On the heels of a report last week that said that Apple would launch a seventh-generation iPad and an iPad mini 5 in the first half of the year, we now have a leak that seems to back those claims up. It’s still unclear what iPad hardware Apple might be working on right now, but documentation the company filed with a regulatory body for Eurasian countries reveals the model numbers for six new iPad versions.
Apple unveiled its redesigned iPad Pro models back in October, so the upcoming models must be cheaper iOS tablets — the likely successors of last year’s $329 sixth-generation iPad and the iPad mini 4. The iPad mini 5 rumor is of particular interest, given that Apple hasn’t released a new iPad mini in years.
According to MySmartPrice’s discovery, Apple should release iPad models A2123, A2124, A2153, A2154, A2133, and A2152 in the near future. That’s because Apple filed paperwork for these devices with Russian certification agency EEC. If this sort of leak sounds familiar, that’s because we’ve seen Apple do the same thing before other product launches in the past.
It’s unclear at this time what the six iPads are supposed to be. These EEC docs may leak like clockwork before new Apple product launches, but they rarely reveal any details about the products Apple is about to launch. Recent rumors have claimed that the next affordable iPad will have a 10-inch display and that Apple is developing a new mini tablet, but that’s all we know for the time being.
Apple insider Ming-Chi Kuo first talked about the iPad mini 5 back in October, predicting that it’ll launch in early 2019. A report last month said that Apple is working on a new 10-inch iPad, which would most likely have to be an affordable tablet. Again, Apple already sells a 10.5-inch iPad Pro.
In related news, Apple’s newest iOS 12.2 beta release revealed that AirPods with built-in “Hey Siri” functionality are on the way, just days after a report from Asia claimed AirPods 2 would hit stores in the first half of the year.
