Apple iPads have has been on the back burner since 2022; There have been plenty of iPhones and Macs since then, even a mixed reality headset, but it’s been two years since we’ve seen a new tablet. Now the wait is finally over. During its virtual event today, Apple announced the next-generation iPad Pro and iPad Air, an all-new M4 chip, and updated accessories.
Here’s everything Apple announced.
Brand new M4 chip
Since 2020, Apple has exclusively launched its M series processors alongside another Mac. That is no longer the case, as Apple introduced the new M4 chipset that debuts inside the new iPad Pro.
The new chip is based on a second-generation three-nanometer process, which packs more transistors into a smaller space, improving both power efficiency and speed. The CPU has four performance cores and six efficiency cores, which Apple says delivers up to 50 percent faster CPU performance than the M2 in the previous iPad Pro. There’s also a 10-core GPU for four times faster performance. Like the M3, it comes with features like ray tracing, mesh shadingand dynamic caching.
The change in strategy makes sense, considering that Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (which focuses on new software capabilities coming to its entire product line) is next month. 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 incorporate some of the company’s features into the next version of the iPhone operating system (this adds to reports that Apple is also talking to Google about licensing the Gemini assistant).
During his earnings calls, Apple CEO Tim Cook has also hinted at the company’s incoming AI features, both in February and, more recently, earlier this month. Although Apple didn’t go into specific AI features, it is apparently laying the groundwork for AI with the new M4.
It’s currently only available with the new iPad Pro, but we can expect Apple to implement the chip in next-generation Macs.
An OLED iPad Pro
The last two versions of the iPad Pro have not been as innovative. In 2021, Apple added an M1 chip and a mini-LED display; in 2022, it came with an M2 chip, ProRes video capture, and support for Wi-Fi 6E. However, the latest iPad Pro includes the most notable updates we’ve seen in a long time.