You can upgrade the iPad Pro’s processor as well
Predictions for Next-Generation iPad Pro, iPad Air, and Related Models: A Snapshot at a Few Minutes with Apple
A few reporters got a look at the new iPad Pro at an Apple event in New York City. After holding and playing with the device for a few minutes, I can say pretty confidently that Apple’s not kidding about how much more svelte the new model is. At 5.3mm thick for the 11-inch model and 5.1mm for the 13-inch tablet, this new iPad is noticeably thinner and lighter than anything the company has made before.
You will probably lose some processing power if you stick with the 512 and 512GB storage tiers. Both versions of the chip feature a 10-core GPU, the same memory bandwidth of 120GB/s, and each supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing. With six efficiency cores each, which are designed to handle more mundane, less demanding day-to-day tablet tasks, you’d be hard-pressed to notice much of a difference in ordinary use.
Apple’s iPads have been on the back burner since 2022—there have been plenty of iPhones and Macs since, even a mixed reality headset, but it’s been two years since we’ve seen a new tablet. Now the wait is finally over. Next-generation iPad Pro and iPad Air, along with updates to accessories, were announced during today’s virtual event.
The new Pro has only one new spec, which is the new screen. It’s difficult to say with a straight face how much sharper the display is, but even from a distance, it’s clear how much better it is. The “Tandem OLED,” as it’s known by Apple, looks a lot brighter and has better viewing angles than an iPad does. The screen didn’t wow me immediately the way the redesign did, but it does look great.
The large model feels more comfortable to use and hold than it did when I first saw it. And it is up to 13 inches from the previous size of 12.9. The difference between the Pro and the Air is obvious to everyone in the room, as someone who has carried around an 11-inch Pro for almost a year and a half knows. The biggest question I have for now is about fragility: is the new Pro potentially too thin? There are tradeoffs with a device like this though, and it feels rigid and sturdy in my hands. We have lots of testing to do.
The function keys at the top will make it a much more useful keyboard and trackpad machine in general. The iPadOS operating system is not great for the trackpad, so we will have to wait for Apple to improve that.
It feels like a pencil. The Pro screen was smooth and fast as I drew and moved some stuff around, and the feedback you feel when you squeeze or double-tap is nice. We need someone to test this more thoroughly because I am not an artist. Software and third-party developers are where the best features of the Pencil Pro will come from.
How will Apple unveil new software capabilities at the Worldwide Developers Conference in October? Insights from Bloomberg on the upcoming M4 and other iPad Pro releases
Apple has only ever released the M-series in conjunction with another Mac. Apple’s new iPad Pro is the first to feature the all-new M4 chip.
It makes sense that Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is next month, as it focuses on new software capabilities coming to its entire product line. In April, Bloomberg reported that iOS 18 will include “a new slate of generative AI features” and that Apple was currently in talks with OpenAI to incorporate some of the company’s features into the next version of the iPhone operating system (this is in addition to reports that Apple is also talking to Google about licensing the Gemini assistant).
