Gurman: No iPad Announcement Planned for March 26

Earlier this week, leaker “Instant Digital” on Chinese blogging site Weibo claimed that Apple will be making an iPad-related announcement next Tuesday, March 26, suggesting a potential press release introduction ahead of pre-orders and a launch date. Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman has now weighed in, however, to say that this claim is “not true.”

While disputing a March 26 announcement, Gurman has not shared any specific claims of his own regarding an announcement or launch date for the new iPad Pro and iPad Air models that are in the works, recently pointing to a general time frame of “around the end of March or in April.”

Gurman offered a bit more color on the timing in the most recent edition of his Power On newsletter, saying that the “variant of iPadOS 17.4” that will ship on the new iPad models won’t be ready until at least late this month, with it potentially taking “a couple weeks” to get the software installed on the initial shipments. That timing, Gurman says, will likely take things “deeper into next month” for a launch of the new iPads although an announcement could happen a bit sooner.

Alongside revamped ‌iPad Pro‌ models with OLED displays, Apple’s M3 chip, and additional enhancements, we’re also expecting updated ‌iPad Air‌ models including a new 12.9-inch size option. Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro and a new Apple Pencil.