Two iPad Air 6e generation and two ultra-thin iPad Pros with OLED screens. Following a quarter during which Apple saw revenues from its tablets fall by 17%, its CEO Tim Cook hopes to reverse the trend. He lifted the veil on four new high-performance iPads.
Everyone on the tech planet only talks about AI. Apple assures that it is not lagging behind, since all this is only semantics. The proof, she says, is that the first neural coprocessor – which accelerates machine learning algorithms like those found everywhere in its suite of applications – was installed under the hood of an iPad in 2017.
In addition to its four iPads, Apple also presented the fourth generation of its system-on-a-chip, called M4, which is both more powerful and less energy-consuming than its predecessors. In Cupertino, we think that this chip alone will be able to animate an advanced language model like those of Meta, Google and Microsoft. Its three rivals rely on cloud computing to operate their consumer AI assistants. We’re betting that Apple, which has more or less promised a generative AI of its own before the end of the year, will try to make it work without having to resort to remote servers as often.
All its promises currently take the form of two iPads, each offered in two formats, which are greatly revamped. The news surprised no one: the launch of new, more efficient iPads had been in the air for several weeks. Apple hasn’t introduced a new iPad in over a year, a first since the popular tablet was introduced in 2010.
The question now is whether buyers will be there. Apple management promised analysts after publishing its quarterly results last week a “double-digit” rebound in revenue from its tablets by the end of the year.
iPad Pro M4 with OLED screen
It’s in the details that the surprises are found. For example, the two new iPad Pros reach an unprecedented thinness for any Apple product, at 5.1 mm in the case of the 13-inch screen version. The 11-inch iPad Pro is 5.3mm thick.
However, they are more muscular than ever. Their processor can perform up to 38 trillion operations per second (TOPS), while consuming half the power of equivalent PC processors. This allows them to maintain the same autonomy of around ten hours of intensive use as their predecessors, which is the least that can be done.
The new processor inherits an all-new display controller that supports an all-new two-layer OLED panel, boosting its brightness to 1000 nits (1700 nits in HDR mode) and sharpness (its contrast ratio is of 2,000,000 to 1). This is much more than the 600 to 800 nits of traditional PC screens…
Its format is very attractive. Its accessories will also turn heads. A new stylus called Pencil Pro appears in the catalog. This stylus inherits a gyroscope and haptic feedback, which improve its versatility. You pinch it to bring up personalized menus on the screen. Double-tap your index finger to move from one pencil line to another. We turn it between our fingers to generate lines of different thickness. Finally, we affix it to the side edge of the tablet to charge it, by induction.
The iPad Pro is also entitled to an aluminum keyboard case, the upper side of which looks exactly like that of a MacBook. The line is blurring a little more between MacBooks and iPads, even if we still don’t see the day when the two will merge into a single device.
Sold from $1,400 without accessories, the iPad Pro has almost everything a laptop needs, including the price.
11 and 13 inch iPad Air
Added to this are two iPad Air, the mid-range tablet which is also sold in 11 and 13 inch formats. The reasoning at Apple goes like this: at least half of the iPad Pros sold to date are 13-inch models. We might as well offer the same option for the iPad Air, a device presented as “an iPad Pro for the masses”.
Moreover, the new iPad Air is powered by an M2 processor manufactured by Apple and which until now powered the iPad Pro. Its base price remains unchanged, at $799. Speaking of price, Apple has adjusted the price of its entry-level iPad downward, which now costs $499.
Its oversized version has a 30% more generous display, but that’s the only difference between the two models. The iPad Air is compatible with the Pencil Pro. Like the iPad Pro, its front camera is moved to its side fringe, to make video calls while the tablet is oriented in landscape mode (across its width). It’s more natural.
If the iPad Pro is aimed at creative professionals or serious about their mobility, the iPad Air rather targets students or consumers with a more developed artistic sense. Video game enthusiasts can also find something to suit them, given the added power of the M2 processor.
Those waiting for Apple to supercharge its digital assistant Siri with a lot of generative AI will have to wait a little longer. In the meantime, the mechanics are ready.