New entry-level iPad tipped for late 2024 launch

Apple has yet to announce a new iPads in 2023 and as the year starts to come to a close there is little chance of that changing. But 2024 is already shaping up to be the year of new tablets with new iPad Air and iPad Pro models tipped. Now, we can apparently add a new entry-level iPad to the mix with a new report claiming that Apple will ship such a tablet in the second half of the year.

That report comes via Nikkei Asia and claims that Apple is working with China's BYD, a company that assembles iPads, to move production to Vietnam. It's expected that the engineering verification stage of production, one that will see the tablets produced in a test environment to ensure the company is ready for mass production, is expected to start around the middle of February. With that in mind, it's likely that the tablet will ship at some point in the second half of the year.

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Little is known about the new tablet, likely to be called the 11th-gen iPad, but we can expect Apple to want to keep the price as low as possible. The current iPad starts at $449 and comes with a USB-C port, A14 Bionic chip, and a 12-megapixel camera. It also has a 10.9-inch display, the largest offered on an entry-level iPad to date.

The new model is likely to have a new chip inside, but other improvements are unclear at this point. A new camera is a possibility but far from certain given the price point that the iPad normally sits at.