iPad Pro 2 release date, news, specs rumors: 3 new iPad variants to be released first quarter 2017; iPad Pro 2 to boast latest A10x chipset?

Miguel Salonga Monday, October 10, 2016

The new Apple iPad Pro is displayed during an Apple media event in San Francisco, California, Sept. 9, 2015. | Reuters/Beck Diefenbach

iPad followers who tuned in to last September's Apple Event were disappointed as the Cupertino-based tech giant only focused on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus smartphones. The company's showcasing of their latest and hottest device offerings this year had no time to even mention about the next iteration of their current iPad models. Particularly, it has been rumored that the iPad Pro refresh will happen this year, and the tech enthusiasts are already expecting the unveiling of the iPad Pro 2 before the end of 2016.

Nevertheless, the latest rumors are very positive that there will be a huge iPad refresh happening in the coming months. The thing is that the release of the new iPad Pro 2 will fall on the early part of 2017. According to Game N Guide, the iPad Pro 2 will be released on the first press event of Apple for next year, which is expected to happen in the first quarter of 2017. Specifically, the much-awaited unveiling of the iPad Pro 2 may happen in March 2017, or possibly earlier in February.

To recall, the first iPad Pro was released in September 2015, thus giving the public an impression that the iPad Pro 2 would be showcased in the same month this year. This time around, the Apple Event for the iPad label will be held either in February or March next year. This is also possible since Apple already hold an event in March this year to unveil the 9.7-inch iPad Pro and the iPhone SE. For next year, the iPad followers will see at least three size variants of the new iPad Pro, namely the 9.7-inch, 12.9-inch, and the 10.5-inch versions.

Meanwhile, the early rumors regarding the specs of the iPad Pro 2 suggest that the device will be much powerful compared to Apple's recently released devices. It is rumored that the iPad Pro 2 will use the new A10X processor, and according to a leaked Weibo benchmark result via Techtastic, the A10X chipset has a Geekbench score of 4,236 and 6,588 for the single-core and multicore processor type. This year's iPhone 7 has the current A10 chipset, which has lower single-core and multicore scores of 3,490 and 5,580.