A report earlier this week said Apple is expected to take the wraps off its 2017 iPads in the coming weeks, a tablet family that’s supposed to bring over a brand new iPad Pro flavor. Usually, Apple announces such new products during special keynotes, but some believed that Apple might launch the new iOS tablets without hosting a media event. A new report out of Asia now claims that a keynote is very much in the works for early April. Apple’s first major keynote of the year will also double as the first event to be held at Apple’s new headquarters.
The news comes from Taiwan-based supply chain sources who spoke to Digitimes.
Apple has apparently moved the production of its 10.5-inch iPad to March instead of the earlier May-June estimate that came from the same Digitimes’ sources.
The 10.5-inch iPad Pro will target education and business markets, the report says. Apple is expected to sell one million units in March, and ramp up production to 1.2 million units in the following months.
The company is also supposed to upgrade its 12.9-inch iPad Pro, though it’s not clear when it’ll happen. Volume production for this model might kick off in May or June, the report notes.
As for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, Digitimes says that orders have been steady since February, with shipment volumes expected to reach 3-4 million units a month in the first quarter, and then grow “significantly” in the second quarter.
Digitimes did not say whether any other products will be launched at the event, aside from new iPads. Apple, meanwhile, is yet to formally announce its iPad press event.
