Apple unveils new iPad Pro with ‘super powerful’ AI-powered chip

Apple unveils new iPad Pro with ‘super powerful’ AI-powered chip

Apple hopes its latest iPad lineup will breathe new life into its sluggish tablet market.

In a live stream event recorded from its headquarters in Cupertino, California, the company introduced the latest versions of its iPad Pro and iPad Air tablets and the all-new Apple Pencil Pro.

CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday’s announcement marked “the biggest day for the iPad since its introduction.”

At the heart of the new iPad Pro is Apple’s new custom M4 processor, which delivers 4 times the performance of the existing iPad Pro model. Since Apple’s latest MacBook line now uses the M3 chip, this is, as Cook says, “a very powerful chip for AI.”

The company is expected to showcase the first batch of AI tools for iPhone and iPad at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June.

The latest iPad Pro comes in two sizes: 11-inch and 13-inch. Apple says the 11-inch model is the thinnest yet, at 5.1 mm, and less than a pound. The display combines two OLED panels to maximize brightness. The iPad Pro comes in two finishes, silver and space black.

Meanwhile, the iPad Air, for the first time, comes in the same two sizes: 11-inch ($599) and 13-inch ($799) designs. The larger size, inspired by the larger screen iPad Pro, has 30% more screen real estate than the 11-inch display.

iPad Air is powered by Apple’s custom M2 processor with a faster GPU and a neural engine that is 50% faster than the previous iPad Air. The company says it better supports AI-powered software. It also has a front-facing landscape camera.

Meanwhile, the upgraded Apple Pencil ($129) comes with a new pinch function that lets users display tools, adjust the drawing layer of what they’re working on, and includes haptic feedback. It also supports Find Me to find the pencil when it is definitely lost.

Apple also showed off a redesigned Magic Keyboard with a haptic trackpad to make the iPad more like a laptop. Several key apps, including Final Cut, also received major upgrades, including the ability to add AI-based audio or edit with AI.

The new iPad lineup is available for pre-order starting Tuesday and in stores next week.

The event comes just days after Apple reported its iPad revenue of $5.6 billion for its most recent quarter, down 17% year over year. However, the company said it expects its iPad business to grow in double digits for the June quarter.

Apple also reported last week first-quarter revenue of $90.8 billion, down 4% year over year, as the tech giant continues to grapple with growth challenges, particularly in China, amid an uncertain economic environment. It announced a $110 billion share buyback – the largest in company history – as iPhone sales slumped 10%.

Ben Wood, chief analyst at market research firm CCS Insight, said the unexpected introduction of the iPad Pro’s new M4 chip and its significant performance jump might be enough to spark some excitement among consumers.

“While this new iPad is unlikely to return the category to growth immediately, it represents a much-needed reason to upgrade for customers with aging products,” he said. “The emphasis on artificial intelligence can be felt with Apple determined to reclaim the initiative in this area given the huge focus on this topic by all its competitors over the past 18 months.”

On last week’s earnings call, Cook teased that generative AI tools could come to Apple products in the “coming weeks,” at a time when it is currently lagging behind competitors.

“We see generative AI as a key opportunity across our products and believe we have a differentiating advantage there,” he said.