TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 is just around the corner, and the buzz is palpable. But what if we told you there’s a chance for you to not just attend, but also take your brand center stage with your own event during the most anticipated tech gathering of the year? Yes, you read that right — you […]
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We’re still well over a month out from WWDC, but Apple went ahead and snuck in another event. On Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET, the company is set to unveil the latest additions to the iPad line. According to the rumor mill, that list includes: a new iPad Pro, iPad Air, […]
© 2024 TechCrunch. All rights reserved. For personal use only.
Wander the pits at any professional motorsports event, especially something like Formula 1, and you’ll see endless computer displays full of telemetry. Modern teams are awash in real-time digital feedback from the cars. I’ve been in many of these pits over the years and marveled at the streams of data, but never have I seen an instance of the Microsoft Visual Studio software development suite running there right amid the chaos.
But then, I’ve never attended anything like the inaugural Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League event this past weekend. The A2RL, as it is known, is not the first autonomous racing series: There’s the Roborace series, which saw autonomous race cars setting fast lap times while dodging virtual obstacles, and the Indy Autonomous Challenge, which most recently ran at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during CES 2024.
While the Roborace focuses on single-car time trials and the Indy Autonomous series centers on oval action, A2RL set out to break new ground in a couple of areas.
A2RL put four cars on track, competing simultaneously for the first time. And, perhaps more significantly, it pitted the top-performing autonomous car against a human being, former Formula 1 pilot Daniil Kvyat, who drove for various teams between 2014 and 2020.
The real challenge was behind the scenes, with teams staffed with an impressively diverse cadre of engineers, ranging from fledgling coders to doctorate students to full-time race engineers, all fighting to find the limit in a very new way.
Unlike Formula 1, where 10 manufacturers design, develop and produce completely bespoke cars (sometimes with the help of AI), the A2RL race cars are entirely standardized to provide a level playing field. The 550-horsepower machines, borrowed from the Japanese Super Formula Championship, are identical, and the teams are not allowed to change a single component.
That includes the sensor array, which features seven cameras, four radar sensors, three lidar sensors and GPS to boot — all of which are used to perceive the world around them. As I would learn while wandering the pits and chatting to the various teams, not everybody is fully tapping into the 15 terabytes of data each car hoovers up every single lap.
Some teams, like the Indianapolis-based Code19, only started work on the monumental project of creating a self-driving car a few months ago. “There’s four rookie teams here,” said Code19 co-founder Oliver Wells. “Everyone else has been competing in competitions just like this, some of them for up to seven years.”
Munich-based TUM and Milan-based Polimove have extensive experience running and winning in both Roborace and the Indy Autonomous Challenge. That experience carries over, as does the source code.
“On the one hand, the code is continuously developed and improved anyway,” said Simon Hoffmann, team principal at TUM. The team made adjustments to change the cornering behavior to suit the sharper turns in the road course and also adjust the overtaking aggression. “But in general, I would say we use the same base software,” he said.
Through the series of numerous qualifying rounds throughout the weekend, the teams with the greatest experience dominated the timing charts. TUM and Polimove were the only two teams to complete lap times in less than two minutes. Code19’s fastest lap, however, was just over three minutes; the other new teams were far slower.
This has created a competition that’s rarely seen in software development. While there have certainly been previous competitive coding challenges, like TopCoder or Google Kick Start, this is a very different sort of thing. Improvements in code mean faster lap times — and fewer crashes.
Kenna Edwards is a Code19 assistant race engineer and a student at Indiana University. She brought some previous app development experience to the table, but had to learn C++ to write the team’s antilock braking system. “It saved us at least a couple of times from crashing,” she said.
Unlike traditional coding problems that might require debuggers or other tools to monitor, improved algorithms here have tangible results. “A cool thing has been seeing the flat spots on the tire improve over the next session. Either they’ve reduced in size or in frequency,” Edwards said.
