All iPads Thoughts and Observations From the Apple "Let Loose" iPad Launch Event

[Yebubbleman]

Apple finally announced new iPads! Here are some thoughts and observations that I have based on what we saw (and didn't see) today:

- Launching M4 on iPad Pro before any Mac, more or less signals that the standard M3 is done finding its way into products. The same is probably also true of M3 Pro and M3 Max. This further backs up the claim that there will be no M3 or M3 Pro Mac minis, nor M3 Max or M3 Ultra Mac Studios, nor M3 Ultra Mac Pros, drops the likelihood of an M3 based Vision Pro down to nothing. No surprises there as this backs up pre-existing trusted rumors so far. It's a weird marketing move. I don't believe that the Osborne effect was as applicable to, for example, M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pros when the M2 13-inch MacBook Pro came out. It seems like a much weirder proposition to buy a standard M3 14-inch MacBook Pro, knowing full well that its successor processor is now on the market in the iPad Pro.

- Apple dropped the Ultra-wide rear-camera on the iPad Pros. Considering I've seen iPad Pros used on shoots to actually shoot video, this is somewhat surprising on Apple's part. I generally don't see folks shooting on non-Pro full-sized iPads. I'd argue that an iPad mini with a decent camera system would be a pretty amazing video recording device, let alone movie making device. This is still somewhat odd of an omission.

- The "13-inch" iPad Pro actually has a 13-inch display. The "13-inch" iPad Air has a 12.9-inch display. Similarly, nothing has changed about the "11-inch" iPad Air's display from its two immediate predecessors. The "11-inch" iPad Pro is now 11.1-inches. So, basicaly, the iPad Pros gained .1 inches of diagonal screen real estate. The smaller Air didn't change its screen dimensions at all, while the screen size and resolution of the larger iPad Air is the same as the last four generations of 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

- The new iPad Airs and Pros are eSIM only. I guess this shouldn't surprise me, seeing as the iPhone 14 and 15 series don't have SIM slots anymore. Though, for versions of the iPhone 14 that were sold outside of the US, there was still a SIM slot. I wonder if that'll be the case here.

- Apple didn't introduce new versions of the Smart Keyboard Folio; nor has it officially extended compatibility of the existing versions to the new iPad Pros or Airs (though I'm REALLY curious to see if the existing Smart Keyboard Folios work with the new iPad Airs, even if unofficially). This is both interesting and unfortunate. Personally, I LOVE and much prefer the Smart Keyboard Folio to the Magic Keyboards. Primarily because I don't need mouse input on an iPad primarily designed around touch input and because it doesn't drain the battery anywhere near as much as the Magic Keyboard.

- The existing Magic Keyboards are the only officially supported first party keyboard option for the M2 iPad Airs; The new Magic Keyboards for the M4 iPad Pros are ONLY compatible with the M4 iPad Pros. Considering that the pre-existing Magic Keyboards had a knack for draining the iPad's battery like it was nobody's business, this is kind of crappy for those of us who wanted to use a first party keyboard with the new 13-inch iPad Air, but without the cost of excessive battery drain. It will be interesting to see how different the new ones are on the new iPad Pros.

- The iPad Air still doesn't have a camera flash. I'm not saying that this was a highly requested feature, but it being included on the iPad mini and not on the Air only made sense if you assume that the next major chassis upgrade to the iPad Air would entail it being there. This makes me wonder just how many cases and accessories are compatible between the "11-inch" M2 iPad Air and the 4th and 5th Generation models.

- Apple Pencil Pro very likely has entirely different charging/pairing/connectivity conventions from the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil. This would explain why a 2nd Generation Apple Pencil wouldn't work with the 10th Generation iPad's moving of the camera to landscape orientation and why the 6th Generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro and 4th Generation 11-inch iPad Pro both still had the camera on portrait mode and 2nd Generation Apple Pencil support. They were likely already working on solving these issues with the new iPad Pros when those were released.

- Nothing was announced in the way of software to compliment the new iPads launched today. With WWDC just over a month away, this is far from surprising. Apple did seem to want to hint at the productivity and creativity capability of these iPads by highlighting the new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad as well as other apps out there. All, but mentioning iPadOS. My guess is that this will be a big year for iPadOS at WWDC. I think Apple knows why the iPad is slumping and just about every tech news publication has remarked that M-series chips are overkill for 99% of what iPadOS is capable of doing. Apple very likely knows this and is planning accordingly.

- The iPad Pro models may have jumped in price. But 256GB iPad Pros have not. Apple just discontinued the 128GB capacity and made the starting capacity 256GB, without otherwise raising or lowering the prices of the remaining models. Keeping the iPad Air at $599, but doubling the starting capacity to 128GB, now makes it more compelling. Before, it was easier to nudge someone in the direction of an 11-inch iPad Pro. Now, the 11-inch iPad Pro is priced for those that know they'll want everything it has to offer over an 11-inch iPad Air.

- Apple discontinuing the 9th Generation iPad and finally moving the 10th Generation iPad to the former's price points makes all the sense in the world and resolves what was the previous line-ups awkward 10-11-inch iPad overcrowding. Also, all available 10.9+ inch iPads have landscape cameras now. I find myself ambivalent as to how I feel about whether or not this change will eventually come to the iPad mini.

- The iPad mini is now the sole iPad that Apple sells (barring clearance and Apple Certified Refurbished models) that can use the 2nd Generation Apple Pencil. The new Airs and Pros both use the Apple Pencil Pro. The 10th Generation iPad still uses the first generation Apple Pencil. All of them support the USB-C Pencil. I would imagine that this will create confusion in Apple Retail Stores.

