Apple Event Announced

ianlecheminant

2 years ago

Earlier this week Apple announced their May 2024 event. Likely to be centered around a revamped iPad lineup.

A product line that hasn’t seen any updates across the lineup since October 2022. When they launched the following products:

Apple unveils completely redesigned iPad in four vibrant colors

Apple introduces next-generation iPad Pro, supercharged by the M2 chip

This is what to expect for May 2024, as I wrote back in March 2024 when WWDC 2024 was Announced:

iPad Pro 14 inch OLED (with M3 Chip)
iPad Pro 12 inch OLED (with M3 Chip)
iPad Air + 12 inch (with M2 Chip)
iPad Air (6th Generation) (with M2 Chip)
iPad mini (7th Generation) (with M2 Chip) – Corrected to 7th Generation, apologies for the typo in my initial post listing the mini as the 6th Generation, as that is the current model available.
iPad (11th Generation) (with M1 Chip)
Apple Pencil (3rd Generation) – New addition for todays post
Magic Keyboards revamp with aluminum case for iPad Pros and Airs – New addition for todays post

Obviously, I was wrong on the product launch timing as it appears these revamped iPads will be launched before WWDC 2024. But maybe not? Maybe the May event will just be a product announcement event and the iPads will start shipping in June in time for WWDC? Highly unlikely, just speculation. The new iPads will likely be available for delivery and in store pickup 1 week after the May 2024 event, in line with Apple’s other product releases. Perhaps they’ll surprise us and some SKUs may ready to order same day. They’ve done that too in the past.

So what does this May 2024 announcement mean for the iPad and its accessories?

Do not buy a new iPad right now – You will be over paying for soon to be outdated tech.
If you absolutely need a new iPad right this second consider Apple Refurbished, Amazon Renewed, ebay, used from a second hand sellers like Computer Overhauls or at minimum an on sale model from a retailer like Best Buy.
iPad power users are finally getting a well deserved iPad lineup revamp. Especially for those die hard iPad Pro owners.
iPad Pro 2018 users will likely lose iPadOS updates moving forward, but don’t expect this too be announced at the event, that is more likely to happen at the Fall 2024 Apple event when Apple’s next generation OS stack is announced for iPhone, iPad, macOS, visionOS, tvOS and whatever other OS’s they currently have in the product line. Some rumors seem to suggest that iPad Pro 2018 users will get one more year of updates. Let’s hope! TBD.
The revamped M3 and M2 centered iPads may give us a window into Apple’s pending on device AI plans, Gurman: Apple Working on On-Device LLM for Generative AI Features
The M3 iPad Pros will be a good upgrade path for iPad Pro 2018 and 2020 users as those devices are aging and have not been getting the latest iPadOS features available for M-Series based iPads. Notable feature omissions include Stage Manger support for external displays like Apple Studio Display and “The ability to move apps and windows between the iPad and an external display via Stage Manager…” as per WIRED.
Power users of programs like StaffPad will rejoice at the availability of either a 13-14 inch screen for the larger sized iPad Pro and increased computing power via the M3 chip.
First major iPad Air and Pro redesign since 2018 for the Pro and 2020 for the Air.

