Apple's first event of 2024 has come and gone, and, in the words of Tim Cook, it was "all about iPad". With roughly a month to go until its WWDC keynote event, this event is all about tablets, but it started off by celebrating the Apple Vision Pro. Apple announced two new iPads: the iPad Pro and the iPad Air. The former was updated with an all-new M4 chip, making it the first device with the latest Apple silicon. The latter, however, was simply updated from the M1 to the M2, which is still a beefy little update. If you're waiting for a new iPhone or MacBook, though, you're probably going to have to wait until at least September, sorry.
iPad Air 2024 – Now There's Two Of Them
The iPad Air is easily the most popular iPad model on the market, mainly because it takes what makes the iPad Pro great and makes small compromises to make it much more affordable, without losing too much. And, well, there's a new iPad Air. The iPad Air comes in two sizes now, with a new 13-inch model accompanying the 11-inch model we all know and love. This will be perfect for artists that need that extra screen real estate.
Apple has also moved the front-facing camera to the landscape edge, making it even more like a laptop screen than before. Also like a laptop, the iPad Air is using the M2, which should be a huge upgrade if you haven't upgraded your tablet in a while. This is a laptop chip found in the 2022 MacBook Air, which is still on e of the best MacBooks you can buy right now, even though there's a new model.
Even better, the paltry 64GB option is gone, now the iPad Air starts with 128GB of storage, meaning more room for apps, pictures and music. The iPad Air 2024 will be available starting next week.
iPad Pro 2024 – Skipping Right to the M4
The iPad Pro is Apple's professional-class iPad, with the best performance and displays, and is perfect for all kinds of creative professionals. Apple claims its for everyone, but its price tag means most people who aren't using their iPad to make art are probably better off with the iPad Air. But either way, there's a new iPad Pro in the neighborhood.
The new iPad Pro has a new, thinner design, coupled with a new display and, of course a new M4 chip. The new iPad Pro comes in two sizes, an 11-inch model that's just 5.3mm thick, and a 13-inch model that's even thinner at 5.1mm.
Apple has also added a Tandem OLED panel to both models, the first time for an iPad to use OLED. Thanks to the visual benefits of OLED, Apple is elevating the Retina class of the iPad Pro to Liquid Ultra Retina, leading to what Apple is calling the most advanced display in the world.
To power all of this Apple is leapfrogging its own MacBooks by adding a new M4 chip to the iPad Pro, making this the first device in Apple's lineup with this next-generation processor. This theoretically means the iPad Pro 2024 may have better performance than a full-fat laptop in the MacBook Air.
This M4 chip has a much better GPU, adding ray tracing support in an iPad for the first time, making it especially awesome for gaming. We'll have to test the performance ourselves, of course, but if you like to play a lot of games on your phone, this can be a huge deal. Apple compared the new iPad Pro to laptops again, which is only natural given the new M4 chip. Let's just hope Apple makes iPadOS a bit more Mac-like. But we'll have to wait for WWDC 2024 to get something like that. Stay tuned.
The iPad Pro also features an updated camera, with an Adaptive Flash that makes it perfect for scanning documents. The front-facing camera also gets an update, with a new 12MP lens that's paired with all the gadgetry necessary for FaceID.
Apple has also redesigned the magic keyboard, and just like the iPad Pro, it's thinner and more functional. The keyboard, we swear, looks just like a MacBook's keyboard, making this essentially a 2-in-1 laptop.
If you want to buy the iPad Pro, you can preorder it today, starting at $1,199 for the 11-inch model and $1,399 for the 13-inch one.
Apple Pencil Pro – For The Artists
Finally, an iPad Pro launch wouldn't be complete without a new Apple Pencil to tie everything up. The Apple Pencil Pro is the latest in a long line of styli from Apple, with a new sensor that makes for a much more accurate pencil. The device is packed with sensors from end to tip, and you can now use gestures to add more functionality. For instance, you can squeeze the tip, close to the display, to bring up a radial menu to choose brush tips in Photoshop.
If you're going to be getting the new iPad Pro for art, you're probably going to want the iPad Pro to enable all the new creative possibilities. Luckily, it's available to order today, and costs $129.
