iPad Pro 2 rumours - Where next for Apple's premier tablet?

Regardless of what you think about Apple, or how it's performed in recent years, one thing is undeniable - it has the tablet market all sewn up.

It's true that the company struggles to sell as many iPads as it used to, but don't let that fool you. It's still the only tablet name in town. Sorry Android tablet fans.

So what's next for Apple's tablet range? If rumour is to be believed, we'll be looking at an iPad Pro 2 release some time this year. So what can we expect?

Here's a rundown of what we're expecting to see based on rumour, previous releases, and good old fashioned speculation.

Apple introduced us to the iPad Pro last year with the release of an all new, all monstrous 12.9-inch model. Then, in March of this year, it launched a more regular-looking 9.7-inch model.

A glance at Apple's previous iOS releases would suggest that two like-for-like replacements will arrive a year or so later. But Apple has experimented a lot with the form and release timing of its tablet range in recent years, and people don't tend to replace their tablets as often as they do their phones (hence the flat-lining tablet market).

According to a recent report from Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst who is generally well-informed on all things Apple, the iPad Pro 2 will indeed include 12.9-inch and 9.7-inch options, but the smaller one will apparently be a low-cost option. It seems the true smaller Pro 2 will come in the form of a new 10.5-inch option.

This in-betweener device will seemingly be pitched at the education and business sectors - though we suspect it'll be a pretty tasty gaming device too.

According to that aforementioned analyst report, Apple will hold off on launching the expanded iPad Pro 2 family until 2017. If this is a March launch, it would mean a year gap from the iPad Pro 9.7 launch, and an 18-month gap from the 12.9-inch original.

You may have noticed something missing from the iPad family we've talked about above. Where's the 7.9-inch mini model?

We haven't actually had a Mini Pro yet, with the last 'small' Apple tablet being the iPad Mini 4 from September of last year.

According to a report on Japanese Apple blog Macotakara Apple will launch a 7.9-inch iPad Pro in Spring 2017. Indeed, according to that source, Apple's three Pro models won't include a 9.7-inch model, and will include a 10.1-inch device rather than a 10.5-inch model.

It should be noted that Macotakara doesn't have the same hit rate as Ming-Chi Kuo. Either way, we're anticipating a three-pronged Pro assault come March.

Kuo's report claims that the 12.9-inch and 10.5-inch iPad Pro 2 models will be powered by an A10X processor. This will essentially be a souped-up version of the processor that powers the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Pretty meaty, then.

As for that 'low-cost' 9.7-inch model, it'll be powered by the same A9X chip that can currently be found powering the first generation iPad Pro.

Rumours seem to suggest that the Pro 2 family's other specs will generally be similar to the original iPad Pro. So, expect the same (or similar) True Tone display technology, the same quad-speaker setup, and a similar 12-megapixel camera.

Oh, and it should also include a headphone jack. Er, yay?

We haven't heard anything significant about the look of these iPad Pro 2 models, but with suggestions that a major overhaul of the iPad form factor could be coming in 2018, we're not expecting any radical changes on the design front.