This implementation of theory not only makes for engaging engineering challenges but also opens up viable career paths. After earlier interning with Chip Ganassi Racing and General Motors, and thanks to her experience with Code19, Edwards starts full-time at GM Motorsports this summer.
That sort of development is a huge part of what A2RL is about. Shadowing the main on-track action is a secondary series of competitions for younger students and youth groups around the world. Before the main A2RL event, those groups competed with autonomous 1:8-scale model cars.
“The aim is, next year, we keep for the schools the smaller model cars, we’ll keep for the universities maybe doing it on go-karts, a bit bigger, they can play with the autonomous go-karts. And then, if you want to be in the big league, you start racing on these cars,” said Faisal Al Bannai, the secretary general of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council, the ATRC. “I think by them seeing that path, I think you’ll encourage more guys to come into research, to come into science.”
It’s Al Bannai’s ATRC that’s footing the bill for the A2RL, covering everything from the cars to the hotels for the numerous teams, some of whom have been testing in Abu Dhabi for months. They also put on a world-class party for the main event, complete with concerts, drone races, and a ridiculous fireworks show.
The on-track action was a little less spectacular. The first attempt at a four-car autonomous race was aborted after one car spun, blocking the following cars. The second race, however, was far more exciting, featuring a pass for the lead when the University of Modena’s Unimore team car went wide. It was TUM that made the pass and won the race, taking home the lion’s share of the $2.25 million prize purse.
As for man vs. machine, Daniil Kvyat made quick work of the autonomous car, passing it not once but twice to huge cheers from the assembled crowd of more than 10,000 spectators who took advantage of free tickets to come see a little bit of history — plus around 600,000 more streaming the event.
The technical glitches were unfortunate. Still it was a remarkable event to witness and illustrated how far autonomy has come — and of course, how much more progress needs to be made. The fastest car was still upward of 10 seconds off of Kvyat’s time. However, it ran smooth, clean laps at an impressive speed. That’s in stark contrast to the first DARPA Grand Challenge in 2004, which saw every single competitor either crashing into a barrier or meandering off into the desert on an unplanned sojourn.
For A2RL, the real test will be whether it can evolve into a financially viable series. Advertising drives most motorsports, but here, there’s the added benefit of developing algorithms and technologies that manufacturers could reasonably apply in their cars.
ATRC’s Al Bannai told me that while the series organizers own the cars, the teams own the code and are free to license it: “What they compete on at the moment is the algorithm, the AI algorithm that makes this car do what it does. That belongs to each of the teams. It doesn’t belong to us.”
The real race, then, might not be on the track, but in securing partnerships with manufacturers. After all, what better way to inspire confidence in your autonomous technology than by showing it can handle traffic on the race track at 160 mph?
At its iPad-focused event on Monday, Apple announced a new and improved Magic Keyboard, its keyboard accessory for iPad.
The Magic Keyboard has been “completely redesigned” to be much thinner and lighter, Apple says, and now includes a function row for quick access to controls like screen brightness, volume adjustment and play/pause. Beyond that, the new Magic Keyboard features aluminum palm rests and a larger trackpad. Plus it’s more responsive, Apple says, with haptic feedback and a USB-C port for charging.
It’s the first major revision of the Magic Keyboard since its launch in 2020. And — with the addition of the function row — it’s now on par, feature-wise, with its counterpart the Magic Keyboard Folio.
The new Magic Keyboard comes in two sizes — one for the 11-inch iPad Pro and one for the 13-inch model — and in two colors, black and white. It can be pre-ordered today for the same price as the previous-gen Magic Keyboard, $299 for the 11-inch and $349 for the 13-inch, and will be available in stores next week.
In other keyboard accessory news, there’s a new Smart Folio for iPad Air. It attaches magnetically and supports multiple viewing angles for “greater flexibility” than the old model.
The Smart Folio is available in charcoal gray, light violet, denim and sage and priced at $79 for the 11-inch iPad Air version and $99 for the 13-inch version.
