Apple event live blog: Get ready for new iPads and more
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And so there’s scope for a M4 chip that puts AI workloads front and center, much like the Tensor G3 chip in the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
Such a chip could lay the groundwork for WWDC 2024, where we’d expect Apple to tout a lot of generative AI tech and tools. This would give developers time to try out the capabilities of this very-much-rumored chip and allow for some early Apple-only generative AI apps to be showcased in a few months time.
Apple is expected to go hard on generative AI for the iPhone 16, but there are hints that it could lean on the content-creation AI tech with the new iPads.
This would make sense as Apple has often seen iPads as creation devices for artists and other creators. So bringing generative AI into the mix could turbocharge users’ creative efforts, letting them ‘let loose’ with their ideas.
The current M3 chip along with its Pro and Max counterparts, are more than powerful enough for MacBooks, so would logically be fine for iPads.
The only wrinkle here is generative AI…
I’m going to place a bet that the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models will get an Apple M3 chip. Despite hints of a M4 chip, I feel it’s a tad premature for Apple to have a brand-new slice of silicon to debut when we’ve only just had an M3 MacBook Air 13-inch.
As for the new iPad Pro, OLED displays have been hotly tipped.
While the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro has a rather good mini-LED display, OLED still rules the roost when it comes to color saturation and contrast. So for professional users, it would make sense for the iPad Pro, both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models, to get OLED displays.
The partial answer to the below question is a bigger model for the iPad AIr, which is tipped to get a 12.9-inch display to offer Apple tablet fans a bigger screen without needing to pay iPad Pro money.
I’m all for a larger iPad Air, as I think the combination of a bigger screen and more powerful chip would give it a more credible chance at being a pseudo laptop replacement, without neutering its tablet charms.
If you go and take a gender at our best tablets list, you’ll see it’s flush with iPads. Hardly, surprising, as Apple still offers pretty much the best tablet experience around, blending powerful software with slick hardware.
So you and I would be forgiven for asking where the iPad Air and iPad Pro could go next…
Right, let’s get into it shall we…
As mentioned, this Apple event is almost certainly going to be all about iPads. Specifically the iPad Air and iPad Pro models, both of which haven’t received an update since 2022.
That’s hardly a long time in the world of tablets, but Apple’s in-house M-series chips are now on their third generation, meaning there’s scope to pop such slices of silicon into tablets that still have M2 and M2 chips.
Good morning. Roland Moore-Clyer here, Managing Editor of Mobile Computing at TechRadar, to take you through some last-minute leaks, rumors and news ahead of the Let Loose event, and serve up some opinion and analysis on what to expect and what not to expect from today’s Apple showcase.
Refresh 2024-05-07T11:11:07.977Z And so there’s scope for a M4 chip that puts AI workloads front and center, much like the Tensor G3 chip in the Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Such a chip could lay the groundwork for WWDC 2024, where we’d expect Apple to tout a lot…
