When Apple announced the new OLED iPad Pro earlier this year, it did so by also debuting the M4 chip for the first time. Alongside this, the top-tier slate thinned down to the slimmest it's ever been, moved the front-facing camera, and trimmed down the bezels. It's made it one of the best iPads you can buy. And that's not just my opinion – consumers seem to agree.

According to a fresh report from CIRP, the latest data for the June quarter in the US shows the iPad Pro pulling ahead as the Apple's most popular iPad model, leaving its siblings eating dust.

The newest iPad Pro's allure was apparently too irresistible. CIRP's report, titled “iPad Refresh Looks Like It’s Working”, showcases the market share of each iPad model from June 2023 to 2024, and it's clear the iPad Pro's new refresh has struck a chord with buyers.

In 2023, the race was very close, with the iPad Pro leading by a mere 3% over the entry-level iPad. Fast-forward to 2024, and the new M4 iPad Pro has flexed its muscles, capturing a solid 43% of the market share – a 5% increase from last year. Meanwhile, the humble entry-level iPad held steady at 35%, maintaining its position but not gaining any ground.

The iPad Air and iPad mini, on the other hand, didn't fare as well. The iPad Air saw its market share drop by 3%, and the iPad mini slipped by 2%. It seems the mid-range and smaller tablets just couldn't keep up with the Pro's powerful performance and flashy features.

Who's buying the M4 iPad Pro?

CIRP suggests this spike in iPad Pro sales is likely driven by early adopters – those tech enthusiasts who are always on the lookout for the latest and greatest. Probably someone like yourself, if you've found yourself reading this. Much like bees to honey, these eager consumers have swarmed to the high-end, most expensive models.

This proves once again that in the Apple ecosystem, premium is king. We've seen a similar thing happen when the newest iPhone comes out. Typically, the Pro model gets the most sales, with consumers again opting for the more premium option.

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I’ll admit: I wasn’t enthusiastic about Apple Intelligence when it was announced at WWDC, Apple’s yearly developer conference, back in June. After seeing countless AI models try to replace certain apps like Mail or generative features, Apple Intelligence didn’t fill me with confidence.

I was, and still am, more enthusiastic about how AI can help those with accessibility needs with visual and audio impairments. At WWDC, I struggled to see the benefits of such features as ‘Writing Tools’, which can rewrite inputted text across macOS Sequoia, iOS 18, and iPadOS 18, into something casual or professional. Then there’s Image Playground, Apple’s take on generative AI. Apple Intelligence will create an image or an emoji based on your text or voice prompt. I’ll be honest, I winced at this section during the WWDC keynote. The resulting images still look rough, creepy even, and ultimately I see no benefit to this or the audience this feature serves.

Fast forward to July 29, and Apple released beta versions of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 with support for Apple Intelligence. I signed up my M1 iPad Pro to the beta program and within an hour, I was able to use Apple’s AI features. I was unimpressed by the features, except for one: the summarize feature in the Mail app, which can provide a 4-line summary of what an email includes. After using this feature for less than a day, I can safely say that it’s the only aspect I like of Apple Intelligence so far.

Byte-sized newsletters

I subscribe to a lot of newsletters, which all arrive in my Mail app weekly. These include Rings of Saturn, which goes into detail about scrapped content from games, and Read Only Memo, which covers the latest news in retro-gaming emulation.

These newsletters can be great to read during a lunch break or on the weekend, but sometimes I just want the gist of what they include. This is where the ‘Summarize’ feature in the Mail app comes in handy.

If you’re running the beta versions of iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, or macOS Sequoia 15.1 with an Apple device running an M1 chip or above, open the Mail app and select an email with a lot of text. At the top of this email, you’ll see a new ‘Summarize’ icon to the right. Press it, and you’ll get a four-line summary of the email. In my day-long usage of this feature, I've found it to be fast and accurate, although there have been rare moments when Apple Intelligence has, for some reason, refused to summarize an email, such as other newsletters. When it works though, it works well.

If you’re still unsure about the ‘Summarize’ feature, think of it as looking at the back of a book when browsing in a bookstore. You’ll usually find a summary of what the book is about, tempting you to buy it.

This feature is an example of how AI can help you, instead of enhancing what you create through words with ‘Writing Tools’, or how Apple Intelligence can generate creepy images from a text or voice prompt. ‘Summarize’ can help to give you an idea of what an email entails, which could encourage you to read it in full.

It’s why this feature is the only one I like so far. I’m looking forward to seeing it improve over the coming months until the iOS 18.1, iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 updates are out of beta and widely available. For now, though, I’m going to use ‘Summarize’ in the Mail app as much as I can to see how it fares with other types of emails, such as deals newsletters, responses from an interview, and more.

Apple has reduced the trade-in values of some of its products, namely the iPhone 14 Pro, Apple Watch Ultra, and more, alongside some Android smartphones.

The company’s trade-in program allows anyone to hand in their device at an Apple Store or send it off through Apple’s website, in exchange for a certain amount of credit based on the condition of the device, which can go towards a new product. Alternatively, they can choose to have the device be recycled.

Apple regularly changes the value of some products to reflect the length of time they have been available. This time, products like the iPhone 14 Pro Max have had their trade-in value altered. Via MacRumors, it’s now up to $620 instead of $630. Similarly, the Apple Watch Ultra’s trade-in value is now up to $355, which is a $5 reduction from the previous $360 trade-in value.

What else has seen their trade-in values reduced?

The iPad Pro has seen its trade-in value slashed from $580 to $565, while the regular iPad’s value has gone from $250 to $225. Macs have also been affected by the new trade-in value changes:

• MacBook Pro - was $1,010, now $925
• MacBook Air - was $525, now $485
• iMac - was $420, now $330
• MacBook - was $145, now $130

Android smartphones have also seen some reductions in their trade-in values. Samsung’s S22 Ultra 5G is now valued up to $235, down from $270, while the Google Pixel 6 Pro is now valued up to $125, down from $150.

The full list of Apple’s trade-in pricing can be seen on the trade-in section of its website. It’s a great program to use, but be aware that the trade-in value of your device can change depending on its condition.

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A delighted iPad Pro user on Reddit has revealed that you can successfully install and run the classic post-apocalyptic RPG Fallout 2 on Apple’s tablet, with just a bit of Github know-how. 

User Party-Leadership-522 took to Reddit to share their creation with the simple caption “Fallout 2 on the iPad Pro. A dream come true.” While they didn’t share the rundown of how to get this delightful hack working, some helpful commenters have revealed it’s most likely been made possibly by way of Github and some sideloading. 

Fallout 2 “Community Edition” is “a fully working re-implementation of Fallout 2, with the same original gameplay, engine bug fixes, and some quality of life improvements.” The project even supports some total conversion mods, and apparently works “(mostly) hassle-free on” various platforms including 

Fallout 2 on iPad 

To get Fallout 2 up and running on iPad, you’ll need to own a copy of the game, either on Steam or GOG. You can actually use this Github application to install Fallout 2 on macOS too, and it’ll run natively on Apple silicon and any of the best MacBooks. On the iPad, things are a touch more complicated. You’ll need to use a sideloading application such as AltStore or Sideloadly to install the game, and there are a couple of tweaks you’ll need to make before the game is up and running. 

But if you’ve found yourself with the nuclear RPG bug after watching Fallout on Amazon, this is a perfect and very fun way to enjoy the game on iPad or Mac. 

Released in 1998, Fallout 2 is the sequel to the incredibly popular original Fallout Game, and the forebear of the inimitable Fallout 3 and its other subsequent titles. The second iteration boasted similar mechanics and graphics to the original, with the story taking place 80 years after the events of Fallout.

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With Apple’s brand new M4 iPad Pro still fresh out of the oven, we’ve just seen a leak that confirms Apple is already planning an M5 upgrade for its best iPad, alongside big chip upgrades for its iPad mini 7 and a new 11th generation iPad. 

New device identifiers uncovered in the backend of Apple software earlier this week served up confirmation that the iPhone 16 will arrive in four different models with an A18 chip, now the same source seems to point to three exciting future iPad upgrades and two canceled projects. 

As posted on X by @aaronp613, the uncovered identifiers reveal three new upcoming iPads: the iPad mini 7, the iPad 11, and a brand new M5 iPad Pro. Perhaps the most surprising inclusion is the M5 iPad Pro, given that Apple’s M4 model is barely three months old. The leak could point to Apple’s transition to a more regular, yearly upgrade cycle for iPad, which reflects the current iPhone schedule and its plans for the Mac lineup too. The iPads, listed as 17,1 through 17,4, point to 11-inch and 13-inch models, both available in either Wi-Fi or Cellular configurations, just like the current version.  

iPad leaks galore 

The leaked identifiers also indicate Apple is planning to unveil a new 11th-generation iPad in both Wi-Fi and Cellular models, identified as 15,7 and 15,8. According to the leak, the iPad will ship with the A16 chip that debuted in the iPhone 14 Pro in 2022. That might make it a two-year-old chip, but it’s no slouch and more than enough to power Apple’s base model tablet. What’s more, it’s a hefty jump on the iPad 10’s A14 Bionic chip. 

More information from the leak indicates that the iPad mini 7 is also coming in both Wi-Fi and Cellular configurations replete with the A17 chip. Whether that’s the A17 Pro from Apple’s best iPhone, the iPhone 15 Pro, or a slightly dumbed-down A17 remains to be seen, but packing all that power into such a tiny tablet will reap immense rewards for processing and multitasking. Perhaps more importantly, it’ll give tremendous efficiency and great battery life, likely retaining the crown as the best iPad for reading. 

We'd expect both of these tablets to debut before the year is out. 

Three new future products to look forward to, the leak also reveals two interesting cancelled products. The first is an A14 iPad. With that chip already present in the aforementioned iPad 10 and the fourth-generation iPad Air, it’s hard to tell which canceled device this could be, save perhaps a different size of base model iPad that never saw the light of day. Much more obvious is the reference to an iPad 15,3 through 15,6, which appears to be a canceled M3 iPad Pro. Apple’s M2 iPad Pro came out in October 2022, so this could indicate that Apple was planning to launch an M3 replacement late last year, but skipped over M3 to push out M4 early. We can’t know for sure why Apple made this decision, but a likely bet is the burgeoning presence of potent AI chips on the market. It’s possible Apple brought up the M4’s timeline to prove it has powerful AI hardware in the pipeline, a move that would also explain why the chip debuted in an iPad, rather than one of Apple’s new MacBooks. 

Can't wait for a new iPad?

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Amazon Prime Day 2024 starts on July 16, but that hasn’t stopped Apple’s latest M4 iPad Pro tablets falling to their lowest-ever price. Released in May, these new iPads feature the brand new M4 Apple silicon chip, an Ultra Retina XDR OLED display, and a much thinner design. With iPadOS 18 coming later this year, you could take advantage of this deal and reap the benefits of what this new software update will bring, such as Apple Intelligence and a brand-new Calculator app!

With both the 11-inch model at $71 off and the 13-inch model at $101 off, the time could be now to look into one of the best iPads currently available. Granted, if you want a smaller iPad with less of bells and whistles, there are plenty of Prime Day iPad deals you can grab right now. But if you want an iPad that’s currently the best in the tablet’s lineup at its lowest-ever price, we recommend looking at the following deals...

Go Pro for less

• iPad deals: Amazon | B&H Photo | Best Buy | Walmart

If you’ve owned an iPad in the past or currently have a recent model, it may be worth looking into an upgrade to one of these M4 models, especially if you use your iPad for creative purposes. With support for the Apple Pencil Pro, now could be a perfect time to look into this drawing stylus as well.

However, keep in mind that this may be the beginning of some great iPad savings, as well as other Prime Day Apple deals before the event officially starts on July 16.

One iPad mad scientist has managed to beat an M4 iPad Pro testing score by popping it in the freezer. Though we wouldn’t recommend trying this at home, it shows how powerful Apple’s latest chip is. 

Over on Reddit, one user of the r/iPadPro subreddit put their brand new 13-inch M4 iPad Pro in the freezer for 10 minutes before running Geekbench 6, a benchmarking program that tells you how powerful your hardware is. In single core performance, it managed to get 4004, which is 3 points above the user who froze their iPad Pro with liquid nitrogen just a few weeks ago. Without either of these freezing methods, the M4 iPad Pro tends to get around 3700 in its single-core tests — still a mighty figure. The max multicore score of 13603 scored by the Reddit user is marginally above the aggregated average of 13405 it tends to test normally. 

As pointed out in the original users’ thread, this is almost 300 points above a 14th gen Intel i9 14900k desktop chip, which fetches over $500 by itself. The original Reddit poster goes on to say “Apple actually did some serious work on these M Series chips man.”

• iPad deals: Amazon | B&H Photo | Best Buy | Walmart

What is all this power for? 

Though it’s good to have a quicker export time on files or better performance in games, the M4 chip seems like more of a future-proofing plan than anything else right now. With iOS 18 later this year, Apple Intelligence will finally be launching on the platform and on-device AI use will also benefit Apple’s current line of iPads. 