Other announcements at Tuesday’s event included a new iPad Air with an M2 chip and first-ever 13-inch size; a new iPad Pro with completely new M4 chip and stacked OLED screens for higher-fidelity display; a Pro version of the Apple Pencil featuring new sensors; and a new version of the Magic Keyboard. You can catch the full video here:
Today is Apple iPad Event day, and we’re ready to bring you all the iPad goodness you can stand, including if some of the rumors are true of what’s coming, like a new iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Pencil and a keyboard case. Don’t have time to watch? That’s ok — we’ve summed up the most important parts of the event below.
Image credit: Apple
The iPad lineup is getting a facelift today, and one of the most important additions is that it now comes in two sizes, the 11-inch display and a 13-inch display. The cost is $599 for 11 inch and $799 for 13-inch. You can preorder today, and it will be available “next week.” Read more
And, as a special bonus, Apple finally places the front-facing camera on the landscape edge of the iPad. Read more
Image Credits: Apple
The iPad Pro is being touted as the thinnest iPad ever. Features include a visual experience with an OLED display in two panels called Tandem OLED. It also has a nanotextured glass option for less glare. And, it features the next generation of Apple silicon called M4, a jump from M2. It also has a 12.9-inch iPad Air and new gestures for the Apple Pencil.
In the U.S., the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 for the Wi-Fi model, and $1,199 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299 for the Wi-Fi model, and $1,499 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. Read more
Image credit: Apple
The M4 chip is the fourth generation of its custom SoCs. They feature a new display engine, as well as a significantly updated CPU and GPU cores. The base M4 chips come with 10 CPU and 10 GPU cores.
Apple claims that the new CPU is 50% faster than the M2 chips which powered the last generation of iPad Pros, while the GPU will offer a 4x increase in rendering performance, all while still offering the same performance per Watt as the M3. Apple stressed that the new GPU architecture features dynamic caching, hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, something that’s a first for the iPad. Read more
“We’ve always envisioned iPad as a magical sheet of glass,” said John Ternus, SVP, Hardware Engineering during Apple’s iPad event in Cupertino on Tuesday. “And with the new iPad Pro, we wanted to give customers an even more remarkable visual experience.”
The company did that by bringing OLED to iPad for the very first time, suggesting that the technology helps get the light and color accuracy that iPad Pro owners want – but that it lacks the brightness. The company solved that by creating the Tandem OLED screen, which can support an incredible 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness for both SDR and HDR content, and 1,600 nits of peak HDR brightness. The company says no other device delivers this level of display quality. Read more
Image credit: Apple
Shocking as it may seem, it’s been nearly a decade since the first Apple Pencil was announced, way back in 2015. The stylus hasn’t seen much in the way of updates since then. The most significant arrived in 2018, bringing magnetic charging to the line. Last year, meanwhile, saw the arrival of a less expensive model with fewer features and USB-C charging.
It comes in at $129. Many of the new features with the Apple Pencil Pro comes from the squeeze. You can take animations, move and rotate the object and even lens blurring. Read more
Image credit: Apple
Apple announced a new and improved Magic Keyboard, its keyboard accessory for iPad. This is the first major revision since 2020.
The Magic Keyboard has been “completely redesigned” to be much thinner and lighter, Apple says, and now includes a function row for quick access to controls like screen brightness. Beyond that, the new Magic Keyboard features aluminum palm rests and a larger trackpad. Plus it’s more responsive, Apple says, with haptic feedback.
In the U.S. the new 11-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $299 and the new 13-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $349. It comes with layouts for over 30 languages. Read more
Image credit: Apple
The latest version of Final Cut Pro introduces a new feature to speed up your shoot: Live Multicam. It’s a bold move from Apple, transforming your iPad into a multicam production studio, enabling creatives to connect and preview up to four cameras all at once, al in one place. From the command post, directors can remotely direct each video angle and dial in exposure, white balance, focus, and more, all within the Final Cut Camera app.
