes are high that the iPad Pro in particular will be an impressive tablet thanks to that upgraded M3 chip and a new OLED display. Other improvements are also likely, but those will surely be the biggest features for most.