Part of the reason why iPad Pros are performing so well when subjected to cold spaces is because of how efficiently designed they are. Apple devices can stay relatively cool and silent even without fans and this is because of how smart the design is. With a beefy chip like this, it might be able to handle one of the most notable downsides of AI devices, the heat that comes from its use. It seems that, with its current lineup of chips, Apple is poised for a huge year ahead and the M4 chip will be at the forefront. 

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A new video from renowned durability tester, JerryRigEverything, shows the new M4 iPad Pro's most expensive configurations have some display concerns. The nano-textured glass displays available on the 1TB and 2TB versions of the 2024 iPad Pro, which start at $1,699 for the 11-inch and $1,999 for the 13-inch model appear to scratch far easier than its cheaper counterpart.

In the video, Jerry uses the Mohs Hardness Scale to determine the durability of the Ultra Retina XDR display coated with a nano-texture matte display. Normally glass scratches at a level 6 and that durability is found on all the best iPhones and the best iPads including the $999 version of the M4 iPad Pro.

On the nano-textured glass, however, marks start to appear at level 3, and permanent scratches damage the screen at level 4, noticeably less than the expected level 6. In the video, Jerry shows that a razor blade or screw leaves permanent damage to the display while a quarter or some keys leave marks that can be wiped away with the included cleaning cloth. In comparison, a razor blade or a screw wouldn't leave scratches on the regular glass we see on most Apple products.

The most expensive iPad Pro's durability concern

So if you're in the market for a brand new iPad Pro with an OLED display and M4 chip perfect for the upcoming improvements expected in iPadOS 18, should you be concerned? There's definitely cause for concern if you throw your iPad in a backpack with no case or screen cover, but you shouldn't be doing that anyway. Given that the nano-texture glass is a $100 option on an already-expensive device, however, the news might give potential customers some pause in considering the more expensive models. 

We won't know for sure how the nano-texture glass holds up until we see how it compares to regular glass after months of use, especially with the Apple Pencil Pro which is constantly coming into contact with the display.

iMore has reached out to Apple for comment.

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In the fourteen years since Apple launched the iPad, the device has gone from a glorified giant iPhone to a bonafide laptop replacement. Apple’s new M4 iPad Pro boasts a chip more powerful than some of Apple’s best MacBooks, such as the M3 MacBook Air, and a stylish Magic Keyboard with aluminum to mimic that premium laptop experience. 

This year, Apple’s new best iPads, the iPad Pro and the new M2 iPad Air, also got new landscape-oriented cameras to reflect that most people use their iPads in landscape as a laptop replacement, rather than in portrait. In fact, there’s only really one detail change that would seal the deal, and Apple is thinking about pulling the trigger. 

That’s right, according to Apple industrial designer Molly Anderson, Apple is considering flipping the Apple logo on the back of the iPad 90 degrees, confirming the lineup as a landscape-first offering.

iPad goes landscape… for good 

Speaking to French outlet Numerama, Anderson was asked about the orientation of the Apple logo on the back of the iPad, which is currently aligned with the iPad in portrait in all of Apple’s current tablets. “I think it could change, I don’t think it’s set in stone,” Anderson said, according to a translation of the interview. “The iPad has long been a product that is used in portrait mode, but we are using it more and more in landscape mode. We cannot say that it is fixed.” 

While it might sound like a trivial change, the orientation of the iPad’s logo, at least in its current form, reflects strongly the design intention and Apple’s philosophy for the device. The decision to place the logo in portrait would have been a carefully thought out and conscious choice, one that probably seemed obvious at the advent of the tablet fourteen years ago. Changing the orientation of the logo would be equally deliberate, and equally important too, signaling that the lines between iPad and Mac are more blurred than ever. The philosophy of the tablet also plays into the debate around its hamstrung software. Apple’s iPads now routinely ship with hardware that simply can’t stretch its legs because of the constraints of iPadOS. Even iPadOS 17, replete with multi-tasking tool Stage Manager, and keyboard and mouse support, can’t quite get it done. Perhaps WWDC 2024 and iPadOS 18 could finally be the iPad software revolution we’ve been waiting for.

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If you've picked up a new M4 iPad Pro already or are planning to buy one before the end of 2024, you're one of what Apple expects to be around nine million people. That's according to a new report which suggests Apple's suppliers are aiming to ship around nine million units before the end of the year.

That report suggests that, despite an overall downturn in the market, Apple and suppliers LG Display and Samsung Display are anticipating strong demand for the new tablet.

That despite the iPad Pro starting at $999 for the 11-inch model, with the price brought about by the use of the new M4 chip and a tandem OLED display technology that produces stunning images and eye-searing brightness.

That's a lot of iPads

DigiTimes cites Omdia research when it says that it's believed tablet OLED shipments will reach 12,1 million units in 2024 with hybrid OLED displays making up more than eight million of that number. It's expected that the iPad Pro will take most of those displays.

The iPad Pro comes in 11- and 13-inch display sizes with LG Display and Samsung Display responsible for building those OLED displays. But as impressive as those displays are, they haven't been without their problems. Our iPad Pro review discovered a strange HDR content issue, while others have reported that their iPad Pro display looks grainy. 

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When Apple announced the new OLED iPad Pro earlier this month it did so by also debuting the M4 chip for the first time. The move made the iPad Pro the first device to use the next-gen chip, and we're still learning what it can do. Turns out, it can play games like no other iPad or iPhone.

Genshin Impact is a game that has proven to be incredibly popular on the many different platforms it can be played on. The iPad and iPhone are no different, but the game is also one that can tax even the most capable of systems. That makes it a pretty good benchmark for testing new devices and you can probably see where this is going.

Someone took a new M4 iPad Pro to put it through its paces using Genshin Impact to see just how capable a gaming machine Apple's best iPad really is. And as you'll see below, it's incredibly capable indeed.

Do you want to play a game?

The testing was carried out by the YouTube channel Dame Tech and saw the Genshin Impact played on an M4 iPad Pro while the frames-per-second figure was monitored using Apple's Metal performance HUD software. Before the test was run, the game's resolution was increased to see how well it would fare.

As you can see in the video above, it fared pretty well indeed. Over the course of the test, the M4 iPad Pro managed an average of 113.6 FPS which is considerably more than the M2 iPad Pro's 90 FPS.

How does that compare to Apple's other high-end mobile device, the iPhone 15 Pro Max? The A17 Pro chip scored 59.2 FPS while running the game at a much lower resolution — 740p rather than the 1668p of the iPad Pro.

These results should give people plenty to look forward to in terms of Mac gaming, especially when we start to see the higher core counts of the M3 Pro and M3 Max, let alone an M3 Ultra.

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Just a week after Apple released the M4 iPad Pro to the public Microsoft has announced its own answer to the best iPad that money can buy. The Surface Pro 11 is here, and Microsoft is definitely bullish about what it can do — particularly when put up against Apple's high-end tablet.

Microsft's new tablet comes in a whole range of configurations but they all run some form of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X lineup of chips, one that is powered by Arm and is expected to give Apple's M-series chips a run for its money. That extends to AI workflows as well and Microsoft is quick to point out that the Surface Pro 11's "integrated NPU delivers almost 20% more TOPS for AI processing than the Apple iPad Pro M4." Those are definitely numbers and who doesn't like big numbers and AI processing?

But while this machine will undoubtedly be touted as Microsoft's answer to the iPad Pro — and it might well be — there's no denying the elephant in the room. Sure, the Surface Pro 11 starts at $999 but if you want to get one that actually competes with the iPad Pro you're going to need to spend 50% more. Yes, a Surface Pro 11 with a 13-inch OLED display will set you back a whopping $1,499. Whether or not it's worth it isn't really the point. All I know is that Microsoft somehow managed to out-Apple, Apple — at least in terms of dollar signs followed by big numbers. Maybe those big numbers aren't so great after all. For context, the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299 which is already a lot.

Starting from $999*

Snark aside, for now at least, let's take a look at the specs on offer here.

At the very bottom of the lineup, we have the tablet that costs $999.99 and comes with an LCD display (like an M2 iPad Air, not an iPad Pro) and a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

At the very opposite end of the lineup is the model with an OLED display, a Snapdragon X Elite chip, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. Microsoft is quick to note that's an SSD by the way. Just in case you thought you might get a spinning HDD in your new tablet.

Note that all of these are Wi-Fi-only tablets, there's no 5G option yet. Buyers can expect up to 14 hours of battery life while on the go and the option to connect up to three monitors when at their desk, too.

This being a product announced in 2024, there's also a healthy dose of AI to go with all those specs.

"Whether your teams are dialing in from the road, the home office, or the conference room, the view is crystal clear with the ultra-wide front-facing camera paired with AI-enabled automatic framing to stay in frame," Microsoft's press release explains. "New enhanced voice focus exclusive to Copilot+ PCs leverages the power of the NPU to remove background noise for maximum clarity on video or audio calls and let the Studio Mics focus on your voice." All good stuff, I'm sure you'll agree.

In terms of software, the new tablet is powered by Windows 11 with Copilot Plus included. In fact, it's a "Copilot Plus PC," something that our friends at Windows Central explained as essentially being the next-gen AI PC. What does that mean? There's support for on-device live translations and enhanced features including Recall, software that will essentially allow Windows to remember everything you do on your computer via searchable screenshots.

If that sounds like your idea of fun, the Surface Pro 11 is now available for preorder from $999, but you'll want to upgrade to the OLED model to get the best one. Or just buy an M4 iPad Pro instead.

You won't have to use Windows then, either. (You will have to use iPadOS 17 though, but let's just skirt over that for now)

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When Apple announced the new OLED iPad Pro a couple of weeks ago it brought with it a surprising spec in the form of the first M4 chip. There had been rumblings it could happen, but it was still a shock that it actually did. Benchmarks have shown that the M4 is a very capable piece of silicon and now someone has made it a record-breaker as well.

That record comes in the form of being the first chip to break the 4,000 mark in Geekbench testing, something that no other chip has managed to date. It also means that the M4 eclipses powerhouse chips like the Intel Core i9-13900KS all while running inside a tablet.

The catch? This M4 chip might have been in an iPad Pro, but you won't be getting a 4,000 score from the one in yours — unless you smother it in liquid nitrogen.

Liquid nitrogen? That's so ... cool!

The incredible score of 4,001 came after someone attached a huge cooling block to the back of an iPad Pro and then filled it with liquid nitrogen before sharing their results on the Chinese platform Bilibili. Notebookcheck picked up the results, and they're mightily impressive.

The single-core result of 4,001 is notably faster than the circa 3,700 that can be achieved without the new cooling method which suggests that the M4 has some headroom. We can expect that any future M4 Mac with a fan built-in will make use of that headroom, too.

The impressive score came in the form of the single-core figures only, however, with the multi-core score unimpacted by the new cooling. It's thought that Geekbench's multi-core test doesn't run long enough to heat up the cores enough for extra cooling to have an effect, but we could expect that longer workflows such as video work would benefit from a fan at the very least.

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The new Magic Keyboard for the M4 iPad Pro appears to have a “fatal” flaw due to a design change, according to an early review of the device posted over the weekend. 

At its May 7 Let Loose event, Apple unveiled an overhauled Magic Keyboard to accompany its new best iPad. The new Magic Keyboard is lighter and thinner than ever before. While it boasts much of the same functionality as the old Magic Keyboard, it adds a new function row and an aluminum palm rest, as well as a larger trackpad with haptic feedback. 

The new setup, in tandem with the all-new iPad Pro, is designed to provide users with an experience that “feels just like using a MacBook.” However, an early review of the new device indicates a small design tweak might be the new keyboard’s downfall.

Wobblegate? 

According to MobileReviewsEh’s Aaron Ho, the new Magic Keyboard has a “fatal flaw.” “Every single time you touch it, it rocks… tap it with the stylus, it rocks.” According to Ho and as clearly demonstrated in the video, tapping the screen of the iPad Pro, either with a finger or the new Apple Pencil Pro, generates a “terrible” rocking motion on the new keyboard. 

According to Ho, the main cause of the quite severe rocking is the new hinge in the Magic Keyboard, which doesn’t sit flush with the table, in contrast with the old model’s hinge which did, preventing this issue. 

The rocking issue demonstrated in the video appears undeniable, and Ho says he wouldn't buy the device for that reason. The only caveat, perhaps, is that setting up the iPad in landscape mode with its new Magic Keyboard likely means a user is going to focus on input through the keyboard and trackpad, rather than the touch screen or pencil, arguably reducing the significance of this issue. However, the same could be said for the old model, which clearly didn’t have such an unstable design. Following our own iPad Pro M4 review, M2 iPad Air review, and Apple Pencil Pro review, we’ll be hands-on with the Magic Keyboard very soon, replete with a verdict on the wobble. 

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Apple's 'Let Loose' event saw the debut of many things; the M2 iPad Air, the first OLED iPad with the iPad Pro, the new M4 chip, and the new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard.