The new companion app lets users connect multiple iPhones or iPads (presumably using the same protocols as the Continuity Camera feature launched a few years ago). Final Cut Pro automatically transfers and syncs each Live Multicam angle so you can seamlessly move from production to editing. Read more
Much of Tuesday’s unveiling had to do with hardware, however, there was some teasing of new AI improvements. This included the upgraded M4 chip, which you can read more about above, which features a neural engine that’s “dedicated to the acceleration of AI workloads.”
The company also hinted that improved AI capabilities would soon be in the hands of iPadOS app developers, noting that the operating system software offers advanced frameworks, like CoreML, and that developers would be able to tap into its neural engine to deliver “powerful AI features right on device.” Read more
Image Credits: Apple
Apple just updated its two high-end tablets: the iPad Air and the iPad Pro. While the entry-level iPad didn’t receive an update, the company lowered its price, too. And of course, yes, the iPad mini is still around.
Not sure which one is for you? That’s ok. We have a rundown of all of the iPads and what make them different. Read more
Apple isn’t yet ready to unveil its broader AI strategy — it’s saving that for its Worldwide Developer Conference in June — but the tech giant did make sure to mention AI technologies across its device lineup at its iPad event on Tuesday. The company touted a new iPad Air as “an incredibly powerful device for AI;” its AI-powered features like visual lookup, subject lift and live text capture, among others; and, of course, its upgraded M4 chip, which features a neural engine that’s “dedicated to the acceleration of AI workloads.”
Tuesday’s theme focused on the new hardware devices themselves — devices like new iPads and an updated Apple Pencil — not on the AI advances Apple is making under the hood. But Apple made sure to note anytime its hardware advances could also help power AI technologies.
For instance, the iPad Air’s update, which now includes the M2 with a faster CPU, GPU and neural engine, was described as offering “powerful machine learning features,” like visual lookup, which can identify objects in photos; an AI-powered tool that can lift out a photo’s subject; and live text capture, which can copy, share, look up and translate text within the camera frame.
When Apple didn’t have its own AI tech to point to, it referenced third parties. While talking about the iPad Air, for example, Apple gave a shout-out to Pixelmator’s Photomator, which uses AI models trained on over 20 million professional images to improve photos with a single click.
Meanwhile, the iPad Pro jumped from being powered by the M2 to the new M4, the latest generation of Apple silicone, with a new CPU, next-gen GPU, and next-generation ML accelerators that Apple claims will deliver up to 50% faster performance than the M2. Of course, the company also played up the chip’s neural engine, or NPU, which is “dedicated to the acceleration of AI workloads.”
“Now while the chip industry is just starting to add NPUs to some of their processors, we’ve been including our industry-leading neural engine in our chip for years,” said John Ternus, Apple SVP, Hardware Engineering, during the event.
Consumers, however, are waiting to see what sort of use cases are in store for these hardware advances — and that’s something Apple didn’t yet go into detail about, despite having the opportunity to tease an iPadOS release with new AI features or other developer-focused announcements.
Instead, Apple ran through iPadOS’ existing features, like multitasking view Stage Manager and a display mode for creatives, dubbed Reference Mode.
Still, the company hinted that improved AI capabilities would soon be in the hands of iPadOS app developers, noting that the operating system software offers advanced frameworks, like CoreML, and that developers would be able to tap into its neural engine to deliver “powerful AI features right on device.”
In other apps, like Logic Pro, Apple added new AI-powered session players like a bass and keyboard player who can join a performance alongside the drummer already available. These AI-driven backing band members can also respond to feedback provided in the app, Apple said. The company mentioned, too, a machine learning-backed Logic Pro plug-in, ChromaGlow, for adding warmth to tracks.
Image Credits: Apple
Apple made note of how AI could solve problems in areas like photography, like when trying to scan documents using a device’s camera.
“We’ve all had the experience of trying to scan a document in certain lighting conditions where it’s hard to avoid casting a shadow,” Ternus said. “The new Pro solves this problem. It uses AI to automatically detect documents like forms and receipts. If shadows are in the way it instantly takes multiple photos with the new adaptive flash. The frames are stitched together and the result is a dramatically better scan.”
