Update: The new iPad Pro in 2022 is rumored to feature a notch to reduce bezels.

Apple just announced a new iPad Pro for 2021 with a powerful M1 processor, but that hasn't stopped the iPad Pro 2022 rumors.

Nikkei Asia reports that Apple, along with Intel, will be among the first companies to adopt chips made with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation's (TSMC) 3-nanometer manufacturing process.

This processor integrates more transistors than the current 5nm process used in Apple's M1 chip, creating more processing power with improved power savings. TSMC suggests that this process can improve throughput by 10-15% while reducing power consumption by 25-30%.

Apple is reportedly testing next-generation chip designs on TSMC's 3nm process with an eye to incorporating them into new iPad models next year. iPad Pro is typically the model with the most powerful system-on-chip inside, so these advanced upcoming chips It is believed that it will be the target.

Devices with TSMC chips manufactured on a 3nm process are expected to launch in late 2022. Nikkei Asia suggests that Apple's 2022 iPhone models will use 4nm chips instead, for scheduling reasons.

The latest iPad Pro models are the first to use Apple's M1 chip, first introduced in the revised MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini in late 2020. The chip replaced the Intel processor in Apple's computers, providing higher processing power and improved battery life for notebooks. The M1 was also used in Apple's recently revamped iMac desktop.

Apple previously used a variant of the A-series iPhone chip in its iPad Pro tablets. For example, the 2020 iPad Pro models used the A12Z Bionic processor, while last fall's upgraded iPad Air models used the A14 Bionic chip, which is exactly the same as the current iPhone 12 line, instead.

The power of the M1 chip and the dazzling new mini-LED display led Tom's Guide reviewer Henry T. Casey to call the new 12.9-inch 2021 iPad Pro "the best, brightest, and fastest iPad ever." 11 inch iPad Pro does not feature the new mini LED screen technology, but it is $300 off the base price.