Still, the iPad Pro's almost impossibly thin form factor did have many onlookers concerned about a "bendgate" repeat, or that it would be more difficult to repair than prior models.

Doing its due diligence, however, popular YouTube channel iFixit has taken apart the new iPad Pro and noted that it may actually be easier to repair than others in the lineup.

That's thanks to not needing to remove components before you can get to the battery, which could save technicians "hours", according to Shahram Mokhtari of iFixit.

You can watch the video below.

iPad Pro M4 easier to repair than other models

With the caveat that Apple doesn't offer repair guides for iPads as yet, Mokhtari says that "despite the hassle of getting to those pull tabs, the fact that you can remove the battery without having to remove every major component inside this device is still a huge win for repairability."

"It’s a massive improvement over the previous generations," he adds.

The iPad Pro M4 has a smaller battery than we've seen in prior generations, but the M4 chip is more efficient so you don't lose out on battery life - it's still ten hours.

If that means the iPad Pro is much easier to repair, though, then we're all for the change. Still wouldn't want to drop one, mind.

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• New M4 iPad Pro owners complain of grainy displays and there probably isn't anything Apple can do about it
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After months of rumors it finally happened earlier this week. Apple's new best iPad, the M4 iPad Pro went on sale recently, and buyers have been rushing to Apple Stores and stalking porches ever since. But some people are already starting to report issues.

Aside from the strange iPad Pro HDR bug that we revealed in our review, this issue relates to the way the tablet's display appears grainy to some people. Images floating around social media show displays that appear grainy in certain lights and with darker images displayed.

However, it isn't yet clear whether this is a bug or just the way these displays behave and we may need more examples before we can be sure.

OLED or fault?

MacRumors was the first to spot posts across Reddit that complain of what appears to be a grainy display, particularly on darker images. However, it's possible that rather than being an issue as such, the 'grain' could simply be a characteristic of the displays being used.

Interestingly, the 11-inch displays that have exhibited this issue could well be parts produced by Samsung Display and this wouldn't be the first time Samsung has been involved with displays that behave this way. Some high-end Samsung AMOLED displays used in its smartphones have historically provided similarly grainy images, albeit not actual grain at all. Instead, it's possibly all down to the way these displays handle power management.

If that is indeed the case there are a couple of potential outcomes here. The first is that there is nothing that can be done and this is just a characteristic of these displays that people will ultimately get used to. The other is that Apple may be able to roll out a software fix that tweaks power management settings at the display level, but it remains to be seen what's actually going on here and whether that's something Apple can actually do.

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After months upon months of rumors and guesses, Apple finally released the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air to the public this week after it unveiled them for the first time at the Let Loose event a week prior. There's a lot to like about both lineups, not least the addition of a huge new 13-inch iPad Air for those of us who like big screens and cannot lie, but also don't want to spend iPad Pro money to get them. The OLED display and speedy M4 chip on the iPad Pro garnered lots of attention, too.

But Apple made an interesting claim when showing off the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro specifically, and it's one that spawned a ton of headlines. That particular tablet, the most expensive that Apple has sold and one that starts at an eye-watering $1,299, also happens to be the thinnest device that it's ever made as well. It's just 5.3mm thick if you ignore that camera bump, and that makes it thinner than the iconic iPod nano. That's thin. Very thin indeed.

But as anyone with even the most rudimentary understanding of The Science of Thin Things (a little-known science, admittedly, and most definitely a real one) will tell you, making things impossibly thin also tends to make them worryingly easy to snap. Or, in the case of an iPad, bend. We've been here before, and we've seen Apple's iPad Pro specifically fall foul of a YouTuber or two. But this time Apple saw it coming and added a special design change to fend off those who just can't stop bending things. And early reports are that the change helped. But, it turns out, that if you really want to bend an iPad Pro in half you probably will.

Will it bend?

Apple said that it had put special bendgate protections in place by adding a new cowling that effectively covered the entire logic board and added much-needed rigidity to a chassis that was incredibly thin. However, YouTubers JerryRigEverything and AppleTrack really wanted to see what would happen if they tried to bend a new iPad Pro anyway.

Can anyone guess what happened?

Sure, the iPad Pro twisted and flexed when grown men tried to make it twist and flex. Who knew?

On a positive note, we were told that the new M4 iPad Pro sports "black magic levels" of integrity," so there's that.

Now, I'd like to think that this next part isn't required and we're all grown-ups here. But I'm going to say it anyway — don't bend your iPad. It might stand up to the test, but it probably won't, and you'll have an iPad with a bend in the middle.

All of that aside, it's clear that Apple's special cowling is indeed working as designed and the 13-inch iPad Pro is stronger than it has any right to be considering its proportions. That's a testament to Apple's design and engineering teams, but we can't help but wonder who really asked for their iPad Pro to be this thin. Maybe we could have had one a tad thicker but with a longer battery life instead? That extra space might well have helped with cooling that beast of an M4 chip, too.

All things considered, it seems the M4 iPad Pro lives up to its billing as the best tablet Apple has ever made. It'll get your work done, play your games, and withstand the rough and tumble of spending its life in a backpack or being thrown around airports in your luggage.

But should someone at that airport decide to take your iPad out and bend it to within an inch of its life, it might break. Chalk that one up to science.

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• The impossibly thin M4 iPad Pro has bendgate protections built in

The new 11- and 13-inch M4 iPad Pro models set to launch this week have a headline feature: Rich, colorful OLED displays. They're fabulous screens, and a wild feat of engineering — but iMore’s testing found a blemish in the beauty.

We’ve encountered a replicable issue during our time with the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro that causes a strange presentation glitch when watching some HDR content.

In a relatively specific set of circumstances, HDR highlights are blown out on certain blue shades including navy and indigo to a point that they almost appear white on screen. The best way to spot it would be to look at a character wearing a navy blue shirt —  the creases appear to shimmer, like a spider’s web placed over the surface; at other times it appears like an inky blob morphing over it:

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Though it’s present only under very specific circumstances, the issue isn’t visible using the same footage on other displays — from an iPhone 15 Pro to a Samsung TV to an M2 11-inch iPad Pro to a Steam Deck OLED. To see the issue, fire up Netflix and check a Dolby Vision stream of Stranger Things Series 3, Episode 5. Head to the 25 minute mark, a scene of the kids walking down a long tunnel, and check Joe ‘Steve Harrington’ Keery’s shirt.

We don’t yet have an explanation for the weird screen effect, but it seems as if the image processing engine gets confused portraying highlights in that zone. We’re hoping that it’s an isolated issue — it’s difficult to spot across other content. But it isn’t something we’ve seen with Apple’s other displays.

Apple has confirmed to iMore that it is aware of the issue and is working on a software fix to address it.

What’s new in iPad Pro?

Apple’s new OLED display is otherwise a thing of beauty, as we explain in our iPad Pro 2024 review. In both the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro, Apple uses a ‘Tandem OLED’ array (essentially layering two OLED panels on top of each other to push brightness levels higher), resulting in a peak brightness in HDR content of 1600 nits.

This is made possible by the new M4 chip, Apple’s latest homegrown silicon, which debuts in an iPad for the first time, rather than within a Mac computer. It’s all squeezed into the thinnest product Apple has ever made, with the 13-inch iPad Pro measuring just 5.1mm at its slimmest point.

Both models are up for pre-order now, with prices starting at $999. They’ll hit store shelves on May 15, with pre-orders expected to ship out the same day.

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Apple might not have entered the foldable phone market just yet, but the company does have an unwanted history of making devices that bend instead. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus famously had a flaw that made them unfortunately easy to bend. And then there was an iPad Pro that found itself in a similar position. But buyers of the impossibly thin M4 iPad Pro need not worry about a repeat performance.

When Apple announced the new iPad Pro last week it made quite the big deal of just how thin it is, especially if you go for the larger 13-inch model. At just 5.1mm thin, it's the slimmest device Apple has ever made, which might make you worry about its rigidity.

But thankfully, Apple foresaw your concerns and added a handy design change to address them. And in the process, it also broke the hearts of countless YouTubers who already had all-new Bendgate videos planned.

Not-so-flexible iPad

The good news comes via YouTuber Arun Maini who shared a clip on the X social network in which he had it confirmed by Apple that the new iPad Pro won't flex quite as much as you might expect.

In short, Apple has added a new metal cowling that is designed to cover the entire logic board and then run down the center of the tablet, adding some much-needed structural support as it goes.

The upshot? Your new iPad Pro won't bend as much as its diminutive measurements might have you think, which is a good thing to be sure. You might be unlikely to fit that 13-inch tablet in your back pocket, but nobody wants to take a $1,299 tablet out of their bag and find that it's no longer quite as flat as it used to be.

The new M4 iPad Pro is available for preorder right now and will go on sale on May 15.

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If you watched the Apple 'Let Loose' event either live earlier this week or via YouTube after the fact, you aren't alone. That YouTube video has been streamed almost six million times already and it features the M4 iPad Pro, M2 iPad Air, and two new accessories. But it's also courted controversy.

One of the videos shown during the event saw a huge press destroying musical instruments and other items, and it has people up in arms. But that's not all, now it seems that Apple deleted an entire highway to make its event look pretty, too.

No, not literally of course. But in a sweeping shot that began the iPad fun following CEO Tim Cook's intro, we saw an overhead view of San Francisco. It features a train moving through the area before zooming in to show Apple exec John Ternus inside. However, it turns out that the San Francisco we saw doesn't actually exist.

Blink and you'll miss it

As reported by SFGate, Apple appears to have deleted an entire highway from the shot and replaced it with new homes that look much more likely to appeal to its aesthetic. What's more, the report notes that Apple also "replaced several blocks of densely packed Oceanview homes with a swath of pool-equipped mansions."

You can see the capture from the video at the top of the page and a screengrab of the area shown on Apple Maps. The differences are obvious, which begs the question, why even bother?

Apple will never say of course, but it's a change that seems unnecessary to us.

Want to see the whole thing in motion? You can watch the video on YouTube now and don't worry, that link is timestamped to take you right to the portion of interest.

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The earliest benchmarks of Apple’s brand new M4 chip, which powers its new M4 iPad Pro, indicate that it offers multi-core performance gains of up to 25% over M3, and is even faster than M3 Pro. 

Apple unveiled its new best iPad, replete with a stunning new OLED display, at its May 7 Let Loose event this week alongside the iPad Air 6 and the new Apple Pencil Pro. Aside from the display and a much thinner design, the big news is the next generation of the M-series chip, the first Apple silicon chip to make its debut in a tablet, rather than a Mac. 

As is often the case, benchmarks are now starting to leak out ahead of the official release date of May 15. The first of these, spotted on Geekbench by ExoticSpice101 on X, has revealed some absolutely staggering performance gains over the previous M3 model.  

M4 chip shows early promise 

Apple’s new M4 chip is the company’s fourth-generation Apple silicon processor for Mac and iPad. It’s built on the second generation of 3nm technology, which manufacturing partner TSMC uses to pack more transistors and efficiency into its chips than ever before. The iPad variant also comes with a new display engine to power the OLED tandem stack in the display. More aptly for the future of Mac, it also comes with up to 10 CPU cores, with six efficiency cores and four performance cores, two more overall than M3. Performance gains were to be expected then, but these early figures show even more promise than we might have guessed. 

The iPad tested is either a 1TB or 2TB version of the M4 iPad Pro. We know this because it clocks 16GB of RAM and the aforementioned 10 CPU cores. The two smaller storage configurations only come with 8GB of RAM and a nine-core CPU with just three performance cores. According to the stats, the M4 chip clocked single-core and multi-core scores of 3,767 and 14,677 respectively. 

Based on the M3 chip’s highest scores, 3,087 single-core (M3 MacBook Pro), and 11,702 multi-core (M3 iMac), the M4 delivers performance increases of over 22% and over 25% respectively. In fact, as noted by Vadim Yuryev on X, that multi-core score is actually faster than the 11-core version M3 Pro chip found in Apple’s 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro. 

The early scores bode well, not only for power users interested in Apple’s new tablets, but those awaiting the A18 chips in the iPhone 16 and the Mac’s powered by M4 coming later this year. Yuryev speculates that Apple’s M-series chips have undergone a major core architecture overhaul that is powering these performance gains and that the company may go into more technical details later in the year at WWDC 2024 or a fall Mac event. “Today's M4 chip benchmark leaks confirm that there's a LOT of new tech going into these brand new overhauled cores,” he stated. 

While iPad users don’t live their lives in benchmarks, the early M4 tests reveal the next generation of Apple silicon promises to be an absolute doozy. Apple’s new tablets are just the tip of the iceberg. Expect M4 Pro, Max, and maybe even Ultra to continue this trend.

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Apple's brand new M4 iPad Pro was unveiled at the company's May 7 Let Loose event this week. The most advertised feature of this product is how thin it is, which Apple demonstrated through a hydraulic press advert. But it seems not all fans like this video, with it drawing a ton of criticism online.

