Another Apple event is in the books, and as expected Let Loose showcase it was all about the iPad. Now we have the first Apple device to feature the M4 chip in the iPad Pro, and the company is surprisingly choosing to debut it there rather than on a Mac. The upgraded iPad Air is also available in two sizes: 11-inch and 13-inch.
There are also some accessory updates, which isn’t a huge shock considering the Apple Pencil was featured prominently in the event’s teaser image. So without further ado, here’s a rundown of everything Apple announced at its blessedly short Let Loose event.
iPad Pro
Any update has been expected for some time iPad Pro It would have been an M3 chip, but Apple decided to raise the expectations of many by putting the new M4 in its top-of-the-line tablet. Apple says the new device delivers 50 percent faster performance than the M2 iPad Pro.
Rendering performance is said to be four times faster than the M2 Pro. For the first time on iPad, Apple brings support for dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading to the Pro with the M4.
There is some power efficiency here as well. Apple says the M4 can deliver the same performance as the M2 using half the power. So, if you use the tablet for less intensive tasks, this is the reason why the battery lasts longer.
Another major upgrade for the iPad Pro is a new display technology called Tandem OLED. As the name suggests, it uses two OLED panels stacked on top of each other. That means this tablet should have richer colors and deeper blacks on what Apple calls an Ultra Retina XDR display. Apple says brightness levels reach 1,000 nits for standard and HDR, and 1,600 nits for HDR.
Despite the double layer, OLED panels are still thinner than LCD displays. To that end, Apple says the iPad Pro is now thinner than the iPod nano (RIP, you beautiful thing), making it the company’s slimmest product to date. For the first time on an iPad Pro, there is also the option of nano-textured glass, but only if you choose at least 1 TB of storage.
Another notable change is that the Ultra Wide 12MP front camera is now on the edge of the landscape. Magic Keyboard users out there might be happy with this tweak.
The new iPad Pro starts at $999 for the 11-inch model and $1,299 for the 13-inch, each with 256GB of storage. Add $200 to each of you who want 5G cellular connectivity via eSIM.
We already have Hands-on with iPad Pro and at first glance it looks like a screen show stealer.
M4
Let’s talk a little about what makes the iPad Pro so powerful: brand new M4 chipset. The Pro is the first Apple product to use M4, even before any Mac.
The M4 has a new CPU with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. There is also a 10-core GPU. Note that the neural engine of the chipset is aimed at machine learning and artificial intelligence. Apple says the neural engine is capable of 38 trillion operations per second — 60 times faster than the first neural engine that debuted in the A11 chip. AI features that M4 will run on iPad Pro include real-time Live Captions, the ability to isolate subjects and remove backgrounds in videos in Final Cut Pro, and automatic music notation in StaffPad.
It’s highly likely that we’ll start seeing M4 drop-down Macs later this year, which might discourage people from buying the M3 MacBook Air Apple has. It went on sale a few months ago (although the company says the MBA is now its best-selling 13-in and 15-inch laptop on the planet).
The main reason Apple skipped the silicon generation with the iPad Pro is likely to start before the transition to an AI device. World Creators Conference in June. Expect the company to talk more next month about what it plans to do with AI in all of its products.
iPad Air
The iPad Air after being stuck with the aging M1 chipset for over two years, it was long overdue for an update. The latest model (or models) has the M2 chipset. While distinguishing the more powerful iPad Pro, it’s still new enough to make it a noticeable improvement over the previous Air.
As I mentioned, the iPad Air now comes in two sizes, the existing 11-inch form factor and a new, larger 13-inch variant. This makes the Air the most affordable large-screen iPad. Oh, and the front-facing camera is also now placed on the longer edge of the Air. Thanks, Apple.
The company doubled the base memory from the previous generation to 128 GB. The 11-inch model starts at $599, while the new 13-inch Air starts at $799. You’ll have to pay an additional $150 for 5G cellular connectivity. As with almost everything else Apple is showing off today, the new iPad Air will be released next Wednesday.
We have it too hands-on time with the new iPad Air. With a combination of price and various hardware updates, Apple could be another winner here.
Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard
There’s a new Apple Pencil in town, and it’s got some neat tricks, including haptic feedback. The Apple Pencil Pro also supports the new squeeze gesture. If you rotate the barrel, you can change the direction of the brush and pen tools, just like with pen and paper.
First-time Find My support on the Apple Pencil is nice, given how easy it is to lose it if you don’t keep it securely on the side of the iPad.
Apple Pencil Pro It costs $129. Pre-orders are open today and will ship on May 15th.
Meanwhile, there is a new one Magic keyboard it is only compatible with iPad Pro. It’s made of aluminum to give it a better feel and perhaps help convince users that the iPad Pro is the laptop replacement that Apple has long envisioned for its tablets.
The latest version has a larger trackpad with haptic feedback, while there are a number of function keys. à la a more traditional keyboard.
The new Magic Keyboard will also ship next week. If you want one for the 11-inch iPad Pro, it will cost you $300, while the larger version will cost you $350.
Watch all the news from Apple’s Let Loose event live here.
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