Apple’s cheapest iPad is finally getting invited to the Apple Intelligence party.

The upcoming 12th-generation iPad will reportedly feature Apple’s A19 chip, 8GB of RAM, Apple’s in-house N1 networking chip, and the company’s C1X modem, according to details discovered in Apple code by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. If the information holds up, the base iPad will finally gain Apple Intelligence and the newer Siri AI features that have been missing from the current model.

And honestly, finally. The base iPad has been sitting there with its A16 chip watching practically every other modern Apple device get invited to the AI club.

The current 11th-generation iPad has 6GB of RAM and uses the A16, which does not support Apple Intelligence. The reported move to the A19 would change that, while the bump to 8GB of RAM would meet Apple’s stated minimum memory requirement for Apple Intelligence.

So yes, we apparently have AI inside the base iPad now. Progress!

There is, however, a funny little footnote to all of this. Apple’s more demanding on-device AI model and some of the features it enables, including expressive Siri voices and more advanced dictation, require devices with at least 12GB of unified memory. Apple currently lists those requirements for newer iPads such as the M4 models and later.

Which means the reported 8GB iPad 12 should not be confused with an iPad that gets every single high-end AI capability Apple has developed.

But who cares? The base iPad gets Apple Intelligence. That is the headline.

The other interesting part of the leak is Apple’s networking hardware. The iPad 12 is reportedly getting the N1 chip, Apple’s custom wireless networking chip, which would bring Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and Thread support. That would be a substantial connectivity upgrade over the current iPad’s Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 support.

Cellular models are also expected to replace the Qualcomm modem in the current iPad with Apple’s C1X modem. The C1X supports sub-6GHz 5G and is designed to be more power efficient than the Qualcomm modem it replaces, according to the report.

So Apple appears to be doing something rather interesting with its cheapest iPad: instead of giving it a flashy redesign, the company may be quietly stuffing it with a much more modern collection of chips.

The current iPad starts at $449 following Apple’s June 2026 price increase, and the new model is expected to remain around that price. Apple has not announced the iPad 12, though, and the latest reporting points to a launch no earlier than spring 2027.

Still, when it arrives, the base iPad should finally stop being the odd one out in Apple’s tablet lineup.

AI? Check.

Apple networking silicon? Check.

A19? Apparently check.

12GB of RAM for the really fancy AI stuff? Nope.

But hey, at least Siri can finally come talk to the cheapest iPad. I’m sure it has been waiting patiently.