Apple iPad 12 Rumor: A19 Chip from iPhone 17 to Power Next-Gen Base Model, Says Report

The next-generation base model tablet from Apple, the iPad 12, is rumored to be getting the A19 chipset that was used for the iPhone 17.

Apple iPad 12 Rumor: A19 Chip from iPhone 17 Is Coming

According to a report by Macworld, there is a discovery from an internal Apple code document that talks about what to expect from the 2026 iPad lineup, particularly the 12th-generation iPad.

Based on the document, the report claims that the iPad 12 is getting the A19 chipset that the company used for the iPhone 17, giving it a more recent processor than previous models.

The A19 processor that powers the base iPhone 17 models was only released this year, and according to MacRumors, this is a fairly unusual development for Apple as it typically opted for older chips for the base iPad.

According to the report, the last base model iPad that received a current-generation chip was the iPad 4, and this was released over a decade ago in 2012.

The publication said that the next tablet, the iPad 5, which came out five years later in 2017, received the iPhone 6s' A9 chipset, which was originally released alongside the smartphone in 2015.

Since then, the base iPad models received an A-series chip that is not of the same generation, and they were usually equipped with a chip released one or two generations before.

This was the same case with the March 2025 release of the iPad 11, the current base model tablet of the Cupertino tech giant, which received the A16 processor from the iPhone 14 in 2022.

More Powerful Base Model iPad Is Launching Soon

The sudden generational jump of the iPad regarding its chipsets is a massive surprise to the industry, with the report claiming that it is expected to launch next year.

The iPad 12 would potentially be more powerful in terms of computing power and performance with the A19 chipset.

According to MacRumors, the internal code referenced by Macworld featured the J581 and J588 codenames for the 12th-generation iPad models, with this also being unusual as Apple usually uses sequential numbers. Before this latest rumor, the iPad 12 was referenced using the J581 and J582 codenames.

Previous rumors claimed that the iPad 12 is set to receive the A18 chipset, and although it is an older chip, it still came out fairly recently in 2024, powering the iPhone 16's base model lineup.