Apple IPad Event: All The News From Apple’s “Let Loose” Reveal

Here’s where you can preorder Apple’s latest iPad Air and iPad Pro

The new iPad Air comes in two sizes, while the Pro model picks up an M4 chip and a more vibrant OLED panel.
Image: Apple

At long last, Apple’s newest iPad Pro and iPad Air are finally, officially real. Preorders begin today, May 7th, with the former starting at $999 and the latter at $599. Both models come in 11- and 13-inch sizing and are set to arrive in stores on Wednesday, May 15th.

One of the most notable changes in the Pro models is the switch from LCD-based displays to OLED, which could be the killer feature for creatives. But there’s a lot more to like, such as a new M4 chip that is said to offer 50 percent faster CPU performance than Apple’s last-gen M2 chip, plus a new 10-core GPU that supports mesh shading and ray tracing. The new iPad Pro also features better rear cameras and a repositioned front-facing Face ID camera that now sits centered along the horizontal edge, which allows for less awkward video calls.

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Apple quietly kills the old-school iPad and its headphone jack

Apple no longer sells the ninth-gen iPad, which was the last iPad with a headphone jack.
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge

Along with introducing a new iPad Air and iPad Pro during its Let Loose event, Apple quietly killed its ninth-gen iPad — also known as the last iPad with a headphone jack. The 10th-gen iPad is now the sole entry-level iPad in Apple’s official lineup and, as such, has received a $100 price cut.

Released in late 2022, the 10th-generation iPad arrived starting at $449, or about $120 more than base entry-level iPads from previous years. Apple justified the price increase with new iPad Air-like features, like a 10.9-inch screen and USB-C support.

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Apple launches Final Cut Camera app to support multicam productions

Image: Apple

Apple is releasing a new Final Cut Camera app for iPhone and iPad that can take video and stream it live back to an iPad for a Multicam shoot, as well as provide more controls for filmmakers. The company’s new pro-level app provides “precise manual controls” and can be used as a plain standalone camera app.

The new Final Cut Camera is launching alongside the updated Final Cut 2 app, a successor to last year’s debut Final Cut for iPad. Final Cut 2 has a multiscreen view that captures and controls each Final Cut Camera-running device connected to it. Final Cut 2 also lets you hop between production and editing, allowing you to live-cut your project.

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Apple puts more ‘Pro’ in Final Cut and Logic Pro for the iPad

Image: Apple

Apple is updating two of its biggest pro apps to complement the new iPad Pro models announced today. The updated Logic Pro will be available first, hitting the App Store starting on May 13th for both the iPad and Mac, while the next version of Final Cut Pro for both platforms comes later this spring. Both will be free updates for existing users of the macOS and iPadOS versions.

Final Cut Pro for the iPad finally supports external projects — that is, users can create and access products on external storage and won’t need to import the media to their iPad’s internal storage. That’s a big deal for anyone editing on the go, as even Apple’s higher tablet storage tiers can be limiting when working with massive video files (particularly now that the app supports taking in four camera shots at once).

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Hands-on with the new iPad Pro: yeah, it’s really thin

The OLED screen looks nice, but the design is the iPad Pro’s real story.

Apple just announced a new iPad Pro, and at a watch party in New York City, a few reporters got to take a look at Apple’s new tablet firsthand. After holding and playing with the device for a few minutes, I can say pretty confidently that Apple’s not kidding about how much more svelte the new model is. At 5.3mm thick for the 11-inch model and 5.1mm for the 13-inch tablet, this new iPad is noticeably thinner and lighter than anything the company has made before.

It’s such a big difference that the larger model, which I’ve always felt was kind of preposterously huge, feels much more comfortable to hold and use. (And it’s technically even larger now, up to 13 inches from 12.9 before.) You can tell the difference between the Pro and the new Air from practically across the room, and as someone who has carried around an 11-inch Pro for the last year and a half, it’s really a big difference. The biggest question I have for now is about fragility: is the new Pro potentially too thin? It feels rigid and sturdy enough in my hands, but there are always tradeoffs with a device like this. We have lots of testing to do.

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The 7 biggest announcements from Apple’s iPad event

Apple just wrapped up its “Let Loose” event, where it showed off the newest additions to its iPad lineup in nearly two years. But the event had more than just iPads — we also got a first look at some refreshed accessories and updated software.

If you want a quick rundown of everything Apple announced, check out our roundup below.

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The new Apple Pencil Pro is harder to lose and better to draw with

The Apple Pencil Pro’s “Barrel Roll” gyroscope feature can adjust the size and orientation of brushes in iPad software.
Image: Apple

Apple announced its third-generation Apple Pencil today during its “Let Loose” iPad event, adding Find My support and new capabilities for adapting the stylus to different creative tasks. Available to order today for $129 — the same price as the second-gen Apple Pencil — the new Apple Pencil Pro introduces features closer to what you’d find on pens for dedicated drawing tablets, like a “Barrel Roll” gyroscope feature and a squeeze gesture for switching between software functions.

This is the first real update to the Apple Pencil series since the second-generation model was announced in 2018. While the more affordable USB-C Apple Pencil that was released last year supported a wider range of iPad models than the Apple Pencil 2, it also ditched advanced second-gen features like pressure sensitivity and double-tap tool switching — making it less useful for tasks like graphic design and 3D sculpting.