The advert for the new iPad Pro with the M4 chip was shown shortly before its reveal. In the clip, you can see a hydraulic press crushing a bunch of tech products and other creative or artistic items. If you look closely, you'll even spot the Pixar lamp. The press then reveals the new iPad Pro in place, highlighting just how thin the device is. And it's incredibly thin. The 11-inch model is 5.3mm thin, and the 13-inch model is even thinner at 5.1mm – it's the thinnest product Apple has created.

But fans aren't all that happy about the new iPad Pro advert. It's drawing lots of criticism online for being wasteful of all of these products, which would have been destroyed during filming. Some people also perceive the advert to be dismissing all of these developments from the past, and find it disrespectful to Apple's core audience. No pun intended.

"Just a terribly cruel image. this ain’t it chiefs," one developer remarked. Another commenter added "The symbolism of indiscriminately crushing beautiful creative tools is an interesting choice," a third stated "I can't relate to this video at all. It lacks any respect for creative equipment and mocks the creators. According to popular developer Sebastiaan de With, the advert has gone over particularly badly with Japanese viewers. "I found it interesting to read the Japanese backlash responses to this, some particularly disturbed because of a belief in “Tsukumogami” — the idea that creative tools can possess a spirit of their own (a beautiful notion), so destroying them is truly evil," he noted. 

The video, shared on X by CEO Tim Cook, has been viewed more than 43 million times, it large reach buoyed in part by the intensely negative reaction to the ad. 

What did Apple really mean?

Despite drawing a bunch of criticism online, this probably isn't what Apple intended to show with this advert. The more likely scenario is that Apple was trying to demonstrate how many features and how much tech has been crammed into the new best iPad. Especially when it's so thin. Rather than dismissing the technology from the past, it's supposed to be a representation of how it's all been combined into this device. At least that's the idea. Apple's new iPad Pro includes AI-powered session musicians and supports the brand new Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 apps. 

Advertising is all about how people perceive your product. And, despite Apple's intentions, consumers aren't a fan of this ad. It'll be interesting to see if the tech giant continues to push this clip to demonstrate how thin the device is, or if the brand opts for other footage instead.

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Apple's brand new M4 iPad Pro was unveiled at the company's May 7 Let Loose event this week, and that new chip was, of course, center stage. Yet a key detail in the iPad's specs means that not everyone will get access to the full-bore M4 chip, with its best configuration reserved for those who spend extra on a 1TB or 2TB storage option. 

The detail is strangely absent from the iPad Pro's pre-order page (unless you click on the 'What storage means' section), which only gives users information about the size, color, and storage of their device, as well as the option to choose a cellular model and that new nano-texture glass option. This means that unless you've stopped by the iPad's tech specs page before buying, you wouldn't have any idea that the two cheaper storage options come with a dumbed-down M4 chip. 

Don't choose the wrong M4

As per the iPad Pro's tech specs page, M4 iPad Pro models with 256GB or 512GB of storage only come with a 9-core CPU version of the M4 chip, featuring six efficiency cores and three performance cores. This model also only ships with 8GB of Unified Memory. 

If you want the 10-core CPU model Apple advertised during its event, you have to get the 1TB or 2TB storage options, which come with the four performance core-version of the M4 chip. While this variant also features 16GB of RAM, the 1TB and 2TB storage versions start at $1,599 and $1,999 respectively, making it a pretty expensive upgrade. 

All of that will be hard to stomach for prospective customers who are already absorbing a $200 price increase across the board for Apple's new best iPad, which costs $999 or $1,299 for the 11-inch and 13-inch models, up from $799 and $999 in the previous line. Those price increase reflect the new chip and the all-new Ultra Retina Display XDR, a tandem stack of OLED panels that provides the most advanced tablet display tech ever put in an iPad. It's impressive for sure, but that sneaky M4 chip quirk might give users some pause before buying. 

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There’s been a seismic shift in the iPad landscape. Apple gave the iPad Pro family OLED screens for the very first time in 2024. And they aren’t just any old OLEDs either — more on that later. 

To add to that, the 2024 iPad Pros are the first devices to get Apple’s new M4 chipsets, beating even the MacBook laptops to the punch. 

This is a pretty special upgrade. But how much better are the 2024 OLED iPad Pros than the 2022 M2 iPad Pro tablets? And should those who spent a small fortune on an older iPad Pro really consider upgrading already?

It’s older versus OLED in today’s deathmatch. We’re going to break this one into the key aspects of tablet use, from the display tech to the changes made to the official accessories Apple sells for these killer tablets. 

Specs

Design

The 2024 iPad Pro is not a major stylistic departure from the 2022 model. But if you plan on upgrading from the old 12.9-inch version to the new 13-inch one, you will notice a big change. 

Apple’s latest large-screen iPad Pro is incredibly thin and remarkably light. It’s just 5.1mm thick, making it Apple’s "thinnest product ever," apparently. And at 579g it’s extremely light for such a big tablet. The older version is 682g, 103g heavier.

Given we typically see changes of just a handful of grams between generations, this is a massive change.

There’s much less of a major shift in the 11-inch iPad Pro line. While the new one is a trim 5.3mm thick, the old version was already lithe at 5.9mm. 

Predictably, then, the weight difference is not as dramatic either. Apple has shaved off 22g, taking us from 466g to 444g in the Wi-Fi variants. It’s a nice weight saving, but nothing like the bigger version. 

In other dimensions, there’s barely anything in it. Handling will be similar to the last models, bar those weight-saving benefits. And the other key visual difference is the camera housing on the back is now color-matched to the casing.

Processor

Apple’s 2024 iPad Pro has a processor two generations on from the 2022 iPad Pro. The new one has an Apple M4, the oldie an Apple M2. 

Crucial numbers include a 1.5x CPU power increase, a graphics chipset up to four times faster in certain situations, and a much faster AI neural chipset. Apple even claims the M4 chip can match the power of the M2 while using half the power. 

These numbers are likely only told up in certain scenarios. There’s not even a slight chance the 2024 iPad Pro is going to see your gaming frame rates quadruple in real terms — apart from perhaps in situations where new tech like ray tracing support gets involved. 

However, we are seeing a healthy general performance improvement. As Apple stressed during the launch, the Apple M4 chipset is what enables this new generation’s design: that super-skinny shape. There’s also improved cooling inside apparently, using graphite sheets and copper behind the Apple logo for more effective heat dispersal. 

There’s an important added element to note here, though. You only get the most impressive version of the Apple M4 in the iPad Pro if you buy the 1TB or 2TB version. Lower storage models have 9-core CPUs, to the 10-core of the priciest specs. 

That final 10th core is also a “performance” core rather than an efficiency one, so it will whittle away some of that 1.5x increase in power. All specs have the same 10-core GPU and 16-core AI neural processor, so the generational benefits for gaming aren’t in question here. 

Display

Screen tech sees the most pronounced change in these two generations of iPad Pro. The 2022 iPad Pro 12.9 has an ultra-bright mini LED screen, and the 11-inch version a far more conventional IPS LCD. 

Both sizes of the 2024 iPad Pro have an OLED display. And it is no conventional OLED. 

This is a kind of OLED that sounds like it shouldn’t make sense. It’s effectively two OLED panels stacked together in order to dramatically increase brightness. 

Apple had to do this because of the ridiculous feats of brightness it showed off in the first mini LED MacBooks and iPad Pros in 2021. These can reach 1600-nit brightness with HDR content, or 1000 nits with normal content.

A good OLED laptop or tablet will typically only hit around 500-600 nits max. Apple couldn’t replace its 1600-nit monsters with that, hence the new “tandem OLED” design with double the OLED goodness. Apple calls it the Ultra Retina XDR  display.

Granted, the 2022 iPad 12.9 may still be slightly brighter when displaying a full frame of white HDR. But the combo of OLED contrast matched with unusually high brightness makes the OLED switch a clear win for us iPad fans. 

For those not au fait with the tech, OLED panels have pixels that are their own light source, enabling basically perfect black levels in the right conditions. The iPad Pro 11 from 2022 has a universal backlight, severely limiting contrast. 

Meanwhile, one of the core benefits of the mini LED iPad Pro 12.9 is it uses around 2500 clusters of backlight LEDs that can be controlled independently. 

The idea was to provide a "best of both" mix of high-end LCD brightness and OLED punch. However, you still get a bit of blooming, where you can see a sort of halo effect around bright objects that sit on a darker background. 

This will disappear in the OLED iPad Pro. 

Screen resolutions and sizes are just fractionally different. The new 13-inch iPad Pro has 2752x2064 pixels to its name, compared to the last-gen's 2732x2048. These are both 264ppi screens, meaning that slight jump in figures equates to a slight jump in real screen size. 

The 11-inch iPad Pro, though, seems to get slightly longer or taller this time around, with a resolution of 2420x1668 compared to the old 2388x1668 res. 

Also new for the 2024 iPad Pro line, buyers of the 1TB and 2TB variants can pay an extra $100 to get a textured glass screen. This will make reflections much less apparent, handy if you’ll use your iPad outdoors a lot. But for general use, we’d probably recommend sticking to the standard glossy style. 

Camera

Now here’s a rarity. The 2022 iPad Pros have a clear benefit over the class of 2024. They have a 10-megapixel ultra-wide camera, missing in the newer models. 

This may have been an effort to keep pricing sensible, no doubt informed by intel on how much people actually use the secondary cameras on their iPads. 

That’s the end of the older version’s obvious benefits, though. All four tablets have a 12-megapixel rear camera with an f/1.8 lens and LIDAR depth sensor focus aid. And a 12-megapixel camera with an f/2.4 lens sits up front.

Precisely where that front camera sits has changed, though. The iPad Pro class of 2022 has a portrait-arranged camera, meaning the tablet has to be held upright for your face to appear in the right spot on-screen when chatting over video. 

Both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pros of 2024 take the landscape approach, more like a laptop. It makes a lot of sense in a large tablet like this that will often be held in two hands. 

Colors

There’s just a slight change in the finish line-up for the 2024 iPad Pros. And we still don’t get any “fun” colors.

The tablets come in Space Black or Silver finishes. 2022 models came in Silver or Space Grey. The dark option has become even darker, in other words. 

Accessories

There are two important accessory upgrades for this generation. 2022 iPad Pros support the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil. The 2024 troupe uses the new Pencil Pro instead. 

It has a bunch of new features. There’s Find My support, to make tracking the thing down much easier. It also has “barrel roll” sensing, which lets turning the pen between your fingers turn into a gesture. 

It’s used in Procreate, for example, to smoothly transition between the thin and thick sides of a brush. Digital painting becomes all the more natural, and we’ll no doubt see other creative uses for this stylus move going forward too. 

The Pencil Pro also supports squeeze gestures. You can pinch at the pen’s barrel, the equivalent of clicking a mouse button. There's haptic feedback to tell you when this gesture has been recognized too. 

As usual, there’s no choice of pens here. The generation determines which Pencil you can use — bad news for 2022 iPad Pro owners who like the sound of the Pencil Pro. 

Apple has also redesigned the Magic Keyboard. It’s clearly intended to get us closer to the feel of the MacBook keyboard.

The touchpad is larger, and its haptic feedback has been improved according to Apple. A row of function keys also joins the main set of keys, for better control over system functions. It makes you wonder: is iPad OS about to get more MacOS-like features? Fingers crossed.

Should you upgrade?

The most compelling upgrade here is from the 11-inch iPad Pro 2022 to one of the 2024 models. 

A jump from a standard brightness IPS LCD screen to a supernova OLED? That’s going to be quite a jump. 

Owners of a 12.9-inch 2022 iPad Pro may want to hold off unless they find they are consistently turned off by the slight halo effect of the mini LED screen. iPad Pros don't come cheap, and there's plenty left in the last-generation's Apple M2 processor's tank. 

When Apple announced the powerful M4 iPad Pro and its first Apple Pencil Pro it was clear that none of the new capabilities and features would come to anything if developers don't build apps to take advantage of them. Apple knows that too, and that's why it made a big deal about how the Apple Pencil Pro will help creatives get stuff done.

One company that knows better than most how the iPad and Apple Pencil can be useful to creative users is Procreate, and it's announced upcoming updates to the Procreate and Procreate Dreams apps.

The new features coming to these apps will make the most of Apple's best iPads and accessories, and there should be something for users of both apps to look forward to.

Big changes are coming

For users of Procreate, there are three main improvements that are coming to the app including support for the Apple Pencil Pro's new barrel roll feature. Haptic feedback will also be utilized, too.

Changes coming to Procreate include:

• Support for barrel roll to supercharge Procreate brushes in Brush Studio, providing a new way to control shape rotation, stroke jitter, color dynamics, grain rotation, size, opacity, and more.
• Assign squeeze to custom actions in Procreate including selecting colors and layers from the canvas, and using QuickMenu.
• Haptic feedback provides a more tactile experience when making selections and transforming content in Procreate.