Though none of the mentions of AI stood out as being over-the-top breakthroughs, they suggested that Apple’s style would be to note AI improvements as it related to upgrading the consumer experience of using its devices.
We expect to hear a lot more about Apple’s AI plans at WWDC, where the company may even announce an AI-powered Siri or partnership with an AI provider like Google or OpenAI, rumors suggest.
So far, the biggest surprise about May 7’s “Let Loose” event is that it’s happening at all. We’re just over a month out from Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference, and yet the company determined there was enough news to warrant a stand-alone event, which kicks off tomorrow at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET. iPads (including the iPad Pro and iPad Air) will be the focus, while the long-neglected Apple Pencil is finally getting some love. It was, after all, the focal point of the event’s invite.
Rumors have also begun swirling around a potential M4 announcement. If true, it would represent a key change to Apple’s silicon release cadence, though that hasn’t exactly been consistent over the years. The likeliest reason for the change is Microsoft’s expected release of first-party, ARM-based silicon at its Build conference at the end of the month. Speculation has it that Microsoft’s AI-focused silicon will smoke Apple’s M3 chips.
It’s only been roughly seven months since Apple announced a trio of M3 chips. That’s a quick turnaround for a replacement chip, but keep in mind, the company is believed to have been working toward a more staggered release schedule last year, only to have those plans gunked up by some ongoing supply chain issues. Perhaps this schedule readjustment could see additional M4 SKUs announced during WWDC in a month.
In the meantime, it’s possible that, for the first time, the latest chip could appear on an iPad first — specifically the iPad Pro. At the very least, the high-end iPad is due for a refresh. The latest model, which sports the M2 chip, was released toward the end of 2022. Apple has spent the past several years blurring the line between the iPad and Mac, so why not let the tablet get its hands on new silicon first for a change?
The other big change to the Pro is said to be the long-awaited upgrade to an OLED display. Bloomberg suggests that this can’t come soon enough, as the tablet category is “in a deep funk right now.” Certainly the days of the iPad, one of Apple’s superstar devices, seem mostly behind us.
Image Credits: Matthew Panzarino
The company continues to dominate the category, but the tablet had a rough 2023, giving Apple a big slice of an increasingly shrinking pie. Canalys says the overall market decreased by 10% last year. Given the Vision Pro’s slow start, Apple could really use a shot in the arm right now — though a redesigned iPad doesn’t really fit the bill.
A pair of new iPad Airs is said to be arriving in 11- and 12.9-inch versions. The current rumor still has the more accessible models receiving an M2 chip — if the M4 does arrive next week, however, perhaps they’ll get an additional bump as well.
For what remains a relatively niche device, the Apple Pencil is apparently ready for its close-up. The stylus is said to be getting a new squeeze detection feature (which was alluded to earlier in an iPad) update. Haptic feedback could be on the docket as well, along with interchangeable magnet tips. Find My support could arrive too — a welcome addition for an eternally misplaced peripheral. Talking of blurring the lines between the iPad and Mac, Apple’s latest Magic Keyboard makes the tablet look even more like a laptop than before.
Image Credits: Apple
As for Macs themselves, with the arrival of the M4, I wouldn’t be wholly surprised to see the company sneak a computer refresh or two in. It seems just as — or even more — likely that Apple is saving major additions to the Mac line for WWDC in June.
The event is an early one for you West Coasters, but you can watch it live here and follow TechCrunch for the news as it breaks.
The warehouse was dim and slightly misty. But the bar was open, and a photographer was snapping away anyway.
On Friday, the crowd followed the white rabbit to Brooklyn for The Net Gala, a chic tech answer to The Met Gala. The theme of the event was internet surveillance, prompting attendees to clad in black, with some dazzling in Schiaparelli. Think “Matrix meets Mugler,” a commentary on growing up in the age of the internet, a celebration of culture through art, fashion, music and, of course, technology.
