The next iPad Pro will hide a clever surprise in the Apple logo

We'd love to the 2022 iPad Pro to come with this clever surprise

Apple iPad Pro
(Image credit: Apple)

Apple apparently had big plans for the 2022 iPad Pro: in order to bring MagSafe charging to Apple's biggest and best tablet, the company was experimenting with an all-glass back. As good-looking as that would be, the thing about all-glass backs is that they are absolutely smashing. And that's a problem, because going all-in on glass would make the iPad Pro much more fragile.

That's left Apple with a dilemma. If the aluminium of the current iPad Pro is a problem for MagSafe and glass is a problem because of its comparative fragility, what do you do? According to 9to5Mac, Apple's solution is simple: make the back aluminium but make the Apple logo out of glass. Apple has apparently developed prototype iPad Pros with a larger Apple logo, stronger magnets and faster wireless charging. That last one's important, because the iPad Pro is more like a M1 MacBook Pro than an iPhone – and that means charging it needs more power or much longer charging time.

An iPad Pro with a heart of glass

The 2022 iPad Pro is expected to have an M2 processor like the 2022 MacBook Air is also expected to have, and 9to5Mac reports that it'll have a similar module to the iPhone 13 and a much bigger battery. Apparently Apple has also considered adding a notch, but that won't be in this year's model.

It'll be interesting to see what solution Apple settles on for wireless charging, assuming it doesn't abandon the idea altogether – because if Apple can make wireless work for a nearly 13-inch, M-powered iPad Pro, it could also bring the same technology to the MacBook Pro. This is something Apple patented some time ago, with illustrations showing a wirelessly charged MacBook Pro using reverse wireless charging to recharge an iPhone and an Apple Watch. As someone whose work desk has a wireless pad for my iPhone and earbuds, a wired charger for my Apple Watch and a USB-C going into my M1 MacBook Pro, a Mac with reverse charging would be one of the best laptops I'd ever owned.

Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series. When she’s not scribbling, she’s the singer in Glaswegian rock band HAVR (havrmusic.com).