After what, for all intents and purposes, seems like a very successful iPhone launch, it’s time to turn our attention to the iPad Pro. It was last updated in May of 2024, and since the Pro generally refreshes every eighteen-ish months, we’re due for a new model in October or November.

There were a lot of good upgrades introduced with the 2025 iPhones, and I’m really hoping we’ll see some of this with the next generation of iPad Pro (and the iPads coming in 2026 as well). Here are the top six things I’d like to see migrate from the new iPhones to the iPad Pro.

Improved Cameras

Recent iPhones feature what Apple calls their Fusion Camera. It’s a 48 MP single camera that can emulate multiple focal lengths. It’s essentially what’s called the wide camera from a modern iPhone (i.e., the one you use the most). The iPad Pro camera has been a 12 MP wide camera for a number of years now, and it’s worked fine for things like scanning documents, AR applications, and, if you’re like me, the occasional photo.

I would still like to see a better rear camera across the iPad line. At some point, I feel like economies of scale make it feasible for the 48 MP Fusion Camera to make its way across all of Apple’s products. There’d absolutely be a benefit for use cases like taking pictures, but I’m thinking more of use cases like Visual Intelligence, which so far is limited to iPhone but would fit well on iPad. It’s a legitimately useful use of the AI hardware in Apple’s chips.

The front-facing camera could stand for a resolution bump from the new 18 MP front camera on iPhone, at least in theory. I’ll be honest, I’ve never used the front camera for a call and thought it looked bad, so I’m not super upset if this doesn’t happen. The iPad front camera already has Center Stage, so I don’t think it stands to really benefit from the square sensor.

12 GB RAM Starting Config

I don’t love the way Apple has handled the RAM configurations on iPadOS. The fact that 16 GB of RAM is gated behind the most expensive 1 and 2 TB iPad Pro SKUs is incredibly obnoxious.

That being said, the current breakdown is this:

iPad Model	RAM Config
iPad (A16)	6 GB
iPad Mini (A17 Pro)	8 GB
iPad Air (M3)	8 GB
iPad Pro (M4)	8 GB, 16 GB for 1 and 2 TB models

All of the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models include at least 12 GB of RAM. All of the Macs Apple currently sells start at 16 GB of RAM. For the more productivity-oriented iPads, it’s time for the starting RAM config to bump to at least 12 GB. I’d prefer 16, but I think for product segmentation reasons that won’t happen.

I can already hear the people saying, “But the iPad doesn’t even take advantage of the hardware it has now!” And to those people, I say… nothing. I’m really tired of having this stupid debate. Whatever makes you happy.

Always-On Display

I’ve become a pretty light iPhone user in favor of other devices in the ecosystem, but one of my favorite iPhone-only features is the Always-On Display. It’s a prime example of Apple implementing a feature years after their Android competition did, but then leapfrogging them in implementation.

iPadOS already supports Lock Screen widgets and Live Activities. And now that running iPhone-only apps on iPad is less terrible than it used to be, it stands to reason that more iPad users will actually be fine using iPhone apps with the widgets and Live Activities they support.

It’s time to put the big, beautiful iPad display to work when the device is idle.

(As I’m writing this, I’m remembering that the iPad still doesn’t support StandBy, which should also come to iPad Pro with the Always-On Display, please and thank you.)

Battery Life Improvements

Battery life improvements were a big focus of the 2025 iPhones, and there are a couple of features that help power these improvements that would fit in really well on the iPad Pro.

Adaptive Power

Adaptive Power is an iOS 26 feature (that so far hasn’t shown up in iPadOS 26) that uses on-device intelligence to help manage system resources to extend your battery life. It supposedly does things like slightly lowering screen brightness and deferring or throttling non-priority background tasks.

It’s actually a little surprising that this has so far been limited to iOS because pretty much all of Apple’s products that aren’t desktop computers could benefit from some AI-assisted power management.

C1 or C1X Modem

Both of Apple’s designed 5G modems, the C1 and C1X, tout improved battery life as one of their key selling features. By having more control over the modem firmware and how it integrates with the rest of the system, Apple can minimize excessive power draw scenarios.

It’s still early days, and Apple is being slow and methodical about rolling out their new modems to their more popular products. I have to imagine only a small subset of iPad buyers are paying extra for the cellular options, and even fewer actually have any kind of active service on them at any given time. This makes the entire iPad line a good option for further expansion and in-the-wild testing of their modems.

Ceramic Shield 2

Ceramic Shield on the iPhone has been great for drop protection. I remember dropping my iPhone 12 Pro and it landing screen-down on the edge of a chair at the optometrist, and the screen looked absolutely perfect. Needless to say, I’ve always been pretty impressed with it.

You could argue that an iPad doesn’t need the same level of drop protection as an iPhone since, for most people, it never leaves the house. But you can drop things anywhere, especially in an environment where kids and pets running around might knock your computer off its surface.

What makes me more interested in Ceramic Shield 2 is its touted scratch resistance. Micro-scratches are absolutely a problem on the iPad. Usually, improved drop protection makes glass worse for getting scratched, but Apple states Ceramic Shield 2 specifically has three times improved scratch resistance over its predecessor. Within two weeks of having my 11-inch iPad Pro (the one that goes with me most places), I had a very noticeable micro-scratch on it just from being in my bag. So, yeah, I’m interested in seeing this come to iPad. I don’t want to feel like I have to keep using screen protectors forever.

Improved Sustained Performance

With the M4 iPad Pro, Apple added graphite sheets to the main housing of the device to improve its thermal performance. With the iPhone 17 Pro, Apple has gone a step further and added a vapor chamber to improve its sustained performance by moving heat away from the chip.

Granted, the iPad Pro is significantly thinner than the iPhone Pro (it’s worth noting the iPhone Air did not receive the vapor chamber), but improved sustained performance goes a long way toward unlocking more of the potential of the M-series chip, especially when docked to a monitor, which turns out to be pretty taxing on the hardware.

Did anything else in the new iPhones that you’d like to see come to iPad Pro (or any iPad)? Leave a comment or hit me up on social media on Threads, Bluesky, or Mastodon.