Apple’s next budget iPad may ship with a surprise upgrade, as a new report claims the 2026 model could run on the company’s latest A19 chip. The claim comes from Macworld, which says it has reviewed an internal Apple code document outlining early details of the next iPad lineup.
If true, it would mark a rare shift in Apple’s approach. For more than a decade, the company has kept its most affordable iPad a step or two behind the latest iPhone chips in order to keep costs low. The last time the entry-level iPad carried a current-generation processor was the iPad 4, launched at a time when Apple still designed dedicated ‘AX’ chips for tablets.
Since then, the budget iPad has steadily relied on older hardware. The iPad 11, released in March 2025, uses the A16 chip that first appeared in the iPhone 14 back in 2022. Earlier models followed the same pattern, each receiving a processor that had already spent a couple of years in Apple’s phones. Based on that history, a 2024 A18 chip in the 2026 iPad would have been the expected move.
Macworld’s report also mentions unusual model identifiers: J581 and J588. These codenames do not line up cleanly with the usual sequence Apple uses internally. Earlier code leaks had tied similar numbers to the 12th-generation iPad, which adds another layer of uncertainty.
Other reports have suggested that the iPad mini could get the A19 chip instead, although its previously known codenames were J510 and J511. Apple is known to change its plans mid-development, so the possibility of the A19 chip coming to the entry-level iPad cannot be dismissed entirely.
The rest of Macworld’s findings appear more aligned with industry expectations. The next iPad Air is reportedly set to adopt the M4 chip, keeping its usual gap behind the iPad Pro, which now runs on the M5. Both the next iPad and iPad Air are also said to include Apple’s new N1 networking chip. The N1 made its debut in this year’s iPhone lineup and offers more efficient Bluetooth and Wi-Fi performance compared with older third-party designs.
Apple is expected to unveil the refreshed iPad Air and the new entry-level iPad early in 2026, giving consumers a clearer look at which chips finally make the cut.