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Apple’s new M4 chip is focused on AI

Photo: Apple

Apple’s next-generation chip, the M4, is coming to the new iPad Pro. The new OLED iPad Pro models will include the upgraded chip, which is focused on improving performance for AI-related tasks in iPadOS.

During an event on Tuesday, Apple focused heavily on the M4’s AI capabilities. A new neural engine makes it “an outrageously powerful chip for AI,” the company says, capable of 38 trillion operators per second (TOPS). It’s supposedly 60 times faster than the NPU of Apple’s A11 chip, from 2017, but that number still falls short of the Snapdragon X Elite’s 45 TOPS. However, Apple still claims the M4 can deliver the same performance as the latest PC chips with only a quarter of the power.

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Apple announces new iPad Pros with OLED displays and thinnest design ever

At its “Let Loose” virtual event this morning, Apple introduced its long-awaited iPad Pro updates. The new 13-inch and 11-inch tablets have a fresh design, more powerful internals, and a thinner profile than ever before, and they come with a major display upgrade. As rumored, Apple has switched to OLED screens on both sizes, bringing perfect blacks, richer color saturation, and enhanced contrast to its flagship iPads. Oh, and the front-facing camera is now in the correct (landscape) position for video calls.

The iPad Pros use a tandem OLED structure that allows the display to reach 1,000 nits of peak full-screen brightness — just like the Mini LED model before it — and 1,600 nits for HDR content. The 13-inch model measures just 5.1 millimeters thick, which Apple says is its thinnest device ever. (The 11-inch is 5.3 millimeters thick.) For those who prefer a matte display finish, a nano-texture glass coating will be available for the first time with these iPad Pros.

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Apple adds a 13-inch iPad Air to the mix

Image: Apple

Apple has unveiled its 2024 iPad Air, now in two sizes for the first time thanks to a new 13-inch option. The company also updated the 11-inch iPad Air. Both tablets are outfitted with Apple’s M2 chip and will be in blue, purple, starlight, and space gray colors. The tablet will start at $599 for the 11-inch and $799 for the 13-inch model, and they’re available today on Apple’s site.

The new iPad Air has a single rear 12MP camera lens and a front-facing 12MP camera, as before — now centered on the long edge, or what I’m now calling the One True Placement. It’s also got support for the Apple Pencil Hover feature, which was previously exclusive to the iPad Pro.

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If Apple doesn’t announce a new Apple Pencil tomorrow, I’ll eat my hat.

You can erase the logo for the company’s “Let Loose” iPad event (10AM ET tomorrow) at the top of its home page. I can’t seem to erase the whole thing before it switches to new art, though.

Very unsatisfying. 6 / 10.
The last thing the iPad needs is a spec bump

The iPad is kind of a computer… but kind of not.
Image: Dan Seifert / The Verge

When Apple CEO Tim Cook and a bunch of his deputies take the virtual stage next week to announce new iPads, they’re going to spend a lot of time talking about specs. If the rumors are true, we’re going to get new iPad Pros with OLED screens and thinner bodies, new Airs with faster chips and a correctly placed front camera, and a couple of new accessories. Before they even launch, I feel confident telling you these are the best iPads ever. But after all these years, I still don’t know how to tell you whether you should want an iPad. Or what you’d want to do with it.

This has been true forever, of course. The iPad is the jack-of-all-trades in Apple’s lineup, a terrific device in many ways that still feels increasingly redundant now that so many people have big phones and long-lasting laptops. Apple seems to have spent the last decade-plus enamored with the idea of the iPad as a shapeshifter — a device that can be exactly what you need at any given time. The company loves that the iPad’s use case is hard to pin down, that it means different things to different people. It’s a fun, good, ambitious idea: The One Gadget To Rule Them All. The way to make that happen, though, is not to upgrade the chips or move the buttons or redesign the rounded corners. It’s to focus less on the iPad itself and more on the things you attach to it.

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

Apple’s next event will be all about iPads.
Image: Apple

Apple has gone and announced a spring event for May 7th at 7AM PT / 10AM ET. While the company didn’t say what the event is about, the Apple Pencil in its graphic suggests we’re finally about to hear about new iPads — but which ones? Well, almost certainly OLED iPad Pros, which we’ve been hearing about for months, but the company might also announce a new iPad Air in two sizes for the first time.

Rumors have also circulated in the last few months about a new Apple Pencil and updated Magic Keyboard accessories that would give iPad Pro owners a more laptop-like feel. Because more accessories are all the iPad needs, right? It doesn’t seem likely that there will be an update of the 10th-generation vanilla iPad or the iPad Mini quite yet, so all eyes will be on what Apple plans to do with its next iPad Pro.

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Apple announces May 7th event for new iPads

Illustration: The Verge

After kicking off 2024 with the launch of the Vision Pro, the next act in Apple’s 2024 script is a May product launch event. Apple has started inviting members of the media to a “special Apple Event” on May 7th at 7AM PT / 10AM ET. The invite’s image includes the Apple Pencil, making it abundantly clear that iPads will be the focus of this virtual event.

Rumors suggest the iPad Pro will get some of its most significant improvements since the 2021 M1 overhaul, including an OLED display (with a slight size bump to 13 inches for the bigger model), an updated M3 chipset, and the long overdue horizontal repositioning of its front-facing camera. There might also be a new Apple Pencil and a redesigned Magic Keyboard with an aluminum build and a larger trackpad.

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