Apple Releases New Versions of iPad Pro and iPad Air

On Tuesday, Apple introduced a new line of iPads on what Tim Cook called the “biggest day for iPad since its introduction”. And rightfully so – this is the biggest iPad update event the company has hosted in years.

The launch includes two new versions of iPad Pro, two new versions of iPad Air, a new and updated stylus, and a magic keyboard.

What Will the New iPad Pro Offer?

The specifications of both these models are exactly the same. You’ve to pay $300 extra just for the size upgrade.

Better Display

The display was perhaps the most exciting part of the upgrade – at least for me. For the first time ever, iPad Pro will come with a high-quality OLED display which will make the visuals look brighter and more vibrant.

Now, building large OLED displays that are equally bright requires a bit of extra engineering and Apple seems to have finally cracked that.

The company has experimented with something called “Tandem OLED”. In simple words, it’s like having two OLED displays stacked and synced together.

As a result, you get a much higher brightness capacity of 1,000 nits of peak full-screen brightness and 1,600 nits of peak HDR brightness.

M4 Chip

For better performance, it will be powered with Apple’s very own M4 chips, which means the CPU core is at least 50% faster than the last versions and 10x faster than the first iPad Pro model. The GPU core is also 4 times faster than the last versions. Currently, the new iPad Pro is the only Apple device to use the M4 chip.

Other Features

Last but not least, the iPad comes with a 12-megapixel rear camera with the ability to record 4k videos and an updated flash that will make scanning documents easier.

‘The new Pro pioneers our most advanced technologies, and pushes the limits of what an iPad can be’ – Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus

Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Greg Joswiak also shared a post on X, announcing the launch and giving us a first glimpse of the iPad.

What Does iPad Air Offer?

iPad Air will be sold in its usual 11-inch size and 13-inch options. The smaller one is priced at $599 for 128GB whereas the bigger one is priced at $799.

As is always the case, there are some exciting color options – gold, blue, and purple. What makes these new versions better is the M2 chips – more power and quicker performance.

Quite honestly, this should have been the default camera position in all iPads. Thankfully, Apple has realized it too.

Both iPad Pro and iPad Air are expected to be available for sale from next week.

New Accessories – Apple Pencil Pro & Magic Keyboard

Speaking of accessories, Apple also introduced an updated stylus called the Apple Pencil Pro for $129.

However, this stylus only works with the newest versions of the iPads. There’s a good reason for this too. While repositioning the camera to the landscape edge, Apple had to readjust the position of the charging magnets too. So, unfortunately, you can’t use this Apple Pencil Pro with the older iPad models.

Another major addition is the magic keyboard (which comes with a trackpad), which you can snap onto your device, allowing you to use it like a mini Macbook.

The magic keyboard will have to be bought separately. Depending on the size you pick, it will cost you $249 or $299.

Why Is Apple Focusing on iPads?

White it’s true that iPads are Apple’s most profitable product, it only managed to generate a revenue of $5.6 billion this quarter, which despite being 17% down year-on-year, was higher than most other competitors.

Maybe this is one of the reasons why Apple is trying to revive its iPad line. And perhaps for the same reason, Apple also brought down its entry-level iPad pricing from $349 to $249.

Surely, these new launches will not have any immediate effect on iPad sales. But an update event was long due. And perhaps with these new features, like the advanced M4 chip and the magic keyboard, Apple users will finally get the push to upgrade from their outdated iPad models.

On a side note, Apple has been heavily focusing on reinventing and innovation for the past couple of months. After a successful iPad launch event, the tech giant is now gearing up for its annual developer conference where we can expect to get an update on what AI tools and features it has been working on.