iPad (12th generation)

About iPad (12th generation)

Apple has not announced a 12th generation iPad. There is no name, no date, no price and no specification for one, and no Apple product page to link to. As of 15 August 2026, the entry level tablet Apple sells is the model it now calls iPad 11 inch (A16), announced on 4 March 2025.

Two things make this page more useful than a countdown. The first is that this line has never kept a steady schedule, so anyone predicting a month is guessing. The second is that the base iPad has one specific gap in what it can do, and reporting says the next one closes it. That gap, rather than speed, is what should decide whether you buy now.

Has Apple announced a 12th generation iPad?

No. There is no press release, no product page, no price and no date.

Apple's own iPad pages on 15 August 2026 list the A16 model as the current entry level tablet. Note that Apple has stopped using the generation number in its marketing name for this model, calling it iPad 11 inch (A16) rather than iPad (11th generation), so a 12th generation label may not be what the next one is called either.

What exists is reporting. AppleInsider, relaying Bloomberg on 16 July 2026, says the next entry level iPad is expected in the first quarter of 2027 with an A19 chip. That is a report about a plan, not a date from Apple, and no chip or price for an unannounced tablet appears on this page as fact.

The iPad on sale today

Apple announced this model on 4 March 2025 and released it on 12 March 2025.

Apple lists an A16 chip, an 11 inch Liquid Retina display which it notes measures 10.86 inches diagonally as a rectangle, 128GB of starting storage, a 12MP Wide back camera, a 12MP Center Stage front camera, all day battery life, and four finishes in blue, pink, yellow and silver. MacRumors reported at launch that Apple doubled the base storage from 64GB to 128GB while holding the $349 starting price.

Those figures belong to the current model. They are the baseline a successor would be measured against, not a forecast of one.

The gap in what this iPad can do, and why it matters more than the chip

The base iPad does not run Apple Intelligence. Every other current iPad does.

That is the single most consequential difference between this tier and the rest of the range, and it is not a difference of degree. It is a set of features that either appear on the device or do not. AppleInsider, citing Bloomberg, reports that the next entry level iPad moves to an A19 chip specifically so that the base model gains Apple Intelligence support, and notes that a December 2025 code leak referenced an A19 iPad alongside an M4 iPad Air.

If those features matter to you, this is the rare case where waiting has a clear reason behind it rather than a vague hope of more speed. If they do not matter to you, the current model is not missing anything you would notice, and the reported wait runs into 2027.

Why this line has no predictable release window

Most Apple lines refresh on a rhythm. This one does not.

The 9th generation arrived in September 2021. The 10th came in October 2022. Apple then left a gap of well over two years before the 11th in March 2025. Three releases, three different months, one long pause in the middle.

That is why this page names no window of its own. A line that has skipped more than two years once can do it again, and a pattern drawn from three irregular points is not a pattern. The Bloomberg reported first quarter of 2027 is set out above as somebody else's reporting, and is the only timing claim on this page.

Where the base iPad sits in Apple's tablet range

This is the iPad most people should buy, and the range is arranged so that the reasons to move up are specific rather than general.

What it gives up against the iPad Air is the M series chip, Apple Intelligence, and support for the more capable Apple Pencil models. Against the iPad Pro it also gives up the display technology, the speakers and the thinness. What it keeps is the screen size, the app library, the cameras, the battery life and the build, which together are most of what a tablet is used for.

For reading, video, browsing, mail, note taking, schoolwork and keeping a child occupied, the difference between this and an iPad Pro costing several times more is one you have to look for.

What to weigh against its nearest rival

Inside Apple's range the honest comparison is the iPad Air, and the question is narrow. Pay the difference if you want Apple Intelligence now, if you draw or annotate seriously enough to need the better Apple Pencil support, or if you run demanding creative apps. Do not pay it because the Air sounds like the better tablet in general terms.

Outside Apple, Android tablets usually compete on price and on screen quality rather than on software. The deciding factor is rarely the hardware. It is whether the specific apps you want exist and are maintained on that platform, and for tablet optimised apps the gap has been real for years. That is worth checking against your own list rather than taking on trust.

The last comparison is against a laptop. A tablet with a keyboard case can cost as much as a cheap laptop while doing less of a laptop's work. If typing is the main activity, price both.

Who should buy something else

Anyone who wants Apple Intelligence features should not buy this tier today. That is the one clear case for waiting, and the reporting puts the wait into 2027.

Anyone who draws, paints or annotates seriously should buy an iPad Air or iPad Pro instead, because Apple Pencil support is tiered and this model sits at the bottom of it.

Anyone replacing a laptop should buy a laptop. A MacBook Air costs more but does the work this tablet is not built for, and the accessories that make an iPad laptop shaped narrow the price gap considerably.

Anyone already using a recent iPad should skip. This line moves slowly enough that a two or three year old model is usually still current in every way that shows.

Anyone buying mainly for a young child should look at the outgoing model or a refurbished one. The differences between recent entry level iPads are not ones a child will meet.

What would change this page

An Apple press release, or an Apple product page. Nothing short of either.

Not a code leak, not a supply chain note, not a well sourced report. Until Apple publishes the tablet, this page carries no chip, no display specification, no price and no date for a next entry level iPad.

This page was checked against Apple's own iPad pages on 15 August 2026. If you are reading it well after that date, treat every dated statement here as needing a recheck, including the naming point, since Apple has already changed how it labels this model once.