Neither the form, nor the time, nor the place have been common in today’s Apple keynote. The apple company called the press in May, just a few weeks before its global developers conference, WWDC, (where they usually make product announcements), and did so in three places simultaneously, New York, Toronto and London. 4 p.m.
The reasons that have led Apple to present its devices at an event separate from WWDC could be artificial intelligence. Everything indicates that at this conference that will begin on May 10, generative AI will be the main protagonist, ready to start working on the brand’s new devices equipped with more powerful processors capable of supporting the technical demands of generative AI, such as the new M4 chip in the new iPads Pro.
It is also not surprising that those from Cupertino dedicate an exclusive event to their tablets, since they have managed to turn the iPad into the leading tablet brand worldwide, far surpassing their competitors. According to Statista, throughout 2023, around 48.5 million iPads were shipped, while Samsung’s tablet units accounted for about half of Apple’s. In the fourth quarter of last year, Apple had a 40.6% market share of the global tablet market, up from 37.5% in the previous quarter.
iPad Pro
It is undoubtedly the jewel in the crown, and in the presentation they have mentioned that it is a great team to squeeze out artificial intelligence.
The new iPad Pro arrive in two sizes, 11 and 13 inches, and it is surprising how thin Apple has managed to make its most powerful tablets, as well as light. In the 13-inch model, there is a thickness of only 0.51 cm. They claim that it is the finest product that Apple has created.
The iPad Pro screen has also changed. It now has an OLED panel for the first time, but instead of opting for one panel, Apple uses two, in what it has called OLED tandem.
The Ultra Retina XDR display uses this tandem OLED technology that combines light from two OLED panels to produce more brightness. The new iPad Pro offers 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR content, and 1,600 nits of peak brightness for HDR.
In terms of power, the surprise comes. Apple says the natural change would have been to move from the M2 to the M3 chip, but the new display required a more powerful processor, the M4 chip.
Thanks to the use of this new chip, those from Apple can afford a tablet with a dual panel that is also so thin. In addition, they claim, it is the most powerful processor to date in any tablet, making the new iPad Pro the most powerful device sold in its category.
The processor allows the tablet to be 4 times faster than the previous generation, being able to offer the same power as the M2 with half the consumption.
In addition, with the Neural Engine of the M4 chip, the iPad Pro is prepared to take advantage of the full potential of AI, they say.
Specifically, the M4 chip incorporates the most powerful Neural Engine, capable of performing 38 trillion operations per second, with performance 60 times faster than the first Neural Engine in Apple’s A11 Bionic chip.
And from Apple they highlight that, “combined with the CPU’s next-generation machine learning accelerators, a high-performance GPU and greater memory bandwidth, as well as the intelligent features and powerful development environments of iPadOS, the “Neural Engine makes the new iPad Pro an extremely powerful device for AI.”
As for cameras, the iPad Pro has two lenses, a 12 Mpx main lens and a Lidar sensor and a flash that they say is very useful for scanning documents.
Likewise, the new Apple tablet comes with a new keyboard, Magic Keyboard, with a larger tackpad, a row of function keys and, most importantly, lighter.
For the Pro model, Apple has also presented a new Pencil Pro, the most expensive pencil for using Apple’s tablet. The new Apple Pencil Pro works with a sensor in the tip that can be squeezed and even rotated, so the device will notice different degrees of pressure and orientation.
The new Apple iPad Pro will be available in 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB or 2 TB capacity from May 15, but they can be reserved now.
The 11-inch model is available in a Wi-Fi model from 1,199 euros and in a Wi-Fi Cellular model from 1,449 euros.
The 13-inch iPad Pro is available in a Wi-Fi model from 1,549 euros and in a Wi-Fi Cellular model from 1,799 euros.
The new Apple Pencil Pro is compatible with the new iPad Pro only and is available for 149 euros.
The new Magic Keyboard is compatible with the new iPad Pro and is available in black and white for 349 euros for the new 11-inch iPad Pro and for 399 euros for the new 13-inch iPad Pro.
iPad Air
The lightest iPad is renewed. The Apple tablet arrives for the first time in two sizes, 11 and 13 inches, inspired by the iPad Pro, since according to Apple the large size is the one that users choose the most. It has 30% more screen space than the smaller one and also more sound power than its younger brother.
This tablet comes equipped with the M2 chip, 50% faster than the M1 used in the previous generation.
Apple’s new light tablet is available in four colors and will go on sale on May 15 from 699 euros for the 11-inch model or 949 for the 13-inch model.
Likewise, with the new arrivals the iPad (normal) drops in price and can be purchased from 429 euros.
Those from Cupertino have said little or nothing about artificial intelligence at this event, but Tim Cook said goodbye by inviting fans of the brand to watch the event that the firm will hold on June 10, where according to the CEO of the company, the technology of tomorrow will be seen. We will have to wait, but with the incorporation of the new chip to their tablets it is clear that those from Apple are prepared to make the leap to generative AI.