ALBAWABA – Apple just wrapped up its ‘Let Loose’ event, which focused on the iPad line-up, with Tim Cook calling it the biggest day for the device since its launch, announcing two new iPad Air models, a refreshed iPad Pro lineup, Apple silicon’s next upgrade and all new upgraded accessories including new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.
The new iPad Air comes in two sizes for the first time, with a larger 13-inch model alongside the upgraded 11-inch one, rocking the M2 Apple silicon chip, a single 12MP rear camera sensor and a same-sized one on the front with a new location at the center of the screen edge, and support for Apple Pencil’s Hover feature coming straight from the iPad Pro, prices start at $599 for the 11-inch, and $799 for the 13-inch model.
Apple's new iPad Air 2024 models (Apple)
The new M4 chip arrives with an arsenal of AI capabilities, with a Neural Engine that can run 38 trillion operators per second (TOPS), making it “an outrageously powerful chip for AI,” with the tech giant claiming 60 times more performance compared to the A11 chip from back in 2017, and similar performance to latest PC chips with only a quarter of the power needed.
The M4 chip powers the newly upgraded iPad Pro models, which come with a refreshed design, a much thinner chassis that makes it Apple’s thinnest device to date, and an all-new OLED display technology that the company calls ‘Tandem OLED’ built by stacking two panels to give the screen 1,000 nits of peak full-screen brightness, and 1,600 nits of peak HDR content brightness.
Apple's new iPad Pro 2024 models (Apple)
The iPad Pros feature the new M4 chip, which is 50% faster than the M2 and offers improved thermal performance, support for the new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard, with base storage of 256GB and prices starting at $999 for the 11-inch and $1,299 for the 13-inch, available for pre-order today and hitting store shelves on May 15th.
The Apple Pencil Pro takes the well-known stylus to a new level, with all new haptics and a sensor that can register users’ squeezes that add extra capabilities like bringing up tool palettes or run shortcuts with a quick gesture, coupled with a gyroscope that can sense the angle of the pen to provide extra precision, and support for Apple’s ‘Find My’ service, available for pre-order at $129.
The new Apple Pencil Pro (Apple)
Apple finally revealed an improved Magic Keyboard attachment, exclusive only to M4 equipped iPad Pros, that blurs the gap between the iPad and the Macbook even further, featuring a larger touchpad and a new function row for easy access to shortcuts like Brightness or Volume, coming in two colors and a price tag of $300 or $350, depending on the iPad Pro model.
