When I woke up Thursday and scanned the rumors about Apple circulating the Internet, a certain set of headlines caught my attention: The upcoming iPad Pro has an OLED display and starts at $1,499. According to Korea-based The Elec (translation), which has a pretty good track record for rumours, the 11-inch model starts at around $1,500 and the 12.9-inch model costs $1,800.
Some quick math shows that price is nearly twice that of the current 11-inch model, which starts at $799. It’s $400 more than the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a Liquid Retina XDR display. It’s $300 more than a MacBook Air. It’s the same as a 24-inch M1 iMac with an 8-core GPU. And it’s only $100 less than the 27-inch Studio Display. Add a Magic Keyboard and 1TB of storage and you’re in 16-inch MacBook Pro territory.
Admittedly, Apple isn’t afraid to raise prices. The iPhone SE went from $399 to $429 last year. The 10th-generation iPad costs $449, a sharp increase from the $329 price tag of the 9th-generation model. The M2 MacBook Air jumped $200 to $1,199. And the iPhone 15 Ultra is expected to carry a $100 premium over the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
But in each of those cases, the price increase was understandable. The iPhone SE got 5G support; the 10th generation iPad has a completely new design and a larger screen; the M2 MacBook Air has a bigger screen, a new design and a faster chip. And when it launched the 10th generation iPad and M2 Air, Apple kept the older models as a cheaper option.
An OLED iPad Pro that costs $700 more than the current model makes no sense. Apple’s current iPad displays are fantastic, and even the sharpest of eyes will struggle to tell a difference from an OLED model. In my review of the 2020 iPad Pro, I found it hard enough to tell a difference between the mini LED display and the standard LED of the previous generation – there’s no way an OLED upgrade will cost $700 worth compared to the current model. The current model is already one of the best tablets money can buy, if not the best, but I assume the price keeps sales numbers pretty low. Add $700 and they’d be anemic.
Even if an OLED iPad is part of a larger iPad redesign and repositioning, I find it hard to believe Apple would launch an iPad Pro costing hundreds more than the current model unless it has a much larger screen. And even then, it would have to be something really special to spend $2,000 or more on it. And on top of that, Samsung is selling an OLED tablet with a 14.6-inch screen for $1,099, so it’s clear the display tech isn’t That duration.
Maybe someday Apple will release an OLED iPad Pro. Maybe it costs more. Perhaps it will be a new iPad Ultra model with advanced features and a titanium case. But if you think it will cost $700 more than current models, I have an Apple Car to sell you. Or one of the current models, which seems cheap in comparison.