Guests took photos on black steps before making their way upstairs, which is where the show’s theme really emerged: A camcorder hooked to a vintage television replayed the event in real-time. A confessional booth with a handheld digital voice recorder let attendees spill secrets while a piece of generative artwork mirrored the movements of guests passing by. Rico Nasty erupted through the speakers outside while the artist Heno, releasing new music, blasted through the VR headsets that took one into the metaverse.
The Net Gala was thrown by the social collective Boys Club, a new media company best known for its podcast, newsletter, events and magazine. It bills itself as for the “chronically online and tech curious.” Deana Burke and Natasha Hoskin co-founded Boys Club in 2021 to bring women together to discuss emerging technologies and their effects.
The first Boys Club event took place in a loft in Chinatown, bringing together 60 people. More than 500 people attended The Net Gala, flooding the dance floor and taking stickers passed around that said, “I’m tired of being hyper-surveilled.” For this event, Boys Club partnered with blockchain Lusko, a longtime collaborator who builds tools to help artists manage their creative projects.
The technology was a throwback to the 90s and early 2000s: vintage televisions, camcorders — while also paying homage to the future, with digital collectibles and virtual reality. Image Credits: Noa Griffel
Speaking to TechCrunch, Boys Club said it decided to have a surveillance-themed gala to create commentary around it as a pressing matter in today’s society while also fundraising for the Lower Eastside Girls Club. Boys Club ultimately helped raise $5,000 for the club, which aims to help young women learn about topics such as STEM and Civic Engagement.
Though Boys Club took an opportunity to have fun with the issue of surveillance, the issue is indeed a serious one. From government surveillance to cybersecurity and hacking, society’s increased digitization has created problems that innovators are still rushing to fix. Just in the past week, TechCrunch has reported on security bugs in phone tracking apps, the massive United Healthcare attack, and the use of hacking in war.
Boys Club said that the “general aesthetics around surveillance are interesting, and it felt ripe to have some fun bringing this theme to life.” It also stressed the importance of awareness.
“As we design a new internet, the over collection, commodification, and weaponization of personal data is something that we hope gets left behind in Web2,” Boys Club said. Its co-founder Burke doubled down on that point.
Artist Bayli co-hosted the first-ever Net Gala, which brought together stylish names in tech, fashion, and music. Image Credits: Noa Griffel
“As we live more and more of our lives online, we think it’s important to be much more acutely aware of how technology interacts with your day-to-day and what privacy tradeoffs you’re often making for the sake of convenience,” Burke told TechCrunch. “Awareness is the priority.”
The Boys Club picked artists who could help bring the creative internet to life, it said, which meant teaming up with Heno for an interactive digital art installation, having a vending machine that gave out digital collectibles, and finding co-chairs that supported the mission. Bayli, an artist, co-chaired the event and praised The Net Gala for “championing women-run tech and crypto companies.”
“Where else can you fund such a cool mask-up of art, fashion, and tech, all wrapped up in one fabulous event,” Bayli told TechCrunch. “Seriously, so many gorgeous brains in one place.”
Attendees also raved about the party. Jeheli Odidi, a creative director, loved the way the party brought together different sides of New York. Odidi highlighted that there were “tech girlies,” alongside “art boys and music people,” and everyone seemed easy and approachable. Musician T.S. Rose told TechCrunch it was vital to have events like this to “get all kinds of people together to get our creative wheels turning.”
“Coders, musicians, designers, seeing how we can incorporate each other’s talents and all these new techs to our projects. These rooms spark magic in the making,” Rose said.
The Boys Club said The Net Gala will become an annual event and return next year. This gives The First Friday in May a chic new meaning.
We’re still well over a month out from WWDC, but Apple went ahead and snuck in another event. Tomorrow, May 7 at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET, the company is set to unveil the latest additions to the iPad line. According to the rumor mill, that list includes: a new iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Pencil and a keyboard case.
