At Apple, we may not say it at an open microphone, but we don’t hide it either: the new iPad Air and iPad Pro presented last week fill a gap that has always been present in… MacBooks. Which says a lot about the progress made in 14 years by the popular tablet designed in California.
A hands-on experience confirms this: it is impossible in 2024 to speak in the singular about the iPad. The device is available in a basic version at a reduced price of $500. The iPad Mini, more compact but more expensive, is probably the quintessence of the original iPad, as it was imagined even before the launch of the first iPhone by Steve Jobs, who is said to have dreamed of a tablet long before his legendary telephone.
The iPad Pro is a tablet that was designed to replace the personal computer. Hence its keyboard case which, this spring, is entitled to an aluminum finish, which reproduces the appearance of a MacBook keyboard. In addition to its touch screen… The iPad Air was created using cheaper components than those of the Pro to offer the same versatility, but more affordable.
After more than a year without a new iPad, we’re coming back with this approach again this spring. The iPad Pro is entitled to state-of-the-art mechanics: new ultra-bright OLED display, fourth generation M4 system-on-chip, new haptic feedback stylus. In short, the technical sheet of a laptop, in an aluminum chassis whose thickness is barely more than 5 mm.
iPad Air 6
The iPad Air takes the M2 processor from the previous generation of the iPad Pro and doubles the stake, since it is offered for the first time in two sizes (like the Pro, by the way); the diagonal is 11 and 13 inches, which is a bit misleading, since the added 2 inches represent 30% more pixels and screen.
To summarize the side-by-side review of the 13-inch iPad Air and iPad Pro in one sentence, it’s pretty simple: the iPad Air does everything you could dream of doing on a tablet. , as long as its battery allows you to do so. Indeed, its autonomy of at best 10 hours per charge could have been longer.
That said, if we add a Pencil Pro stylus and a keyboard case, we see that this is its only real fault compared to… a 13-inch MacBook Air of the same price, or around $1,500. Its system already allows multitasking, and its USB-C port supports external monitor, keyboard, mouse, and everything else that makes it a complete workstation.
At Apple, we already expect a collision course between the iPad and the Mac. It’s unclear whether it will lead to a touchscreen Mac hybrid, but given how naturally Windows behaves on a touchscreen PC, it seems inevitable. Under the hood, a Mac and an iPad Air have mechanics that are far too similar for this possibility not to be explored sooner rather than later.
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iPad Pro OLED
Speaking of PC, Microsoft is pushing hard these days to talk about the advent of the “AI PC”, the personal computer powered by generative artificial intelligence. Microsoft has an app, called Copilot, that Apple is said to be trying hard to replicate in time for the fall.
In the absence of its own AI-enhanced personal assistant, Apple has something even more intriguing: its new iPad Pro. This object, which could be described as an “AI tablet”, responds directly to the “AI PC” thanks to a suite of applications which highlight AI applications which are more subtle than a co-pilot. Two of these applications have also been unveiled alongside the tablet: the video editor Final Cut Pro and the music studio Logic Pro have been rewritten to integrate more AI.
Final Cut Pro can juggle four 4K video streams at the same time, transmitted wirelessly by as many iPhones, and become a pocket filming studio for both a professional YouTuber and an aspiring filmmaker. The speed of applying filters and completing editing is impressive.
Logic Pro 2 for iPad is just as surprising: it’s a virtual music band. The user can play (digitally or not) the instrument of their choice, then invite virtual musicians to complete their score. A drummer, a pianist, a bassist — all powered by AI — will create the framework that will complete his songs, in the style that suits him best: cabaret, jazz, creative, completely crazy, etc.
We have already talked on these pages about AI applications that create tailor-made songs from a single sentence. Apple takes this feature to the next level.
The iPad Pro does it with power and elegance, too. Its “AI-ready” M4 chip is the most advanced in Apple’s entire product line, capable of performing 38 trillion operations per second. And yet, its ultra-thin format fits incredibly well in the hand. Its keyboard case makes this tablet about as thick as a MacBook. It’s so thin that its stylus, the Pencil Pro, is bulky. (Its price, $169, is no less modest.)
Illustrators will like its exploded interface, the possibility of pinching it or turning it between their fingers to adjust the line on the screen. The latter, of the OLED type, is impeccable: bright and detailed as desired.
This iPad too would have benefited from autonomy greater than the 10 hours announced. Especially considering its price. Somewhere between $1800 and $2200, depending on the accessories that come with it. Analysts predict that it will still sell at least as many as previous iPad Pros.
Let’s predict, since we’re here, that this iPad Pro is not only the new tablet of the hour. It may also be the Mac of the future…