Apple Intelligence requires a capable A-series or M-series chipset with a powerful neural engine and 8 GB of RAM as a minimum to run generative AI features. As a result, many iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus owners will not be able to support their devices for one year, which requires significant changes. Apple probably doesn’t want this to become a habit of alienating customers, especially when the first wave of features hasn’t been rolled out yet. Therefore, the tech giant may not go ahead with the launch of iPad 11 this year.
There’s a two-year gap between iPad 11 launches, so it should have the hardware you need to run Apple Intelligence well.
The current low-cost iPad 10, released in 2022, has an A14 Bionic and 4GB RAM, which doesn’t meet the minimum hardware requirements to run Apple Intelligence. Even the previous generation iPad mini 6, which is three years old at this point, shipped with an A15 Bionic and 4GB RAM, which makes sense since the specs are several generations old.
With the official announcement of the iPad mini 7, one of the biggest surprises of the year, Apple not only upgraded its compact slate to the A17 Pro, but also doubled the RAM to 8GB for the same price, exuding exceptional value. I did. . Assuming the iPad 11 absolutely has to witness a 2024 launch, having the minimum required A17 Pro and 8GB RAM is not realistic due to the high manufacturing costs of these components.
But with a launch in two years, Apple may have enough incentive and pricing freedom to build the iPad 11 with capable internals to comfortably run generative AI functions. After all, even the low-cost iPhone SE 4, due out early next year, is said to feature an A18 and 8GB RAM, suggesting that Apple is definitely going “all in” with its generative AI strategy.
Fortunately, Apple Intelligence isn’t an attractive selling point for all customers. The current-generation iPad 10, which sells for $299 on Amazon with a Wi-Fi-only model and 64 GB of internal storage, has many other tasks and does not support generative AI features, such as this one. Must be run on a powerful tablet.
