According to the rumor mill, Apple was supposed to release a new 11th-gen iPad on Tuesday. Instead, all we got was a new $79/£79 Apple Pencil with a USB-C port and nothing else. But it turns out that Apple did ship a new iPad on Tuesday–kinda, sorta.
As pointed out by 9to5Mac, Apple announced that in China, the 10th-gen iPad has been updated with eSIM support. As the Apple Pencil (USB-C) press release on the Apple China website says (translated), “The updated iPad (10th generation) wireless LAN + cellular model will support the eSIM cellular network data plan in mainland China, enabling fast, smooth, and secure cellular data connections without the need for a physical SIM card.”
So that was the new iPad that all the leakers and analysts were talking about. But it’s not a whole new iPad, it’s just a spec update specific only to China. Ho hum. U.S. iPads already have eSim support, so there’s no need for an update here.
So, if you are in the market for a new iPad and were waiting for the rumored 11th-gen iPad to arrive this month, well, you can probably stop waiting. That new iPad isn’t coming–if it was, Apple would’ve released it alongside the new Apple Pencil (USB-C) and had no reason to update the 10th-gen iPad with eSIM in China.
Go ahead and buy one (it’s actually on sale at Amazon today for $50 off today). Oh, and good luck with figuring out which Apple Pencil to get.
