While we didn’t get a new iPad Mini in today’s Apple event (boo), the Cupertino tech giant nevertheless unleashed a new onslaught of portable computing goodness with its new iPad Pro and iPad Air models. Of course as with every new product launch, the new devices come with some significant upgrades in terms of overall performance, as well as changes to design. With that in mind, let’s get started!
New iPad Air
First up is the new iPad Air, which comes in two sizes including an 11-inch and a new 13-inch model. As you can probably tell from the name, the iPad Air is designed to be portable, and comes with a new upgrade thanks to Apple’s M2 chipset inside. The company also says that it’s equipped the Air with a faster CPU and GPU, as well as a newer 16-core Neural Engine courtesy of the M2 chipset, which should prove to be a boost with the device’s AI capabilities.
Another change to the iPad Air is the front-facing ultra wide 12MP camera, which is now located horizontally making it more ideal for work calls and even just casual video chats; meanwhile, the rear of the tablet features a 12MP camera which supports 4K video, as well as 240-fps slow motion capture. For connectivity, Apple does offer the iPad Air in both Wifi and cellular models with 5G support for on-the-go connectivity. For pricing, the 11-inch iPad Air still starts at £599, while the 13-inch iPad Air is a bit more expensive coming in at £749. Folks looking to grab the new Air models can order them, with availability beginning on May 15.
Going Pro
For this year’s iPad Pro models, Apple went all-in with performance thanks to the inclusion of the new M4 chip inside. It’s a rare sight to see the company introduce a new and powerful SoC in a tablet launch, given that it highlights its M-series chipsets alongside its Mac device launches. With that said, the M4 does make for a very interesting package with the iPad Pro, although there’s more to it than just a shiny new chip.
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Similar to the new iPad Air, the iPad Pro 2024 comes in two sizes at 11 inches and 13 inches, which both feature Apple’s “Ultra Retina XDR” display technology, all wrapped in a design which the company claims is the thinnest to date. The company says that the M4 is tailor-made to be able to run the new display technology, providing users with a more immersive and visually-appealing user experience. Of course, this upgrade also extends to productivity – Apple has also launched a new Apple Pencil Pro with the iPad Pro, which packs a ton of tech inside, including support for haptic feedback, gesture controls, and improved usability. There’s also a newly-redesigned Magic Keyboard, which is a bit slimmer than before.
As with most other hardware manufacturers in the past couple of years, Apple is targeting AI-powered capabilities with the M4 chip – for one, the M4 features Apple’s next-generation Neural Engine, which is able to perform an impressive 38 trillion operations per second (60x faster than the original A11 Bionic chip), and can work seamlessly in tandem with the CPU, GPU, and high-bandwidth memory for AI-powered tasks. During its presentation, the company was rather confident that power users after a productivity-focused device will find a lot to love about the iPad Pro, especially with support for apps such as Final Cut Pro, and other powerful video editing software.
On the camera side of things, the iPad Pro features a 12MP back camera that comes with vibrant Smart HDR images and video – Apple claims this results in better-looking colours, texture, and even low-light details. There’s also a new adaptive True Tone flash that makes document scanning on the new iPad Pro a bit easier, with improved visual quality as well – the camera can identify documents right in the Camera app, and if a shadow is in the way, it takes multiple photos with the adaptive flash, stitching the scan together for a better-looking image.
In terms of pricing, the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at £999 for the Wi-Fi model, and £1,199 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. Meanwhile, the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at £1,299 for the Wi-Fi model, and £1,499 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
