Apple iPads are not going through their best moment, and The catalog that Apple has available does not help the potential buyer much to know which model to choose., which is why a much-needed revolution will begin this spring.
After years with a catalog of laptops that caused serious difficulties for the user to decide which MacBook they should buy, now Apple's range of laptops is quite well defined: Two MacBook Pros with two screen sizes and two MacBook Airs with two screen sizes. The Pro more powerful than the Air, and also much more expensive. This is the path that Apple wants to take with its tablets, making its catalog much simpler, although it is quite complicated.
Right now we have two iPad Pros with two very different screen sizes, but with an iPad Air that is practically identical to the small iPad Pro but costs considerably less, plus two "cheap" iPads, one of which looks very similar to the iPad Air, and also a smaller iPad that has a much more expensive price than other larger models... difficult. Things get even more complicated when we have three Apple Pencil models that are not compatible with all iPads, far from it, and with the peculiarity that the older model is more expensive than the latest model, and the most expensive Apple Pencil is not compatible with the latest iPad model thrown out. If I wanted to complicate things more, we can also add iPad keyboards... but I think the idea is already clear.
According to Mark Gurman in his new Power ON newsletter (link) Apple has prepared a small revolution within its range of tablets to begin the simplification process, similar to what happened with laptops. This spring we will have new iPad Air, with two models and two screen sizes: 10,9 and 12,9 inches. As for the processor, it will include the M2. The iPad Pro range will be renewed with two screen sizes, which will increase slightly to 13 and 11 inches with OLED technology and including M3 processors. In this way, the catalog will be well defined with the iPad Pro as the kings of the catalog and the iPad Air as intermediate devices suitable for the majority of users.
However, Apple will maintain the basic iPad, which will not be renewed until much later in 2024, at which time the iPad 9 will disappear, the only one that still maintains the home button and the Lightning connector. That will be when they take the opportunity to remove the original Apple Pencil, leaving only two Apple Pencil models in the catalogue, the "best" and the "good for almost everyone." Keeping the iPad more affordable is essential to maintain tablet sales within the educational field and to offer the most basic users a more affordable model to have at home. Something similar happens with the iPad mini, a tablet that many do not see sense in because it is too small in size to be a tablet, but which has a fairly loyal audience that does love it.