Those who use Procreate Dreams can look forward to more changes including a new Lens Blur feature that will be exclusive to the M4 iPad Pro. Huge performance improvements are also in the cards, even compared to the previous-gen M2 iPad Pro.

Features coming to Procreate Dreams include:

• A new Lens Blur filter on the M4 iPad Pro, for creating realistic bokeh and camera focus animations.
•  Move and rotate content simultaneously while Performing animations with barrel roll.
• Support for Procreate brushes optimized for barrel roll.
• Haptic feedback provides a more tactile experience when editing on the Timeline.
• Use squeeze to Play/Pause real-time playback.
• 30% faster export times and 50% improvement on filters on the M4 iPad Pro (compared to the 12.9” M2 iPad Pro).

We haven't yet been told when the new app updates will be available, but the new iPads and Apple Pencil won't ship until next week so keep your eyes peeled from there on out.

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Apple's new M4 iPad Pro is here after months upon months of rumors. Much of what those rumors told us to expect turned out to be real, including the somewhat suspicious suggestion that the new tablet would come with a speedy new M4 chip inside. And as you might expect, a tablet with an OLED display and an M4 chip isn't cheap.

In fact, buying Apple's new best iPad can get very costly very quickly, especially if you start to add some of the new accessories like a shiny Apple Pencil Pro. Choose the 13-inch iPad Pro and then ratchet up the storage and the numbers grow even faster.

How fast? By our calculations — read,  playing with the iPad Pro configurator — buying a fully maxed-out 13-inch iPad Pro will cost you a whopping $3,077. That's almost Apple Vision Pro money. And think how silly you'll look when you try and strap your new tablet to your forehead.

It's an expensive proposition

Snark aside, you're going to get a lot for your $3,000. Whether it's enough to warrant the expense will depend on how you get on with iPadOS 17 and, later this year, iPadOS 18. But you're spending more than you would on Apple's best MacBook, an M3 16-inch MacBook Pro, so keep that in mind.

So how did we get here? Well, let's break it down.

• 13-inch M4 iPad Pro: $1,299. Pick your favorite color, they're both the same price
• 2TB of storage: $1,000. Yes, you read that right.
• Nano-texture glass: $100. Because at this point, why not?
• Add cellular: $200. Who wants to tether in this day and age?
• Engrave with "$$$": FREE! Again, why not?
• Apple Pencil Pro: $129. Go on, you're worth it. It's up to you if you engrave it.
• Magic Keyboard: $349: What are you going to do, carry a Bluetooth keyboard around?

If you've done everything correctly your basket will now say $3,077 and your wallet will be hiding. But don't worry, Apple will let you pay just $256.41 per month using your Apple Card instead.

A bargain, we're sure you'll agree.

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Apple's "Let Loose" event finally showed the first OLED iPad Pro model, but it won't come cheap.

While it does now start at 256GB of storage right off the bat, Apple's 11-inch M4-powered tablet starts at $999/£999, while the 13-inch version of the company's thinnest device will set you back a staggering $1299/£1299 - and that's without the new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro.

And yet, not only will it not offer features from the M2 iPad Pro - it'll actually no longer include a power adapter in the box in some territories.

That's right - you could feasibly spend over $2000 on a tablet, keyboard, and Apple Pencil combo and be left without a plug. The same applies to the latest model of iPad Air, too.

Blame the EU

If you thought it was Apple being stingy, you'd be wrong. This is actually due to the WEEE (stop snickering) which is the EU's rules on Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

Put simply, the EU is clamping down on e-waste, and because it was implemented before Brexit, it applies to the UK, too.

So, if you are trading up your iPad Pro M2 to get an M4 version, not only will you need a new keyboard and potentially a new Apple Pencil, but you'll also need to keep your charger handy.

If you're not in one of the affected countries (you can tell by looking on the relevant Apple Store under the "Tech Specs" section), you should be getting a 20W charger in the box still.

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Apple's "Let Loose" event introduced a gorgeous new iPad Pro model, but it actually lacks some features from the M2 version.

While the new model packs the new M4 chip and can use the Apple Pencil Pro, and the latest Magic Keyboard, Apple's product comparison page shows it's lost some tech along the way.

According to the listing, the cellular versions of the iPad Pro in both 11 and 13-inch lack mmWave 5G compatibility, and are therefore limited to sub-6GHz 5G bands. That's not a dealbreaker considering the mmWave 5G connectivity was only ever offered in the US market, but its absence is certainly curious.

Both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models announced today are eSim-only, too, so there's no slot for a physical SIM card.

iPad Pro scraps Ultra-Wide camera

Perhaps the bigger omission is the removal of the Ultra-Wide camera from the iPad Pro. Given the company made a big deal about how slim and light the new iPad Pro is, there's every chance it was removed to help make the camera bump less obvious.

Others will likely point to how few people likely use the camera to take pictures, and Apple tends to talk about the iPad Pro's camera in terms of AR experiences rather than anything to do with photography.

Still, given it's been around for the last few iPad Pro models, it's interesting that Apple would remove it and keep the Wide camera.

We're covering the Apple iPad event as it happens. Follow the Let Loose event LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the new OLED iPad Pro, iPad Air, and the new Apple Pencil. 

Apple's "Let Loose" event did a great job of tidying up the iPad lineup, removing the ninth-generation model, dropping the price of the tenth-generation one, and adding fresh new iPad Air and iPad Pro models.

It also introduced a new Apple Pencil model, the Apple Pencil Pro, but as with the new Magic Keyboard, it's not backwards compatible with older devices in the tablet lineup.

That's according to Apple's store page for the $129/£129 Apple Pencil Pro, which lists compatible iPad models as the latest iPad Air with M2 and the latest M4 iPad Pros.

According to Apple, this is due to a change in the pairing and charging process.

What's new with the Apple Pencil Pro?

The new model means that Apple is now selling four different versions of Apple Pencil, between the original, the second generation one, the USB-C one, and the Apple Pencil Pro.

In a way, making this just for the latest models does help clear up some confusion, but what can it do?

As was reported last month, the new Apple Pencil Pro offers haptic feedback that pairs with a new "squeeze" gesture that allows a user to change tools with a handy shortcut menu. The Pencil Pro can also roll, using a gyroscope, for more precise control, and it still has hover, which was previously a feature exclusive to the M2 iPad Pro.

We're covering the Apple iPad event as it happens. Follow the Let Loose event LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the new OLED iPad Pro, iPad Air, and the new Apple Pencil. 

Apple's "Let Loose" event just finished, revealing new iPad Air and iPad Pro models, and marking the debut of the M4 chip.

If you were looking to pick up the new Magic Keyboard for your existing iPad, however, you'll be disappointed.

As per the store listing for the latest tablet keyboard, the latest model will only fit the M4 models.

That's perhaps understandable when it comes to the new 13-inch model that replaces the 12.9-inch M2, there's also no option to use the latest Magic Keyboard on your 11-inch iPad Pro either.

Given the last version of Apple's Magic Keyboard could work across iPad Air and iPad Pro, that could be a disappointment.

What's new with the Magic Keyboard for M4 iPad Pro?

It appears Apple's latest Magic Keyboard will correct pretty much every issue we had with the last model - except the price. 

It'll still set you back $299/£299 for the 11-inch model and $349/£349 for the 13-inch one, but it's now thinner and lighter than its predecessor.

The trackpad is also larger, with haptic feedback, and it finally adds a 14-key function row that includes screen brightness and volume controls while still offering the "floating" design that made the last version so eye-catching.

There's still a USB-C connector for charging, too, which is still more elegant than adding a USB-C hub.

We're covering the Apple iPad event as it happens. Follow the Let Loose event LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the new OLED iPad Pro, iPad Air, and the new Apple Pencil. 

Apple has just unveiled the company's brand new iPad Pro 2024 at its May 7 Let Loose event. The new iPad Pro features a new design, new display, and new accessories. Let's get into it.

The new iPad Pro comes in two sizes: the long-known 11-inch model and a new 13-inch model (no more 12.9-inch model for 2024). The new iPad Pros are even thinner than their predecessors with the 11-inch model coming in at 5.3mm and 5.1mm for the 13-inch model. Apple says this makes the iPad Pro even thinner than the long-gone iPod nano and its thinnest product ever. It's also lighter with the 11-inch model coming in under a pound at 0.98 lb with the 13-inch not far behind at 1.28lb.

The next big update with the new iPad Pro is its new display — it's finally happened, an iPad is finally rocking an OLED display. The new OLED display features XDR performance which means it will rock a 120Hz refresh rate. Apple says they accomplish this with a new technology that uses two OLED displays at the same time, which Apple called Tandem OLED.

That technology also means a boost to brightness. The new iPad Pro can hit 1000 nits of brightness for both SDR and HDR content and 1600 nits of peak brightness for HDR content. The OLED display also means that users will experience brighter specular highlights in photos, deeper and truer blacks, more details in shadows and low light, and more response to content in motion. Apple is calling this new display the Ultra Retina XDR display.

Best yet, it's coming to both sizes — not just the big iPad Pro anymore. Apple is also offering a nano-texture glass option on the iPad Pro for the first time, taking the technology from the Pro Display XDR and bringing it to its portable tablet.

The new iPad Pro also comes packed with the new M4 chip. The latest generation of Apple's M-Series processor features second-generation 3nm technology that makes the chip even more power efficient. It also comes packed with a new display engine designed specifically to power the OLED display on the iPad Pro.

The new M4 chip also features a new CPU that features 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. Apple says that the new chip is twice as fast as the M2 chip. It also features a next-generation 10-core GPU architecture that supports dynamic caching, mesh shading, and ray tracing — all accelerated by the hardware.

Speaking of efficiency, Apple says that the M4 chip is just as powerful as the M2 chip at half the power. The new chip comes with a new 16-core Neural Engine which the company says is faster and more efficient than previous generations. It also processes 38 trillion operations per second, making it 60 times faster than the first Neural Engine.

The new M4 chip also comes packed with 120Gh/s of unified memory bandwidth and, due to the new design, a 20% thermal improvement that makes the chip 4x faster than the M2 Pro and 10x faster than the original iPad Pro.

The new iPad Pro also comes with new cameras and microphones. The latest-generation Pro comes with a 12Mp f/1.8 rear camera that can shoot 4K ProRes video with smart HDR. The back of the iPad Pro also still includes a LiDAR scanner and a new adaptive True-Tone flash.

This new camera system now supports AI-powered document scanning which will remove shadows and other imperfections from a scan. The new iPad Pro also packs a new front-facing 12MP Ultra-Wide camera that (thank god) is finally placed better for using the iPad for video calls in landscape rather than portrait orientation.

The new iPad Pro also includes improved performance for Face ID and a new, faster, and more efficient charging system for the Apple Pencil. Speaking of which, Apple also announced a new Apple Pencil Pro and next-generation Magic Keyboard to help accessorize your new pro tablet.

The new iPad Pro will start at $999 for the 11-inch and $1,299 for the 13-inch and come in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB storage configurations. You can order the new iPad Pro today and it will be available next week.

Out with the old

Apple's previous version of the iPad Pro was unveiled in October, 2022. That update brought the M2 Apple silicon chip and the Apple Pencil hover feature, however the design otherwise remained unchanged from the M1 iPad Pro. The iPad Pro previously featured the Liquid Retina XDR display in the 12.9-inch model, delivering not only a 120Hz refresh rate but mini-LED backlighting. 

We're covering the Apple iPad event as it happens. Follow the Let Loose event LIVE here. Or check out our roundups for all the latest on the new OLED iPad Pro, iPad Air, and the new Apple Pencil. 

Apple's "Let Loose" event will begin in just a few hours, with the showcase expected to show us the next slate of iPad models.

And, as is tradition, the online Apple Store has gone down for maintenance ahead of the new products being added. 

Expect the site to go live immediately after the event, likely with fresh iPad Pro and iPad Air models, and maybe even a section about the M4 chip and Apple Pencil 3. 

What do we expect from the event?

In case you've been living under an iPad, Apple's event is expected to showcase plenty of changes for its tablet lineup for 2024. That's a good thing, because 2023 saw zero new iPad hardware releases, and many had wondered if the company was still committed to tablet computing.

The headline additions are the tablets themselves, with the iPad Pro seeing a spec bump that could potentially skip the M3 chip entirely and hop to M4 - bringing a wealth of AI potential to iPadOS 18 when it arrives this year. It may also add an OLED display, which would be a first for iPads.

On the iPad Air side of things, we're expecting two models, with a new 12.9-inch version being added alongside the existing 10.9-inch one. It's also likely to get the M2 chip like the current iPad Pro, as well as mini LED.

We're also expecting a new Magic Keyboard, potentially with a laptop-like finish, and a new Apple Pencil which may have haptic feedback.

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Apple is set to hold an online-only 'Let Loose' event today, and as the hours tick down we get ever closer to what is expected to be an iPad-laden announcement. New OLED iPad Pro and refreshed iPad Air 6 tablets are expected — but anyone hoping for a nice, long announcement will probably be left disappointed.

