Some rumors last week said Apple planned to unveil the OLED iPad Pro and iPad Air 6 tablets on March 26th. An insider quickly debunked that rumor without providing an alternative launch date. However, nobody would blame you if you waited for Apple’s first 2024 iPad announcements on Tuesday.
The morning of March 26th came and went, but we got no new hardware from Apple. Instead, Samsung quietly unveiled the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite on Tuesday. Wait, isn’t the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite already available in stores? Yes, but that’s not the 2024 model. It’s the 2020 or 2022 variant that Samsung launched a few years ago, part of the Galaxy Tab S6 series.
That’s right, Samsung is updating the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite again, rather than choosing a different name for the device. The strategy isn’t different from what Apple does with its cheaper iPads. They routinely get specs upgrades, with Apple reusing the same design for years. But Apple’s iPads don’t have such specific product names like the Tab S6 Lite.
Marketing choices aside, the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) is now official. Samsung pitches it as “a stylish tablet designed for both work and play.” But, make no mistake, this isn’t a real rival for the OLED iPad Pro or the iPad Air 6 that are coming soon.
The new Samsung tablet features a 10.6-inch display with 2,000 x 1,200 resolution and a slim bezel, an eight-core chip, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of 128GB of storage, and microSD support of up to 1TB. It packs an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 5-megapixel lens on the front. A 7,040 mAh battery powers the new Galaxy Tab S6 Lite.
That’s about all you can get from the new mid-range device. And it might be just what you need from a tablet in 2024 if you’re not shopping for an expensive iPad Pro or iPad Air.
The Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024) launches on March 28th, though Samsung didn’t specify any pricing details. But you can expect the tablet to sell between €400 ($434) and €500 ($542) in Europe, depending on connectivity options. Whether you buy the Wi-Fi or LTE variant, you’ll get a free S Pen stylus to go with it.
Finally, the 2024 tablet comes in Oxford Gray, Chiffon Pink, or Mint.
The expected price is the obvious problem with the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2024). This new tablet might be a great choice for anyone looking for a mid-range tablet at any other point in time than right now. With the OLED iPad Pro and iPad Air 6 coming out, you can expect retailers to cut the prices of older iPad generations as they get rid of the old stock.
As much as Samsung might want to pitch the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite as a great work-and-play device, you’ll probably score much better deals on iPads soon enough. And there’s no question that a previous-gen iPad running on Apple’s M1 or M2 chip would be a much better work-and-play tablet than Samsung’s Tab S6 Lite refresh.
