Apple iPad 2022 launch LIVE — all the big news as it happens

One reason we’re expecting a new standard iPad is a suite of Apple tablets are currently available for discounted prices, which would hint that retailers could be clearing their shelves to make way for new models. 

Right now you can get the 10.2-inch iPad on sale for $269 at Amazon (opens in new tab). The 10.2-inch iPad is the tablet we recommend for those shopping on a budget and is at its lowest price ever. If you need more power, the 10.9-inch iPad Air is also on sale for $519 at Amazon (opens in new tab); don’t expect to see a new iPad Air today though. 

So what do we want to see from the new iPads today? Well from my point of view (that of managing editor Roland Moore-Colyer), I’d really like to see a new standard iPad brought up to date in terms of the latest Apple tablet aesthetics. 

The current iPad has a design that’s years old with chunky bezels and the old-style Touch ID home button. So I’m keen to see it embrace some of the iPad Air and iPad mini design, with side-mounted Touch ID and much narrower bezels with no home button taking up space. 

So let’s take a breath while the Apple Store remains down. We had been expecting an Apple October event to showcase a whole range of updated products, from new iPads to new 16-inch and 14-inch MacBook Pro models sporting ‘Pro’ and ‘Max’ versions of the M2 chip, as well as a Mac mini 2022 with M2. 

Now those could all still launch this fall, but likely only via press releases and Apple Store updates. We’re not expecting any snazzy iPhone 14 style showcase. And so far it looks like it’ll be the iPads that will be the first products to make it out of Cupertino’s gates this month, and the updated Mac machines are tipped to follow in November. 

Apple CEO Tim Cook has just tweeted “the possibilities are endless” with an animation of someone pinching to zoom over a a multitude of colorful sketches. 

This could be a nod to the Apple M2 chip the iPad Pro 2022 is expected to sport, with all the power that brings to the table. Or it could be an indication of a new start for the standard iPad that’s in need of a redesign, likely with more creator-focused features, such as Apple Pencil 2 support. 

The Apple Store is down with a typical ‘back soon’ style of message. And that means we can expect new products to be dropped very soon. 

Expect there to be a new iPad maybe more when the store is back up. As for timeframe, well we could be looking at mere minutes to an hour or so. 

So the latest last-minute rumor from Apple tipster and Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has the iPad Pro 2022 down to launch some point today. 

Will it launch alone? We don’t know. But so far that’s the only Apple tablet Gurman has earmarked for today.