That's according to a new report claiming Apple's whole event might last just 35 minutes, giving Apple barely enough time to get through everything it's expected to unveil. With four new iPads and at least two new accessories in the cards, CEO Tim Cook and Co. will need to keep up quite a pace to squeeze everything in.

With Apple updating its iPad lineup for the first time in more than a year, you might have expected more fanfare — but it now seems clear that Apple's new tablets won't get much stage time come Tuesday morning's event.

New iPads and more

This news comes via Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, writing in the weekly Power On newsletter yesterday. Gurman says that while the event will "kick off a new era for the iPad," it is "expected to be about 35 minutes" in length. He suggests that despite the tight timeframe the event could also "clean up the confusing iPad lineup," giving Apple even less time to dive into the new tablets.

Notably, the iPad Pro was tipped to sport new M4 chips for the first time, although that seems unlikely given the time limitations. Apple would surely want to dig into the details for any new chip announcement, and at 35 minutes, the event surely won't be long enough.

Alongside the new iPad, Apple is expected to debut a new Apple Pencil and a new Apple Magic Keyboard. And all of that takes time that Apple simply might not have.

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Apple's "Let Loose" event is on Tuesday and will show us the next evolution of the iPad, but Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has blown right past that in his latest Power On Newsletter.

Aside from revealing that the iPad lineup will be getting a much-needed tidy-up, Gurman also said Apple should look to nudge the iPad into the laptop replacement Steve Jobs envisaged it as all those years ago.

"The presentation, which is expected to be about 35 minutes, should set the product on a new path," Gurman says.

Gurman suggests that Apple should look to make the iPad more capable, like a laptop, but that "this picture is going to blur a bit more in the coming years because Apple is working to bring touch screens to the Mac.

"When that happens, choosing between a Mac and iPad will hinge more on whether you want an all-in-one device (laptop) or a modular system (iPad + Magic Keyboard + Apple Pencil)," Gurman says.

Big changes with iPadOS 18?

If you were worried about the iPad getting the raw end of the deal with Apple bringing touchscreens to Mac, it appears you needn't worry.

Gurman said that "by next year" Apple will have cleared up the iPad, and "the top-end iPads will feel more like computers" thanks to a snazzy new Magic Keyboard redesign with an aluminum finish and a "laptop-like aesthetic".

Perhaps most excitingly, Gurman says "new software will take advantage of the hardware."

That's not a lot to go on, but the potential for something like additional keyboard shortcuts, the ability to set our own Keyboard Maestro-like shortcuts and Macros, or even more trackpad functionality is exciting for anyone who's tried to work on their iPad for a day or two.

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Apple's "Let Loose" event is fast approaching, and we've known for quite some time it'll focus on iPads thanks to reports from the likes of Mark Gurman of Bloomberg.

And in, Gurman's latest Power On Newsletter, he's laid out what he expects Apple's tablet lineup to look like after the showcase on Tuesday.

Suggesting Apple should move to make the iPad more of a laptop replacement, Gurman says the iPad slate will offer the M4-wielding iPad Pro in both 11-inch and 12.9-inch versions and the iPad Air in the same screen sizes with the M2 inside.

The iPad Mini is also sticking to the sixth-generation version (although Apple hasn't given up on that form factor yet), while the tenth-generation base model will still offer a 10.9-inch display. Perhaps the biggest surprise, however, is that the ninth-generation iPad may not be going anywhere - at least not yet.

A stay of execution?

It does seem a little surprising to have an Apple tablet from 2021, still using a Home Button, on the same store page as the iPad Pro and its rumored M4 chip - the first time an M-series Apple Silicon chip has appeared first in a tablet.

Still, Gurman doesn't expect that juxtaposition to last too long, suggesting "by next year" that the ninth-gen iPad will be gone,  "replaced by a cheaper 10.9-inch model" and that Apple will also revamp the iPad Mini with a faster chip.

Gurman suggests that it'll clean up the lineup considerably, and it's seemingly going to lead to a base iPad, an iPad Mini, and two sizes of Air and Pro.

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We're now just a matter of days away from what will surely be an event that sees Apple unveil multiple new iPads. The rumors have been pretty consistent — two new OLED iPad Pro tablets in 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes as well as a refreshed 11-inch iPad Air 6 to be joined by an all-new 12.9-inch version. And as May 7 gets closer, the rumors continue.

The latest rumor suggested that Apple's May 7 event wouldn't come and go without a mention of the current buzzword of the year. We've been hearing so much about Apple's plans for AI that it's difficult to know where fact ends and fiction begins. But it would appear that one report by CNBC might fall into the latter camp, albeit accidentally rather than the result of any malice.

CNBC had told us that Apple CEO Tim Cook intends to tease upcoming AI iPhone, iPad, and Mac features during the iPad event next week. But that, it appears, wasn't correct. And nor should it be — Apple should leave May 7 to hardware. With WWDC just around the corner, there's plenty of time for software news. And that's when the AI fun should really begin.

No AI for you ... yet

The original CNBC report originally explained that Cook had plenty to announce next week. "Cook also said Apple has 'big plans to announce' from an 'AI point of view' during its iPad event next week as well as at the company’s annual developer conference in June," but 9to5Mac notes that something went awry with CNBC's understanding.

The result? Cook never said that he would be ready to tease new iOS 18 AI features on May 7, which is actually good news. It never really made sense for Apple to mention anything that is effectively unrelated to what it's debuting. None of the AI upgrades are set to ship until September at the earliest, so why would they be teased next week? Instead, Apple would be much better served using the time to explain to customers what makes the new tablets — and new Apple Pencil 3 — so impressive. And ultimately, why they should rush out to buy them.

The one potential wrinkle here is the suggestion by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman that the new OLED iPad Pro could use an M4 chip, rather than the M3 we'd been expecting. The suspicion is that the M4 will have components specifically designed to enhance and accelerate AI features, something that seemingly won't come into play until September time at best.

It seems most likely that Apple will simply mention these innovations (if the M4 really does ship next week) and move on. Then, when iPadOS 18 is announced on June 10 it can spring the surprise that all new iPad owners can expect improved performance as a result of that shiny new silicon.

AI announcement or not, May 7 is set to be a big day. Apple didn't update any of its iPads last year, and this new OLED iPad Pro looks set to be a notable upgrade, M4 or not. And for those who want a big tablet without paying iPad Pro money, a 12.9-inch iPad Air seems just the ticket.

Now, we wait. May 7 can't come soon enough.

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A new report days ahead of Apple’s May 7 ‘Let Loose’ iPad event has revealed that Apple’s new OLED iPad Pro M3 (or should we say M4?) will feature new OLED display technology that even the best iPhones can’t offer. 

Apple has confirmed that it will host a May 7 keynote event next week, where the company is widely expected to unveil its new best iPad alongside the iPad Air 6, Apple Pencil 3, and a new Magic Keyboard. One of the biggest rumored upgrades for that iPad Pro, aside from the new Apple silicon, is a new OLED display. Earlier this week a top display supply chain insider revealed the new iPad Pro will feature “by far the best OLED tablet panels on the market.” Now a new report reveals some of the specific new technology expected to feature. 

A Digitimes report seen by iMore Thursday states that “LG Display (LGD) and Samsung Display (SDC), are responsible for supplying OLED panels for the new iPad and will incorporate many new panel technologies not previously used in iPhones.” 

OLED iPad Pro display upgrades 

As per the report, “the new iPad's OLED panels are said to use a hybrid substrate that combines glass substrate and polyimide (PI) materials” which will combine the advantages of both flexible OLED plastic substrates and the more rigid OLED glass substrates, “overcoming the downsides of both.” 

Apple is also reportedly leveraging an etching solution “to remove unwanted parts from glass substrates, thus making them extremely thin.” The report further notes that Apple “is adopting the 2-stack tandem technology for the first time.” This will reportedly involve two OLED layers on either side of a refractive index charge generation layer. All of this should add up to the thinnest, lightest, and most vibrant OLED tablet display on the market. Specific visual benefits to the user will likely be a significant highlight of the May 7 keynote, alongside some significant upgrades to Apple Pencil, which the company has explicitly teased ahead of the event. 

Separately, Digitimes reports Thursday that “although the initial stocking volume of the OLED iPad Pro was revised down, as long as the price is good, there is still a chance to see excellent sales,” according to supply chain insiders. The iPad Pro is long overdue a significant hardware upgrade, and it sounds like May 7 might finally deliver the goods. Display aside, the other major iPad Pro upgrade might be the M4 Apple silicon chip, rather than the previously rumored M3. The M4 chip is the next generation of Apple silicon and is expected to feature a significantly upgraded Neural Engine with a heavy focus for on-device AI support.  

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Following a bombshell report this week claiming that the iPad Pro M3 might actually be an iPad Pro M4, new insight into Apple’s upcoming tablet line has revealed that what we all thought could be a step too far, might not actually be as far-fetched as it sounds. 

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple might spring a big surprise on us at the May 7 Let Loose event. He says there’s “a strong possibility that the chip in the iPad Pro will be the M4, not the M3.”

While that might sound pretty outlandish, a new report reveals the evidence might have been staring us in the face for a while.

M4 iPad Pro in the wild? 

As noted by 9to5Mac, Apple’s new iPad Pro models have already been discovered in the beta files of iOS 17. Earlier in April, four unreleased models were revealed, alongside firmware support for the major OLED display upgrade we’re also expecting to see. However, as 9to5Mac points out, the identifiers for these iPads could indeed point to an M4 chip incoming. 

M2 devices like the M2 iPad Pro and M2 MacBook Air come with the designation ‘14’, while M3 devices like the M3 MacBook Air are numbered ‘15’ in the depths of Apple’s software code. As such, the fact that the new iPad models spotted in April are numbered ‘16’ could indicate that they are in fact shipping with a new M4 chip. 

The report also cites an “anonymous leaker” on X which claims “the new iPad Air will be powered by T8112, which is M2. However, the new iPad Pro has an unknown “T8132” chip. For instance, the M3 identifier is “T8122.”

With Apple’s next best iPad only days away, we’ll soon find out whether the M4 iPad Pro is the start of the Apple AI revolution that everyone has been talking about.

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It's no secret at this point that Apple is very, nay extremely likely to launch a raft of new iPads during its May 7 event. It hasn't said as much, but Apple has hinted that a new tablet is on the way while accessories like the Apple Pencil 3 and a refreshed Apple Magic Keyboard seem dead certainties at this point, too. But at the top of the lineup will be a new OLED iPad Pro, and the rumors continue to swirl just a week out from the big unveiling.

There have been new OLED iPad Pro reports seemingly every other day for months now, and while you might be forgiven that a hard announcement date might put some of them to bed, that hasn't been the case. We've already had the revelation that the new iPad Pro could sport an M4 chip, and now a new report suggests that Apple's best iPad isn't just getting any old OLED display — it's getting the best that money can buy.

Given the fact that Apple's iPad Pro is expected to be an expensive beast of a tablet, that shouldn't be all that surprising. But it's always good to get it confirmed by the people in the know. In this case, those people are the display supply chain experts at DSCC, part of the Counterpoint Research company.

The best around

In a report posted to its website, DSCC says that we should expect something special when that OLED display arrives.

"The OLED iPad panels are expected to be by far the best OLED tablet panels on the market with LTPO, 120Hz refresh, a tandem stack and glass thinning resulting in ultra-thin and light displays with high brightness, extended battery life and long lifetime," the report explains. It also expects that Apple's position as the dominant supplier of tablets will see significant growth in the OLED tablet market through 2024.

The report is notable because it outlines exactly what we can expect the switch to OLED displays to bring to the table. Improved colors and contrast are one thing, but DSCC's Ross Young suggests that we can expect the move to also bring with it improvements to brightness and battery management, something that should allow the latest iPad Pros to go longer between charges. That's a very real benefit that all iPad Pro owners will enjoy, whether or not they use their tablet in such a way to benefit from any of the other OLED features. A reduced power usage could also be important if the OLED iPad Pro really does use the as-yet-unannounced M4 chip as well, especially if it requires more power for itself in order to make all those rumored AI features work.

The new OLED iPad Pro is expected to come in 11- and 12.9-inch size configurations alongside new iPad Air 6 tablets with the same options. The addition of a new, larger iPad Air could take some pressure off buyers who would prefer a larger tablet but don't want to buy an iPad Pro. It also means that the iPad Air and iPad Pro lineups will more closely mimic that of the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro by offering cheaper and more capable options in two different sizes.

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Apple's "Let Loose" event is just days away, and we're excited to hear more about the iPad lineup after a quiet 2023. Still, the Apple Pencil is also seeing a revamp, and we now know what that could entail.

The third generation of Apple Pencil could be adding haptic feedback according to a new report from Mark Gurman, who drops the tidbit into his Power On newsletter, alongside reporting on the potential arrival of the M4 in the iPad Pro.

