The rumor mill has spent much of this year talking about whether and when Apple will switch its iPhone lineup from Lightning to USB-C, which is divisive and expected to happen in 2023. the company is slowly working to complete the same transition for the iPad.

The iPad Pro received USB-C back in 2018. The iPad Air followed in 2020, with the iPad mini switching to it in 2021. Now Apple is about to update the 10.2-inch iPad and remove the Lightning from its line of tablets entirely. to 9to5Mac sources.

As the cheapest tablet Apple sells, the 10.2-inch model is usually the last to get the features it wants. In addition to a USB-C port instead of the current Lightning port, the 10th generation iPad (which 9to5Mac says is codenamed J272) will also complete Apple’s 5G transition.

He may have been the last to do this, but the standard iPad making these changes is very important. It’s Apple’s cheapest iPad, and it’s going to bring a huge number of tablet users to USB-C and 5G standards.

However, one transition it won’t join is the transition to Apple’s M-series processors. As we saw with the iPad mini, the report says the 10th generation iPad will feature the A14 Bionic processor, rather than the M1 chip in the iPad Pro and iPad Air. It’s unlikely that Apple will ever add such a powerful processor to its entry-level iPad.

As for the rest of the spec sheet, 9to5Mac sources say the screen size will likely increase from the current 10.2 inches to 10.5 or even 10.9 inches, and will have the same resolution as the current iPad Air. But they’re not sure if this will come with a big design change to remove the home button and move the Touch ID sensor to the top power button.

We expect the new iPad to be announced this fall along with the iPhone 14: for the latest rumors, check out our 2022 iPad 10.2 super guide. If you can’t wait that long, grab a bargain in the current range with our guide to the best iPad deals.