The iPad Pro has seen significant changes in the last few years, and 2022 might bring even more with two-way wireless charging rumored to be coming to Apple's best tablets. Apple has offered this feature for its iPhone and Apple Watch for several years, but the iPad has always required a plug-in solution.
Apple's iPad Pro series include an 11-inch tablet that is slightly larger than the iPad Air and a 12.9-inch model that approaches the screen size of a MacBook. As tablet sizes increase, more room becomes available for larger batteries and increased runtime between charges. For example, the 2021 iPad Pro 11-inch features a 28.7-watt-hour battery and the 12.9-inch model has a massive 40.1-watt-hour capacity. For comparison, the largest phone Apple makes, the iPhone 13 Pro Max, has only a 16.8-watt-hour battery.
MagSafe charging might be expanded to yet another Apple device in 2022. According to Bloomberg's PowerOn newsletter, the iPad Pro lineup is slated to include wireless charging capability, similar to the iPhone. This would be much more convenient than plugging in a USB-C cable, the current requirement for charging. Earlier rumors suggested that reverse wireless could also be a possibility. Given the huge battery capacity of the iPad, it would be possible to completely recharge an iPhone multiple times, which could be a crucial feature during an outage or when traveling.
More 2022 iPad Pro Rumors
Other rumors circulating for the iPad Pro include an updated processor, possibly a new M2 chip. Apple likely would not place an M1 Pro or M1 Max into an iPad since those chips are designed to work with a system that includes a fan for cooling the faster speeds and higher temperatures. Micro-LED is still a year or more away, but the 11-inch iPad Pro might get the same mini-LED display that 2021's 12.9-inch model boasts. If 2022 does bring the announcement of an Apple VR headset, perhaps it's time for enhanced LiDAR capabilities. The LiDAR resolution hasn't changed since Apple first introduced this new capability in the 2020 iPad Pro.
Competing manufacturers manage 80-watt wireless charging, more than five times as fast as the iPhone's MagSafe. Hopefully, Apple will develop a more advanced MagSafe charger for the iPad Pro to speed up charging beyond the 15-watt maximum of MagSafe used with the iPhone since it would take quite some time to top up an iPad Pro 12.9-inch at that rate. But of course, that would require an update to MagSafe technology, which could benefit the iPhone as well if Apple does increase charging rates for the iPad Pro in 2022.
Source: Bloomberg