While Gurman doesn't state how it could be used, it's easy to imagine a world where users can switch between different modes, adjusting the feel of the Apple Pencil to feel like a traditional pencil on a page, or something more or less accurate.

In my mind, it could be closer to the way a Dualsense, the controller on Sony's PS5, adjusts its triggers via haptic feedback to help road surfaces feel different, or add the feeling of tension when drawing a bow.

Of course, we've had other instances of haptic feedback in tech, but as a point of reference, it'd be an interesting shift that would make the Apple Pencil stand out from third-party alternatives.

What about the Magic Keyboard?

The Apple Pencil is one thing, but what about the Magic Keyboard that forms the other part of the iPad triumvirate with the tablet?

Reports have previously suggested (also from Gurman last year) that a redesign is coming to the premium tablet accessory, but details are relatively scarce outside of the addition of a larger trackpad that's said to be more laptop-like.

Gurman has also suggested the keyboard could be aluminum, making it closer in style to a MacBook and sturdier.

Time will tell, with the new iPad lineup and accessories being revealed in just over a week, followed by WWDC 2024 in June.

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• Apple has realized what the iPad's best feature is after 14 years — and its Let Loose event will make it clear

Apple's brand-new iPad Pro for 2024 is an M4-powered beast that features an all-new OLED display and a new Apple Pencil Pro to match. 

Announced at the May 7 Let Loose event, the new iPad Pro is the thinnest device Apple has ever made. This new tablet is available in two sizes: There are 11-inch and 13-inch models that come in two colors, silver and space black. Big upgrades include a new OLED display that Apple is calling Ultra Retina XDR — And of course, the M4 chip, the next generation of Apple silicon, has arrived too. 

The iPad Pro is all about drawing and creativity, as well as the power of AI and the Neural Engine in Apple silicon. Here's everything you need to know!

iPad Pro M4: The headlines

• What is it? The new iPad Pro for 2024
• Release date: May 7
• Features: M4 chip, Ultra Retina XDR display, new design, new Apple Pencil Pro

iPad Pro M4: Models

The new iPad Pro is available in two distinct models with 11-inch or 13-inch screens. Eagle-eyed viewers will note that's up from the 12.9-inch model in the previous iPad Pro. Each of these models is available in two colors and two connectivity configurations, the standard Wi-Fi option or Wi-Fi + Cellular. 

iPad Pro M4: Release date and price

iPad Pro M4: Release date

The new M4 iPad Pro is already available to order from Apple.com starting on May 7. It will arrive in stores on Wednesday, May 15. 

iPad Pro M4: Price

Apple has increased the price of the new iPad Pro to reflect some of its significant upgrades. Where the M2 iPad Pro cost $799 and $999 for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models respectively, the M4 iPad Pro starts at $999. The 13-inch model is an eye-watering $1,299. Each model has a cellular option that's $200 more expensive, meaning the larger screen and boosted connectivity add up to a $1,500 price tag. 

The new Nano-texture glass option is only available on the 1TB or 2TB iPad Pro M4 models and is a $100 optional extra.  

M4 iPad Pro: Processor

As the name suggests, the new M4 iPad Pro features the all-new M4 Apple silicon chip. The next generation of Apple silicon, the M4 chip is built using a second-generation 3nm manufacturing process. It now features six efficiency cores along with four performance cores, as well as next-generation machine learning. The M4 chip also features a new display engine that powers the iPad Pro's OLED display. Apple says the new chip is good for 1.5x faster CPU performance compared to the old M2 model. It features the same 10-core GPU as the M3 chip, replete with Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, and more. 

M4 iPad Pro: Design and display

iPad Pro M4: OLED Display

As expected, the new M4 iPad Pro features an all-new OLED display. In fact, it features two OLED displays stuck together: Apple uses new, state-of-the-art tandem OLED technology to combine the light from two OLED panels. Apple calls its new display the Ultra Retina XDR display. It still features 120Hz ProMotion, as well as support for 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness for HDR and SDR content. Peak HDR brightness clocks in at 1,600 nits. The Tandem OLED tech gives sub-millisecond control over each pixel for even more precise XDR performance, Apple says. That means deeper blacks, more detailed shadows, and more. There's even a new nano-texture glass option for the first time.

Size

The design and overall footprint of the iPad Pro is broadly similar to that of previous version. The 11-inch model is 9.83 inches by 6.99 inches, while the 13-inch model is 11.09 inches by 8.48 inches. The big news is the thickness. Or perhaps I should say the thinness. They're 5.3mm and 5.1mm thick respectively, with the 13-inch model being the thinner of the two! That makes this the thinnest product Apple has ever made — it's even thinner than the old iPod Nano. Remarkable!

iPad Pro M4: Camera

The iPad Pro includes one rear 12MP camera with f/1.8 aperture. It has a 5x digital zoom, and shoots in Smart HDR 4. New for 2024 is an updated adaptive True Tone flash, which vastly improves document scanning on iPad. Using AI, the new iPad Pro can detect that you're scanning a document and will take multiple photos to eliminate shadows. On the front, the 12MP Ultra Wide camera is now placed on the long edge of the iPad for landscape orientation. That means better FaceTime and video calls when you're using a keyboard. 

iPad Pro M4: Connectivity

USB-C

The M4 iPad Pro 2024 includes a USB-C connector that supports both Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4, the former at up to 40Gb/s. That means it can be used with an external display up to 6K, as well as with other docks and cables. 

Wi-Fi 6E

The iPad Pro M4 includes Wi-Fi 6E, and the cellular models all support 5G through eSIM.  

iPad Pro M4: RAM and Storage

The new iPad Pro M4 comes with 8GB of unified memory and 120GB/s of memory bandwidth if you choose the 256GB or 512GB storage option. If you go for the 1TB or 2TB models, you'll get 16GB of RAM, again with 120GB/s bandwidth. 

iPad Pro M4: Accessories

Apple's new M4 iPad Pro naturally has some cool new accessories to go with it. Specifically, a new Magic Keyboard and a new Apple Pencil Pro!

Apple Pencil Pro

The new Apple Pencil Pro features a new sensor in the barrel that can detect squeeze gestures, quickly bringing up a tool palette that lets you select different options like colors. There's a new custom haptic engine that delivers a light tap to confirm your squeeze has registered, as well as to confirm double-tap or snap to a Smart Shape. It also has a gyroscope and a new roll gesture for precise controls, as well as Apple Pencil hover. 

For the first time ever, Apple Pencil Pro features Find My. It pairs and charges through a new magnetic interface on the side of the iPad Pro. The new Apple Pencil is not backwards compatible with any other older models, it only works with the new iPad Pro and the new iPad Air.

Magic Keyboard and smart Folio

The all-new Magic Keyboard features the same magical floating design as the old one, but now includes a new function row with controls such as brightness and volume. The palm rest is now aluminum, and it has a larger trackpad with haptic feedback, making it more like a MacBook than ever before. It attaches magnetically with a Smart Connector that eschews the need for pesky Bluetooth, and the aluminum hinge now houses a USB-C connector for charging. It comes in two colors, black and white, with a complementary space black or silver aluminum palm rest respectively.

There's also a new Smart Folio case for iPad pro with magnetic attachment and support for multiple viewing angles, it comes in black, white, and denim.

It's no secret that Apple's "Let Loose" event is coming next week, potentially with an event in London, and will likely highlight Apple's iPad lineup of tablets.

While the current iPad Pro is packing the M2 chip, it appears Apple is about to move to skip over the M3 chip (its current generation of chip which as added to the MacBook Air just a couple of months ago) and introduce the M4.

That comes via Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, who notes in his Power On newsletter that the iPad could be positioned as Apple's first truly AI-powered device.

An iPad Pro with M4 would mark the debut of a new chip generation on a tablet, which is also something we've not seen yet. In fact, Apple's tablets can often be a generation or two behind - the iPad Air, for example, is still using the M1 chip at the time of writing.

The first domino in Apple's AI push?

Given Apple hasn't really known how best to position the iPad (and how there was no iPad hardware launch last year), it's certainly a surprise move.

While Gurman notes there is only a "strong possibility" that the iPad Pro will be the M4, it seems it'll help AI lean into AI.

"By introducing the new iPad Pro ahead of its Worldwide Developers Conference in June, Apple could lay out its AI chip strategy without distraction," Gurman suggests.

"Then, at WWDC, it could focus on how the M4 chip and new iPad Pros will take advantage of the AI software and services coming as part of iPadOS 18 later this year."

Given the Let Loose event is just days away and WWDC 2024 follows just over a month later, we could know a lot more about Apple's AI strategy in the next few weeks.

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We're just over a week away from Apple likely revealing a new iPad Pro, iPad Air, and Apple Pencil at its "Let Loose" event on May 7, but it appears the event won't just feature a video presentation.

According to Andrew Griffin of The Independent, "Apple will stream the launch as a live video around the world, but it will be accompanied by an event in London". Griffin notes that a launch in the UK marks a departure from the traditional California-based launch events.

This could mark the first Apple product launch event outside of the US, and Apple's new Battersea Power Station offices and accompanying store, which opened last year, could be a prime location.

What to expect from the event

While Apple's event invitation offers few clues, this year is likely to be big for iPad fans - especially since last year saw no new iPad hardware launches.

We're expecting to see M2 iPad Air models, including a 12.9-inch version. The Mac has moved onto M3, and the chip is expected to come to the iPad Pro lineup. Perhaps more importantly, we could finally see the debut of an OLED iPad Pro, a first for any iPad.

A new Apple Pencil is also expected, and it may offer some Vision Pro functionality. There are no reports of an iPad Mini refresh as yet, but reports suggest it's still in development.

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With the rumored iPad Air and OLED iPad Pro launch incoming, one manufacturer’s new case suggests it is one step closer to happening.

On Amazon, ESR, known for making some of the best iPhone cases and best iPad cases, has put a few new designs up for sale. One is the 2024 iPad Air and another is the 2024 iPad Pro — both are 13-inches. The 2024 iPad Air is presumably intended for the iPad Air 6, with a deep blue case, housing three separate parts that can either cover the front of the tablet or fold into three to make a neat stand. It also has Apple Pencil 2 support, though the Amazon listing does not mention the Apple Pencil 3, which is also expected to launch soon.

ESR’s 2024 iPad Pro case is in a black colorway and follows a similar pattern of having three rigid sections that can be folded to make a stand. In this case, the iPad Pro camera and basic dimensions are the same as the last generation — inverse to some rumors suggesting the camera would be moving. The Rebound and Rebound 360 cases are available for the iPad Pro, with the second case having a seethrough back to show off the Apple logo.

What does this mean?

This either means that ESR knows the iPad is on the way soon or that it believes the iPad is likely enough to launch that it is worth listing a case for the new line to get a better search result on Amazon when the new iPad range arrives. The latter is much more likely.

This year, both the iPad Air 6 and OLED iPad Pro are expected to have similar dimensions, though the latter will get thinner bezels and will be thinner overall, thanks to the OLED screen. Most of the design differences are internal, with the iPad Air 6 tipped to receive an Apple M2 chip and the iPad Pro expected to get the new M3 chip. The M4 chip is seemingly still a while off. You can buy the new ESR cases right now and, if you’re an Amazon Prime member, they will arrive by tomorrow. You will still be waiting a few weeks after that for the iPad to go with it.

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After an iPad drought of over 500 days, Apple is widely expected to unveil not one but two new tablets as early as May 2024. The most exciting rumor on the airwaves is a massive upgrade to the iPad Pro, which is tipped to get a new M3 chip and an OLED display. The OLED iPad Pro is almost certainly going to be the best iPad the company has ever created, but it won’t be without fierce Android competition. 

Apple is actually quite late to the OLED tablet party, with an extensive range of AMOLED Android tablets already on the market. According to a recent report, 1.8 million OLED tablets were sold in 2023. Apple’s entry into the market is expected to skyrocket that figure, but there are some well-established Android alternatives. 

So what are some of the main Android tablets on the market Apple’s OLED iPad Pro will be competing with? Here’s a quick rundown of some of the best current examples on the market, with a very important caveat. Apple’s new iPad Pro is expected to be an OLED tablet, in contrast to today’s Android offerings, many of which are AMOLED. There is a difference between the two. AMOLED displays are brighter, but OLED offers better dimming and can give better response times. AMOLED also tends to win out with color vibrancy and accuracy, but these screens are often more expensive. So while we know it's not a fair fight, AMOLED Android tablets are the closest thing on the market right now to an OLED iPad Pro competitor, let’s meet the contenders.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S9/S9 Ultra 

Samsung offers a hefty iPad Pro rival in the form of its Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 series. We often quip that the Apple iPad lineup is quite confusing, but the Galaxy Tab range isn’t far behind. Apple’s Korean rival offers three total models, the S9, S9 Plus, and the S9 Ultra respectively. Each of these ships with Samsung’s Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, between 8GB and 16GB of memory, and an IP68 water resistance rating. They also come with support for Samsung’s S Pen, the company’s own Apple Pencil alternative. The S9, S9 Plus, and S9 Ultra ship in two colors and measure 11 inches, 12.4 inches, and 14.6 inches respectively. 

