As the back-to-school season kicks in, Apple plans to update its baseline iPad this fall with a new ninth-generation model tailored towards students, sporting a thinner design and an improved processor, according toBloomberg'sMark Gurman.
In September of last year, Apple updated the baseline iPad with the faster and more powerful A12 Bionic chip starting at $329, or $299 for education customers. The baseline update sits at the lower end of the iPad lineup and is tailored for customers needing an affordable iPad for day-to-day use.
For the 9th generation model, Apple is likely to continue with the current design featuring Touch ID and a Home Button. The updated model will feature a faster processor with improved performance and graphics and a thinner form factor.
The updated iPad joins a busy fall season for Apple, as the company is also expected to be preparing a more significant update to the iPad mini. The new iPad mini is rumored to feature a larger display with smaller bezels, improved performance, and an updated overall design. Apple is also preparing new iPhones, Apple Watches, AirPods, and MacBook Pros for launch in the coming months.
Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works.
We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update.
According to Apple's release notes, ...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by Joe Rossignol
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more.
Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld.
The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically.
The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged.
The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions.
Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...
What's the point of the iPad mini? Phones have ~6" screens, who would then want a tablet with a 7.9" screen?
LOL! ? ?
The iPad Mini's display is roughly TWICE as big! That's a HUGE difference! You can really tell and appreciate the difference when web browsing, book reading, looking at PDFs, using astronomy apps, working with spreadsheets, watching movies, etc.
What matters isn't the 6” vs. the 7.9”, but the AREA of the display — which is a matter of length x height, NOT the diagonal. After all, a 6” pencil has virtually no display area!
Just consider. The iPhone 12 with that 6.1” display is 5.78” x 2.82” in size. Or, 16.3 square inches.
The iPad Mini 5 is 8” x 5.3”. Or, 42.4 sq. inches.
Even if one adjusts the dimensions for the bezels, you're going to end up with close to double the display area for the iPad! That's a big difference.
I think people making this argument either hold their iPhones up to their eyes, don’t do a lot of reading on them, or have never used an iPad mini before.
The Mini is vastly superior in the earlier mentioned uses…
——
Alas, Apple only gives the dimensions of the overall device, not the screen areas. If anyone has the actual screen dimensions, please chime in.
