Apple has three new tablets coming in latter half of 2017

Apple currently has three new tablets in the pipeline for 2017: a 9.7-inch budget-friendly iPad, a 10.5-inch iPad, and an upgraded 12.9-inch iPad Pro. As the devices are currently in the planning stage, they are unlikely to be announced or released until the latter half of 2017. The 9.7-inch iPad will begin mass production in Q1 2017, and the other two will follow in Q2, sources say.

The same source said that Apple may replace the existing 9.7-inch product line with the 10.5-inch iPad and make the new 9.7-inch iPad an entry-level tablet aimed at the education sector. Apple is also switching suppliers of the components on the 9.7-inch tablets. Instead of sourcing the LEDs from the current Japanese supplier Nichia, Apple now looks to Korea’s Seoul Semiconductor.

Both the 12.9-inch and 10.5-inch iPads will feature the A10X chipset, similar to the processor found in the iPhone 7. The 9.7-inch iPad will receive a modified version of the A9 chip that we’ve already seen in the iPhone 6s.

No successor to the iPad Mini has been announced at this time. Analysts are unsure when, if at all, there will be an update to the product line.

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