More surprisingly, the event may also see the launch of the new M4 chip, a little over six months after the company unveiled three new M3 chips in one fell swoop. Why the quick silicon refresh? Well, for starters, word on the street is that Apple launched the M3 later than expected (likely owing to supply chain issues), forcing the company to launch all three chips at the same event.
Image Credits: Apple
Couple that with the fact that Microsoft is rumored to be launching its own third-party silicon at Build at the end of May, and you start to understand why the company opted not to wait. An announcement may be even more pressing, given that the Microsoft/ARM chips are said to offer “industry-leading performance” — an apparent shot across Apple’s bow. Could a new chip also mean new Macs? That would be a short refresh cycle for the current crop, but it’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
What does seem certain, however, is a new iPad Pro with an OLED display, a 12.9-inch iPad Air and new gestures for the Apple Pencil. Also, expect plenty of AI chatter. It’s 2024, after all. You can watch along live at the link below, and stay tuned to TechCrunch for news as it breaks.
So far, the biggest surprise about May 7’s “Let Loose” event is that it’s happening at all. We’re just over a month out from Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference, and yet the company determined there was enough news to warrant a stand-alone event. iPads (including the iPad Pro and iPad Air) will be the focus, while the long-neglected Apple Pencil is finally getting some love. It was, after all, the focal point of the event’s invite.
Rumors have also begun swirling around a potential M4 announcement. If true, it would represent a key change to Apple’s silicon release cadence, though that hasn’t exactly been consistent over the year. The likeliest reason for the change is Microsoft’s expected release of first-party, ARM-based silicon at its Build conference at the end of the month. Speculation has it that Microsoft’s AI-focused silicon will smoke Apple’s M3 chips.
It’s only been roughly seven months since Apple announced a trio of M3 chips. That’s a quick turnaround for a replacement chip, but keep in mind, the company is believed to have been working toward a more staggered release schedule last year, only to have those plans gunked up by some ongoing supply chain issues. Perhaps this schedule readjustment could see additional M4 SKUs announced during WWDC in a month.
In the meantime, it’s possible that, for the first time, the latest chip could appear on an iPad first — specifically the iPad Pro. At the very least, the high-end iPad is due for a refresh. The latest model, which sports the M2 chip, was released toward the end of 2022. Apple has spent the past several years blurring the line between the iPad and Mac, so why not let the tablet get its hands on new silicon first for a change?
The other big change to the Pro is said to be the long-awaited upgrade to an OLED display. Bloomberg suggests that this can’t come soon enough, as the tablet category is “in a deep funk right now.” Certainly the days of the iPad, one of Apple’s superstar devices, seem mostly behind us.
Image Credits: Matthew Panzarino
The company continues to dominate the category, but the tablet had a rough 2023, giving Apple a big slice of an increasingly shrinking pie. Canalys says the overall market decreased by 10% last year. Given the Vision Pro’s slow start, Apple could really use a shot in the arm right now — though a redesigned iPad doesn’t really fit the bill.
A pair of new iPad Airs is said to be arriving in 11- and 12.9-inch versions. The current rumor still has the more accessible models receiving an M2 chip — if the M4 does arrive next week, however, perhaps they’ll get an additional bump as well.
For what remains a relatively niche device, the Apple Pencil is apparently ready for its close-up. The stylus is said to be getting a new squeeze detection feature (which was alluded to earlier in an iPad) update. Haptic feedback could be on the docket as well, along with interchangeable magnet tips. Find My support could arrive too — a welcome addition for an eternally misplaced peripheral. Talking of blurring the lines between the iPad and Mac, Apple’s latest Magic Keyboard makes the tablet look even more like a laptop than before.
Image Credits: Apple
As for Macs themselves, with the arrival of the M4, I wouldn’t be wholly surprised to see the company sneak a computer refresh or two in. It seems just as — or even more — likely that Apple is saving major additions to the Mac line for WWDC in June.
The event is an early one for you West Coasters. It kicks off at 7 a.m. PT/10 a.m. ET. You can watch it live here and follow TechCrunch for the news as it breaks.
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