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We’re getting close, folks – new iPads are nearly here.
Next week, on Tuesday 7th May, Apple is expected to unveil the long-awaited new iPad Pro with an OLED display, alongside a new Apple Pencil and new iPad Airs.
What you may not have been expecting is the chip that is reported to be powering the new iPad Pro. According to rumour mill veteran, Mark Gurman, it’s not going to be an M3 chip. Nope – the new OLED iPad Pro is apparently going to boast an M4 chip.
You read that right.
The new hardware will also, apparently, signal the first full-on, face-first dive into the world of Apple AI (or whatever its marketing department will term it, if they decide to go down that route).
There’s quite a bit to unpack here, isn’t there?
Early May for new iPads
We finally have a 2024 iPad event confirmed. Taking place next Tuesday at 3PM UK time, the unveiling has been dubbed ‘Let Loose’ by Apple, which might be one of its most cryptic event one-liners so far.
From the looks of the colourful invite graphic, there’s going to be quite a heavy focus on the Apple Pencil, too, but how they’re going to spend the rest of the time is anyone’s guess.
According to Mark Gurman, the event will be online only with a select few journalists invited to hands-on gatherings in various locations worldwide.
I wouldn’t expect a mammoth online event, either – it’s far more likely that Let Loose is going to last around an hour (if that) and feel very much like the short-but-sweet ‘Scary Fast’ M3 MacBook Pro event that was held late last year.
Apart from the rumoured introduction of an M4 chip in the new iPad Pro (I’ll get to that in a moment), Apple is, as long rumoured, also expected to finally upgrade its flagship tablet to an OLED display.
No further design changes are expected (apart from, possibly, a relocation of the FaceTime camera to the side of the device). However, the new Apple Pencil is reported to feature haptic feedback for the first time, and we should also be treated to new iPad Airs, including a 12.9-inch edition.
M4 chip in new OLED iPad Pro?
According to Gurman, there’s a “strong possibility” that the chip in the new iPad Pro is going to be an M4 rather than an M3.
This sounds odd, right? The most up-to-date chip you can get in a Mac at the time of writing is the M3. If the new iPad Pro does indeed come with an M4 chip, it’ll be the first time Apple’s tablet strides ahead of its desktop cousin in the computing stakes.
There might be a method in this apparent madness, though. “By introducing the new iPad Pro ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Apple could lay out its AI chip strategy without distraction,” suggests Gurman. “Then, at WWDC, it could focus on how the M4 chip and new iPad Pros will take advantage of the AI software and services coming as part of iPadOS 18 later this year.”
He goes on to suggest that the A18 chip in the iPhone will be built around its AI capabilities, too. I’m pretty sure that’s nailed on, but it does raise one very important question: what about the Mac?
Let’s not forget that Apple is referring to the M3 MacBook Air as “the world’s best consumer laptop for AI”. It was a brief but telling sentence about the marketing strategy for that new laptop. Apple has been relying on AI and machine learning for years, but the difference now is that they’re starting to use it as a marketing term.
Even Gurman says that “these new products aren’t engineered and developed entirely around AI. This is partly about marketing”.
I think, in 2024, it’s all about marketing, and while I’m sure the M4 chip is going to be biblically impressive, numbers-wise, you can bet your bottom dollar that a lot of next week’s iPad event will be focused on AI.
This does beg another question, though: how backwards compatible will Apple’s AI stuff be if these new chips are going to play such a pivotal role?
New iPad Pro: Apple’s AI-first device?
If Apple does spend a considerable amount of time on the AI capabilities of the new iPad Pro next week, that’s a fascinating tactic. I’m personally very intrigued. WWDC doesn’t kick off until early June, which means we’re not going to see what iPadOS 18 is capable of, AI-wise, until then. That is, unless Apple shows us glimpses of what’s going to be possible while talking about the M4 chip.
I find that unlikely. I think it’s far more likely that we’ll be dealt a bunch of overwhelmingly huge numbers about the M4 chip’s capabilities, but we’ll have to wait until June to see exactly what it’s capable of.
Despite this, rumours persist that the new iPad Pro is going to be an AI-first device for Apple. What that means is anyone’s guess, but there have also been plenty of whispers that Apple has been holding talks with Open AI and Google about using their large language model tech.
Everything else AI-related from Apple is likely to be integrated into its applications and features such as website summarising, recapping missed notifications, and smarter ways of building music playlists. Once again, I highly doubt that we’re going to see any of that next week.
One this is for sure, though – we’re in for a very interesting couple of months for Apple and, in particular, the iPad.