That AMOLED 2X display delivers HDR10+ content at refresh rates of 120Hz. Beyond the display (which we obviously can’t compare with the iPad just yet), the Galaxy Tab S9 does boast a couple of advantages over Apple’s tablet lineup. It supports MicroSD external storage up to 1TB, has the aforementioned water resistance, and of course, comes with a more expansive 14.6-inch display.

Lenovo Tab Extreme 

The Lenovo Tab Extreme is one of the few Android tablets on the market that actually boasts a fully-fledged OLED display. With a $949 price tag, it certainly matches the iPad Pro for price. Our friends at Tom’s Guide reckon it beats the current M2 iPad Pro for color thanks to that “vivid” OLED display, which puts out 3K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate across an expansive 14.5-inch display. It also boasts 12GB of RAM, USB-C (3.2), microSD expansion, and two USB-C ports. 

Just like the Samsung range, there’s also a Precision Pen 3 and a Lenovo Tab Extreme Keyboard to scratch that peripheral itch. The former comes included with every unit (something you definitely can’t boast about iPad), while the latter is a modest $150 add-on. The design might leave a little to be desired, but the overall package is certainly impressive. At 14.5 inches, it's larger than the iPad Pro, but also heavier. 

HUAWEI MatePad Pro 13.2-inch 

HUAWEI is quite famous for not being very creative when it comes to product design and marketing, heck even its flagship retail location looks like an Apple Store. Likewise, its MatePad Pro series looks almost identical to the iPad lineup, and even sports basically the same name. For that reason, however, the MatePad Pro certainly looks incredibly stylish. It boasts a 13.2-inch OLED display with a 2.8K resolution, 1000 nits of peak brightness, and a 94% screen ratio thanks to some impressively slim bezels. 

For the money, you also get 12GB of RAM, a 16MP front-facing camera for videoconferencing, and more. According to Huawei’s website at the time of writing, buyers also get the HUAWEI Smart Magnetic Keyboard, HUAWEI M-Pencil, and an 88W charger all thrown in. That’s nearly $300 worth of accessories (although you can’t buy one in the U.S. for obvious reasons).

The OLED battleground 

As you can see, even a cursory glance at some of the tablet competition on the market reveals that Apple has a fight on its hands with the OLED iPad Pro. As has always been the case with its mobile products, however, Apple is likely to eschew raw specs and power in favor of the coveted ecosystem and interoperability between Apple devices that many Android rivals can’t match. The M3 chip is no slouch in the M3 MacBook Air, so no doubt the iPad Pro will be powerful. Most iPad Pro customers will probably already own an iPad and will simply be looking for an upgrade, or they’ll be Apple customers looking to buy their first tablets. For those folks, the allure of Android is probably not that strong. But for prospective buyers on the fence, the expansive displays, storage expansion, and cheaper accessories could prove too strong to resist. 

New research into the shipment of OLED panels for tablets has revealed that Apple’s imminent OLED iPad Pro with M3 could trigger a significant increase in the market over the next five years and a nearly 700% increase in 2024 alone.

Apple is widely expected to unveil a brand new OLED iPad Pro in the coming weeks, possibly as early as May. The hotly-anticipated upgrade will bring a significant display boost to Apple’s best iPad, after a release drought of more than 500 days since the last new iPad.

According to UBI Research’s snappily named 2024 Mid-Large OLED Display Annual Report, spotted by DIGITIMES, “shipments of OLED panels for tablets are expected to grow from 12 million units in 2024 to 28.4 million units in 2028, with an average annual growth rate of 24.1%.”

OLED iPad to spur massive growth

While that broader outlook represents very significant growth expected over the coming years, the shipment of OLED tablets is expected to skyrocket in 2024 thanks to Apple’s upcoming foray into the market. According to the report, Just 1.3 million OLED tablets shipped in 2022, and only 1.8 million were shipped in 2023. Current Android offerings in the OLED tablet space include Huawei’s MatePad Pro and the Samsung Galaxy Tab S9. The predicted figure of 12 million for 2024 would represent a nearly seven-fold increase in shipments powered by Apple.

Alongside OLED, Apple’s new iPad Pro is expected to get the new M3 Apple silicon chip, most recently added to the M3 MacBook Air. Other rumored upgrades include a landscape front-facing camera orientation, a new Magic Keyboard, and the Apple Pencil 3. Also tipped for a release on the same day is the new iPad Air 6 sporting the M2 chip.

All of Apple’s iPad lineup is set for a refresh in the coming months. More recently it was reported that Apple also has a new iPad mini 7 in the works as well as a new low-end iPad, expected to be a “cost-reduced version of the 10th generation model from 2022.” While 2023 might have been the driest year for iPads in recent memory, 2024 is certainly going to turn the tables.

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Just weeks ahead of a rumored announcement of Apple’s hotly-anticipated new OLED iPad Pro with M3 chip, new code spotted in Apple’s iPad software has confirmed the existence of four new iPad models, and firmware support for exactly that OLED display upgrade. 

The news comes by way of 9to5Mac, which says it has found references to four new unreleased iPads in the beta for iPadOS 17.5. Per the report, there are references to iPad 16,3, iPad 16,4, iPad 16,5, iPad 16,6. The 16 designates that these are four variations of the same iPad model, i.e. the iPad Pro, and reflect exactly the configuration we’d expect to see from May’s rumored release. Namely, a new iPad Pro in two sizes, each with Wi-Fi and Cellular options, four models total. 

The more exciting discovery seems to be confirmation of software support for the OLED display upgrade coming to the lineup. “The firmware suggests that these iPads will be equipped with OLED displays and also corroborates that there will be different suppliers for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch versions,” the report states. 

Apple’s OLED iPad is nearly here 

We’ve been anticipating a new OLED iPad really since the turn of the year, with a March or April release previously looking very viable. However, multiple reports indicate that these iPads have been delayed because of issues with supply around the new display tech. As such, the most recent report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman indicates that Apple will most likely unveil the new iPad Pro, iPad Air 6, Magic Keyboard, and Apple Pencil 3 during the week of May 6.

Along with an OLED display, other upgrades coming to the next iPad Pro likely include the M3 chip from Apple’s M3 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, a landscape FaceTime camera orientation, a matte finish display, thinner bezels, and support for the new Apple Pencil. According to today’s report, the iPadOS 17.5 beta code also reveals the existence of the previously leaked squeeze gesture, as well as two other new gestures, “LongSqueeze” and “DoubleSqueeze.” 

As mentioned, all four new products are likely weeks away and will end a 500+ day drought without an iPad launch from Apple, the last release being the M2 iPad Pro in October 2022.

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Despite no new models last year, Apple is preparing to unveil a whole host of new iPads in 2024, and while we previously reported we'd be waiting until May, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman may have just given us a more accurate timeframe.

In his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says he's told the launch will "probably happen the week of May 6", which ties in with retail stores receiving "new product marketing materials later that week".

Gurman says the launch "is shaping up to be one of the biggest updates to the Apple tablet in a single day", with refreshes coming for the iPad Pro, iPad Air, and accessories including the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil.

What will new iPads offer?

While we had expected to hear about the new iPad models sooner, Gurman had previously said that the new displays were causing delays but it sounds as though they might be worth the wait with Apple's first OLED tablets that's more in line with what's found on iPhone.

"The technology apparently looks amazing on such large displays — taking what iPhone users have experienced since 2017 to a whole new level," Gurman states.

It's not all good news, though, as he suggests new iPad models "will likely come at higher price points", pointing to the iPad Pro's $799 starting price. That's for the 11-inch version, but the 12.9-inch one starts at $1099 with just 128GB of storage.

Gurman also notes new base iPads and iPad Minis are in development - but they sound a lot less exciting, while Apple is exploring the prospect of foldable iPads and that work is in "its early stages". Apple could ditch the concept if it's unable to solve the issue of having a "crease" on the display like its competitors, though.

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Apple's long been rumored to be finally ready to launch a new iPad after shipping not a single new tablet throughout the entirety of 2023. The iPad Air is expected to be refreshed soon with the OLED iPad Pro joining it. A report yesterday claimed that Apple intends to unveil all four new tablets in early May, and now another report adds some color to previous claims that the availability of the smaller 11-inch OLED iPad Pro might be somewhat stunted.

We'd previously heard from display analyst Ross Young that Apple's 11-inch iPad Pro appeared to be behind in terms of manufacturing, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro was thought to be steaming ahead. Now, a new report might have explained why the disparity in manufacturing came about.

While we'd already heard that LG Display had swooped in to pick up some of the slack with Samsung Display struggling to keep up with Apple's needs, a new report now claims that the issue all stems from the latter's inability to produce displays to meet exacting quality standards. Samsung Display is no stranger to producing OLED displays of course, but it's thought that it's struggled this time around.

LG to the rescue

This is all according to a Hankooki report spotted by MacRumors which claims that LG Display has had to come to Apple's rescue.

"Contrary to observations, the specific background behind LG Display's sudden mass production of 11-inch panels this month is unknown," the Hankooki report explains via machine translation. "However, some are pointing out that Samsung Display is unable to meet the required quantity due to 11-inch panel yield issues."

The report goes on to say that "LG Display has accumulated experience in mass production of panels larger than the iPhone by supplying liquid crystal display (LCD) panels to iMac, MacBook, and iPad."

As a result of the switch-up it is now thought that LG Display will wind up producing around 60% of the OLED iPad Pro displays with the market expecting iPad Pro shipments of up to nine million units this year. It was originally thought that LG Display and Samsung Display would share the orders evenly.

The new OLED iPad Pros are expected to be powered by Apple's fast M3 chip while rumors have also suggested that Apple will move the tablets' FaceTime selfie camera to the side of the display rather than at the top of it. The switch will make for a better experience when placing video calls with the tablet in landscape mode — important if users have the tablet docked to a keyboard and trackpad.

Apple is already expected to have a revamped Magic Keyboard device in the works with a more sturdy construction improving upon the previous iterations.

The OLED iPad Pro is expected to come in 11- and 12.9-inch configurations while the 11-inch 6th-gen iPad Air is expected to be joined by an all-new 12.9-inch model. The iPad Air tablets are expected to use the slower M2 chips, although the difference will be negligible for the majority of people with the tablets also expected to feature the same FaceTime camera relocation, too.

Finally, Apple is also expected to unveil the Apple Pencil 3 at the same time as the new tablets and Magic Keyboard, potentially with Apple Vision Pro support.

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Apple has been rumored to have plans to launch a new OLED iPad Pro and refreshed iPad Air for months now, but the exact date that will happen has so far been elusive. A recent leak claimed that it might happen as soon as March 26, a date that means we could see the tablets finally break cover in just a few short days. However, one well-connected journalist now says that simply isn't going to happen.

The March 26 date was shared by a leaker on the Chinese social network Weibo but it has now been contradicted by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman who says that simply is "not true," throwing the whole unveiling timeframe into further doubt.

Gurman has previously said that Apple won't be able to make the new iPads available until it has all of its software ducks in a row and that none of that is expected to happen until April. That had led some to ponder that Apple may preannounce the new iPads on March 26 but not actually make them available to buy until a week or two later. Now, Gurman appears to suggest that isn't the case and that the March 26 date was bogus all along. However, he stopped short of confirming exactly when the announcement will happen.

Don't get your hopes up

Gurman posted his rebuttal on the X social network, replying to a report detailing the March 26 rumor. No further color has been added to that claim as yet, but with this week's Power On newsletter just days away it's possible he could share additional information then.

As for the tablets themselves, big things are expected. The iPad Pro is set to sport a new OLED display in both the 11- and 12.9-inch configurations, offering better contrast and improved color reproduction. On the inside, it's anticipated that Apple will upgrade the existing M2 chip to an M3 similar to that of the latest 2024 MacBook Air. No overall design changes are expected, but a recent report did suggest that a matte display option was in the cards alongside thinner bezels.

Those who plan on choosing a new iPad Air can expect a refreshed 11-inch model to be joined by an all-new 12.9-inch version if previous reports are accurate. An M2 chip would be an upgrade over the existing M1 model, but again no overall design changes are expected. However, one wildcard is the continued assertion by some that the new tablets will feature relocated FaceTime cameras.

Most iPads, bar the 10th-gen iPad, have their cameras at the top of the display. It's thought that the new iPad Pro and iPad Air models will see the camera move to the side, making for an improved experience when using the tablets in a landscape orientation — like when attached to a keyboard and trackpad, for example. The existing placement means that people appear not to be paying attention during video calls because they seem to be looking off to the side. The change in location would be more akin to a laptop, however.

2023 was the first year that Apple did not release a new iPad of any kind so these new models seem overdue. The 12.9-inch iPad Air could be particularly well received if the price is right, especially for those who don't want or need the extra capabilities offered by an iPad Pro of the same size.

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