After last fall’s interesting pair of new iPad releases, it became a common refrain in the Apple commentaryverse that the lineup was a mess. I honestly don’t believe the iPad product mix is all that muddled. (After all, there are now six different products in the MacBook line, same as the iPad.) But I do think Apple could make a few tweaks that would create an iPad offering that’s agreeable to everyone.

Rebrand the iPad 9 as iPad SE. The ninth-generation iPad has long filled the Special Edition spot in Apple’s iPad lineup: a legacy form factor at a discounted price. The company should embrace this approach by giving the device the SE moniker. This would make the product’s purpose clear and differentiate it from the current-gen base model iPad.

Bring compatibility for the latest Apple Pencil to the iPad. The most baffling thing about the current state of the iPad is that the no-adjective iPad looks like every other modern, flat-edged version but doesn’t work with the modern, flat-edged Apple Pencil. This needs to be resolved with the next update. I’m not sure exactly what that solution looks like—maybe a third-generation Apple Pencil that charges on the short edge of the device?—but every modern iPad should use the same modern Pencil.

Raise the base storage on the iPad Air and iPad mini. 64 GB of storage is not enough for a mid-tier tablet, which is what both the iPad Air and iPad mini are. If you’re doing any sort of work on an iPad, the $150 storage upgrade is currently a must. These devices should start at 128 GB with the option to buy more storage if you’d like.

Bring the XDR display to the 11” iPad Pro. It’s time. The 12.9” iPad Pro has had it for two generations, and 11” iPad Pro fans deserve the best display, too. This would be a huge differentiator between the 11” iPad Pro and the iPad Air, which is currently the least clear-cut choice in the entire iPad line.

Move the front-facing camera to the long edge on every model. People loved this change to the tenth-generation iPad and were not happy that it didn’t carry over to the M2 iPad Pro as well. The long edge is clearly where the camera belongs for the best video conferencing experience. It should be there on every model. I think this would require a new Apple Pencil or some major reworking of each iPad’s internals, but it’s the right move.

Simplify the accessory options. If all modern iPads have the same shape, they should work with the same accessories. I’ve spoken about consolidating the Apple Pencil story already. As far as keyboards, I think a Smart Keyboard without a trackpad and a Magic Keyboard with a trackpad should cover most iPad use cases without being needlessly complex.

Bonus points: Bring ProMotion to the iPad Air and iPad mini. If the 11” iPad Pro gets an XDR display, that leaves headroom for the mid-tier iPads to gain ProMotion. I’ve heard from several people who consider a 60Hz refresh rate a dealbreaker, especially on the iPad mini. As a huge fan of the mini, I’d be overjoyed at this addition. However, I’m not totally sold on this idea being realistic in the near future, and I don’t think it’s necessarily a must in order to get the iPad offering into shape.

So those are my suggestions for how Apple could clean up the iPad line a bit, resolve its most obvious problems, and make it crystal clear which device fits each customer’s use case. Do you agree with me? Or do you have other ideas of how to fix the iPad line? I’d love to hear them.

Thanks for reading!