Features That I Would Like To See On The Next iPad Product Cycle

Improved Battery Life inline with what we’ve seen on the M-Series MacBooks since their release in late 2020.
- The current 10 hour run time has been the same since the first generation units launched in 2010.
  - Per Apple Newsroom:
  - “iPad is powered by A4, Apple’s next-generation system-on-a-chip. Designed by Apple, the new A4 chip provides exceptional processor and graphics performance along with long battery life of up to 10 hours.*”
  - Would like to see it get up to 17/18 hours like the M1 powered MacBook Air and Pro
More Native Applications
- Instagram still not available in native form for iPad – Apple should do a deal with Meta to make this happen.
- Threads not available in native form for iPad – Apple should do a deal with Meta to make this happen.
- What’s App not available as a native app for iPad – Apple should do a deal with Meta to make this happen.
Multi User Support
- Dieter Bohn wrote about this many times
- iPads are expensive, why can a family have multiple users on an M1 imac but not a iPad with the same chip?
No more 128GB or 256GB storage tiers for iPad Pros
- How can any pro device have this little amount of storage?
- 512 GB should be the minimum for the iPad Pro line even if Apple has to raise the price to make this happen.
Support for 24 GB of RAM like we see on the MacBook Air M3 line up
- Ok to limit this to just the 1TB and 2TB models akin to how the current M2 iPad Pro 1TB and 2TB models come with 16GB of RAM vs. the 8GB of RAM available on the current 128GB, 256GB and 512GB models.
- This would really help power users of programs like StaffPad, The Affinity Suite, Final Cut Pro, and Procreate.
Apple Mail app gains the ability to store email locally like it does on the Mac.
Support for two external displays on iPad Pro
- The M1 and M2 iPad Pros can currently support the use of one external display via Stage Manager.
- A12x and A12z based iPad Pros can support one external display but only in screen mirroring mode..
Full Size Bracket Keys on the smaller iPad Pro Magic Keyboard, John Gruber wrote extensively in his review about how much this annoyed him in his 2022 iPad review.
- “Even with smaller standard keys, though, these keyboards need to make additional concessions, with some punctuation and modifier keys reduced to partial widths. Apple made good decisions on these key cap widths, with the glaring exception of the bracket keys. Clearly these two keys are siblings or peers, and ought to be the same width. That there is not room to make both of them full-width is fine. But rather than make one full-width and the other half, clearly they should both be three-quarters width, like the Tab key or right Option key. Or just make them both half-width. Anything so long as they’re the same size. It makes no more sense for the left and right bracket keys to be different sizes than it would for the left and right arrow keys. Why Apple chose to do this with the 11-inch Magic Keyboard layout back in 2020 is beyond me; why they’re sticking with it is even more baffling.”
Fix The Front Facing Camera
- The webcam aka front facing camera needs to be in landscape orientation by default. No one does a FaceTime, Zoom Call, or Webex call with an iPad in a vertical position.
- The era of sideways video meetings needs to come to a close asap.
Better Google Apps and Workspace integration,
- Many creative businesses run off Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive etc. All of the current apps run poorly on iPad compared to accessing the same suite of apps via a web browser on Mac. Yes, running them in browser is possible on iPad but not really the way those apps are meant to be used on a tablet that is supposed to be, “Your next computer is not a computer”. If Apple really wants the iPad to become mainstream computing device it once thought it could become (Check out the links below), this Google application deficit needs to be addressed. Perhaps they could use some of that annual Google Search Money to make it happen?

Links on the supposed take over of the iPad over the Mac from the disastrous 2018 MacBook Pro era:

We’ll find out more soon enough what Apples plan are for the next generation of iPad products. Time will tell.

Personal Take On The Eminent Launch Of New iPads

Will I be getting a new iPad Pro? Maybe, my 2018 11 inch is still doing fine for the most part. I bought it used 3 years ago via eBay and it was a steal, Magic Keyboard, Pencil, and Paperlike screen protector all included for one low price. During my working day I mostly use the iPad to control various extensions of my main Mac workstation, that is when I remember to plug it in. I use the iPad to control Mac based Digital Audio Workstations via METAGRID, to read articles, markup pdfs, browse the web and check messages during breaks throughout the day. Just not WhatsApp messages since this extremely popular app is not currently available natively on iPad. The browser based alternative leaves much to be desired.

My iPad is mostly a consumption device, a way to read Power On every Sunday morning, The Verge, SEMAFOR, and my ever expanding list of old man newsletters etc.

I love reading text vertically on my 2018 11 inch iPad Pro. The high refresh rate display makes text ultra sharp and buttery smooth to scroll through. Images, photos, and, artwork also look fantastic!

I love the idea of making an iPad Pro my every day carry aka EDC over my thicc boy MacBook Pro 16 but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. My entire workflow centers around being able to use third party Mac apps and utilities like Better Touch Tool, Clip Tools, Snippety, Timeframe, and Google Workspace. Not to mentioned my suite of professional music software that is largely Mac only like Logic Pro (Yes, I know an iPad version exists, it’s not usable for what I do), Cubase, Pro Tools Ultimate, Vienna Ensemble Pro Server, and Ableton Live.

For what’s it’s worth I wrote about half of this post on my iPad Pro. Guess what I went back to my Mac because apps like ClipTools and the Mac based version of Drafts allows me to write faster. Using WordPress.com on iPad is well sketch as the kids would say.

12.9-Inch iPad Air No Longer Expected to Feature Mini-LED Display

Apple will likely ‘Let Loose’ new iPads at its May event

Apple’s next product event happens on May 7, and it’s probably iPads