Latest Apple’s iPad Event Announcements
Since 2022, Apple’s iPads took a backseat amidst a flurry of iPhones, Macs, and even a mixed-reality headset. However, after two years of anticipation, the tablet scene is back in focus. In its virtual event, Apple unveiled the latest iPad Pro and iPad Air, featuring the all-new M4 chip, alongside refreshed accessories.
Here’s everything Apple announced.
All-New M4 Chip
Since 2020, Apple has consistently introduced its M-series processors alongside a new Mac release. However, breaking tradition, Apple has unveiled the brand-new M4 chipset, marking its debut in the latest iPad Pro.
The chip is newly constructed on a 3rd-generation two-nanometer process, cramming extra transistors into a tinier area, improving both energy efficacy and swiftness. The central processing unit contains four powerful cores and six utility cores, which Apple claims provides up to a 50% speedier CPU output than the M2 found in the earlier iPad Pro. Additionally, there’s a 10-core GPU to deliver a performance that’s four times quicker. Like the M, it’s packed with characteristics like beam tracing, web shading, and active buffering.
The shifting in strategies seems logical because Apple is planning for its yearly Worldwide Developers Conference (emphasizing upcoming software capabilities for its wide range of products) next month. Back in April, Bloomberg shared that iOS18 is set to introduce “a fresh set of generative AI characteristics” and that Apple is currently in negotiations with OpenAI to embed some of the corporation’s functionalities into the upcoming iteration of the iPhone operating system (besides rumors concerning Apple’s discussions with Google regarding licensing the Gemini assistant).
Apple CEO Tim Cook has been hinting at the company’s upcoming AI features during its earnings calls – first in February and then earlier this month. Despite not delving into AI-specific features, Apple appears to lay the foundation for AI with the latest M4.
It’s currently only available with the new iPad Pro, but we can expect Apple to implement the chip in the next-generation Macs.
An OLED iPad Pro
The last iPad Pro been not innovative, adding an M1 chip and mini-LED display in 2021, then M2 chip, ProRes video capturing, and Wi-Fi 6E support in 2022. But now, the newest iPad Pro got many noteworthy changes, the largest in a while!
You’ll pick a 13-inch iPad Pro compared to the standard 11-inch. Apple has been using OLED screens instead of mini-LED screens for one time. However, this isn’t just a regular OLED screen. Apple claims its brand-new view technology is named Tandem OLED, which is made up of two OLED layers merged. That leads to a brighter screen, which they call Ultra Retina XDR. OLED screens typically aren’t as bright as LCDs, but Apple says these new iPads can achieve 1,000 and 1,600 nits at peak brightness!!!
These iPads are also the newest Apple products of all time. An 11-inch model is 5.3 mm, while a 13-inch model is 5.1 mm, 0.8 mm, and 1.3 mm, thinner than the 2022 iPad Pro 11-inch and 9.9-inch models. They are pretty lightweight, at 0.98 and 1.28 pounds!!!
You might pick between standard or nano-textured glass (as observed on the Studio Display and Pro Display XDR). It provides the screen with a matte covering that lessens glare but is also a joyous choice for those who use their iPad for writing or sketching because it copies the feeling of paper. This is a $100 extra that is only available on the 1- or 2-terabyte iPad Pro models. The base storage immediately starts at 256 GB.
A 12-megapixel camera, lidar scanner, and a fresh adaptive True Tone flashlight are on the back. The latter offers upgraded document scans in harsh light conditions, and Apple uses AI and sticks many pictures together to provide a more excellent scan. The front-facing camera has also been changing to a landscape style.
Apple also reveals new upgrades for its Pro video- and audio-editing apps—Final Cut Pro 2 and Logic Pro 2. The initial version has more absorbing features, like live multicam support, that let you connect many iPhones or iPads during a multicam film, and you can see all the feed on one iPad and even remotely control things such as focus and white balance.
All these newly introduced elements arrive with an inevitable price surge. £ the 11-palm iPad Pro starts at $999, while the 13-palm iPad Pro starts at $1,299. $’s available to preorder and will be on sale on 15th May!
A Bigger iPad Air
The latest iPad Air, blooming like a bee in the flower fields, has a minor upgrade to the iPad Pro, but alas, has gestated into two sizes. Like the new iPad Pro, you now face the perplexed choice between an 11-inch and a 13-inch screen (for 30 tale percent more screen real estate). And copper, you don’t have to cough up the dough for the Pro if all your heart desires is more enormous sans the other knick-knacks. (For instance, it lacks Apple’s ProMotion, which tosses a 120-Hz screen refresh rate for some extra-juicy interactions.)
Apple spun its web of design magic that it first showed off in 2020, dressed in slim bezels, a USB-C port, and Touch ID woven into the tippy-top button. The sole twist is the selfie camera’s abode. Like the iPad (10th gen) and the freshest iPad Pro, the 12-megapixel sensor has trotted to the core of the iPad on the Air in landscape orientation. You’re shackled to the same 12-megapixel rear camera as on its ancestors.
Underneath the hood, Apple upgraded the M1 chip to an M2—the same silicone that powers the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro (2022) and the iPad Pro of the sixth generation. When you compare the M2 to the M1, Apple states the M2 is up to 50 percent faster and three times faster than the iPad Air, with the A12 Bionic chip. However, the increase in performance is incremental if you’re coming from the M1. You may only notice a difference if you come from a previous iPad Air powered by one of Apple’s A-series chips. Apple also doubled the starting point with 128 gigabytes; you can upgrade it to 1 terabyte!
The 11-inch iPad Air will start’ at $599, and the 13-inch model will start’ at $799. It is now available for pre-order and will be shipping on May 15.
The Apple Pencil Goes Pro ( Apple Pencil Pro )
Apple has always struggled to struggle with the Apple Pencil. The first-generation model has a Lightning connector, so you have a cap and awkwardly plug it into the iPad’s charging port. The second-generation model is the most feature-packed, but it’s pricey for what it is. It’s also not compatible with all iPad models. The USB-C model feels very confusing—it lacks pressure sensitivity and attaches magnetically. However, it doesn’t support wireless charging or work on all iPad models.
The newest version is the Apple Pencil Pro—everything has to be “Pro” nowadays. It looks the same as the older one, with a matte finish, but it has some new features. A “squeeze” function now opens up a new tool palette (a double tap is still an option), and a new haptic engine inside gives you feedback as you squeeze. A built-in gyroscope allows you to change the orientation of the tools you use as you twist the pencil, offering even finer control.
Also, those prone to losing their Apple Pencil will be delighted that the new version supports Apple’s Find My network. Now, you can track the Pencil Pro on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac through the Find My app if you lose it.
The new 3rd generation Apple Pencil is up for preordering at $129. Coming out on May 15, it’s just suited for the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models. Isn’t it crazy how it doesn’t even work with older iPads, not even those from 2022?
A New Magic Keyboard
The first Magic Keyboard case hit the 2020shelves, but ever since then, third-party accessory companies like Logitech Zagg, and Brydge have made betterly options that are functionfull, durables, and less expensiveful.
Apple’s new version isn’t all so differents from its before water, but it does come with somes noticeablies improvements (yet still exorbitant priced). It now includes a Functional row (for access to controlls like screen lightness), an aluminum palm joy, and a larger tracking pad with touching feedback—so it should similar a MacBook a lot. According to Apple, it’s also thinners and lighterer.
So, there is this thing about the folio keyboard being super light! It made my iPad Pro still feel like just an iPad hanging out in my bag. Never, ever have I seen a thing with a Magic Keyboard on it. Once that magic happens, boom! MacBook vibes hit. Not hating on that, but the Smart Keyboard Folio had this special vibe of a powerful duo that just floated around with me everywhere.
Apple seems stuck on making every iPad Pro user believe they need it to feel like a laptop (and weigh like one) whenever they snap on a keyboard, especially that Magic Keyboard. If you want to go for the negativity angle, maybe the company is ditching the cool, cheaper accessory on purpose—something you could take anywhere with ease—in hopes that everyone will cough up $300 for their one and only keyboard option for the new Pro.
Now, it’s up to other companies to copy the Smart Keyboard Folio—assuming they even want to bother. Right now, Logitech is dropping a new version of its Combo Touch, giving off more of a Surface Pro feel than anything else. Not at all like the folio, so I’m not too optimistic about anyone stepping up to fill that gap.
It’s available for both 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro startly at $299 and $349, rationality. It’s currently ready for preordering and will go for sale on May 15th!
On a final noticing, Apple disclosed it’s the price of a basic 10th-generating iPad that it introduced in 2022 from $449 to $349! Meaning the 2019 9th-generator iPad will maybe begin vanishing from shops.