- Offering the iPad Air in additional capacities was a good move. As was replacing 64GB as an option with 128GB at the same price point. 128GB is a good starting capacity, and the option to do 512GB and 1TB is fantastic. I can only hope that this comes to a 7th Generation iPad mini and an 11th Generation iPad.

 

[B.A.T]

For better or worse Apple usually has a way of surprising me. I used to love the idea of what an iPad could do but realized long ago it's not ever going to be what I want. Hopefully it fits the bill for others because I admire the design.

 

[Yebubbleman]

For better or worse Apple usually has a way of surprising me. I used to love the idea of what an iPad could do but realized long ago it's not ever going to be what I want. Hopefully it fits the bill for others because I admire the design.

I'm a heavy iPad mini user and a casual 12.9" iPad Pro user. The larger iPad Air was alluring. It being limited to the Battery-draining first generation Magic Keyboard for iPad accessory and with no Smart Keyboard Folio attachment has me thinking that it might be time to ditch Apple as far as my large tablet computing needs go...

If they do kill the iPad mini, I'm not entirely sure what I'll do. I might be in your boat sooner than I ever thought I would be!

 

[darthbane2k]

My guess is that this will be a big year for iPadOS at WWDC. I think Apple knows why the iPad is slumping and just about every tech news publication has remarked that M-series chips are overkill for 99% of what iPadOS is capable of doing. Apple very likely knows this and is planning accordingly.

We’ve been here before.

 

[Yebubbleman]

We’ve been here before.

We definitely have. But, one would imagine that we'll only be here so many times before something changes.

 

[Richard8655]

Apple finally announced new iPads! Here are some thoughts and observations that I have based on what we saw (and didn't see) today:

- Apple discontinuing the 9th Generation iPad and finally moving the 10th Generation iPad to the former's price points makes all the sense in the world and resolves what was the previous line-ups awkward 10-11-inch iPad overcrowding. Also, all available 10.9+ inch iPads have landscape cameras now. I find myself ambivalent as to how I feel about whether or not this change will eventually come to the iPad mini.

Yes, but wondering what happened to the long delayed 11th generation? Many would rather opt for the standard version and not want to spend those exorbitant prices. But apparently no word yet from Apple. Likely the profit margin not as big an impact to make it in this announcement.

 

[rhemy123]

The iPad is dying. The event wasn't all that impressive. So many people have an iPad that's it hard to see a reason why anyone would upgrade to the new iPad if they already have an m1 processor (unless they are a die hard apple fan). I ordered one because, yes, I am a fan, but I may cancel it. I already have an iPad, and there doesn't seem to be any real reason to upgrade.

 

[ZombiePete]

The iPad is dying.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Meh.

I’m not a professional movie maker who wants to do all shooting, editing and post on an iPad.

Pretty underwhelming from here in the cheap seats.

 

[klasma]

We definitely have. But, one would imagine that we'll only be here so many times before something changes.

There are rumors thst this year will be big for iOS (whatever that means). But iPadOS hasn't been mentioned IIRC. And Apple is also busy with visionOS. I don’t see any indication that they will change their trajectory for iPadOS. Half-baked attempts like Stage Manager seem to be the most they're willing to advance.

 

[Yebubbleman]

Yes, but wondering what happened to the long delayed 11th generation? Many would rather opt for the standard version and not want to spend those exorbitant prices. But apparently no word yet from Apple. Likely the profit margin not as big an impact to make it in this announcement.

I think they wanted to focus on dropping the price on the 10th Generation (to what it should've been all along). Still, I think that price drop is huge. The 10th Generation iPad was a tough sell at its previous price, while the 9th Generation iPad, having an A13 Bionic (being first featured on the iPhone 11) seemed way too old to make sense buying for anyone but those dependent on either a headphone jack or a lightning connector. I'm not saying that I wouldn't welcome an 11th Generation model, but I think it's at least worth celebrating that the 10th Generation iPad is now finally affordable.

The iPad is dying. The event wasn't all that impressive. So many people have an iPad that's it hard to see a reason why anyone would upgrade to the new iPad if they already have an m1 processor (unless they are a die hard apple fan). I ordered one because, yes, I am a fan, but I may cancel it. I already have an iPad, and there doesn't seem to be any real reason to upgrade.

I still don't know what I need an M2 or newer M-series SoC in an iPad for. Other than Stage Manager, Virtual Memory, and the ability to run Final Cut Pro on my iPad, I'm not even sure what I need an M1 in an iPad for either. A15 Bionic is plenty fast in my iPad mini. A14 Bionic was plenty fast in my 4th Generation iPad Air. I don't see what performance benefits we're really getting out of these upgrades unless Apple is finally going to make iPadOS for M-series iPads into something more sophisticated than what it is currently. Because, for now, this still feels like the iPhone operating system with a couple of different UI conventions and blown up to a large display. Fine for an iPad mini and standard iPad. Seemingly not worth it for the larger ones. But that's just me.

Meh.

I’m not a professional movie maker who wants to do all shooting, editing and post on an iPad.

Pretty underwhelming from here in the cheap seats.

I completely feel this. I feel like the iPad is best at what it does in said cheap seats. I don't know that I would find myself preferring of it with anything that high-end over...say...a MacBook Pro or even a proper Mac desktop. The prospect of doing a complex video production workflow that previously would've required multi-thousand dollar cameras and Macs on an iPad and a bunch of iPhones is intriguing. But that's not the kind of thing that I'd either assume is a good way to do it, let alone invest in on said assumption.

There are rumors thst this year will be big for iOS (whatever that means). But iPadOS hasn't been mentioned IIRC. And Apple is also busy with visionOS. I don’t see any indication that they will change their trajectory for iPadOS. Half-baked attempts like Stage Manager seem to be the most they're willing to advance.

Software rumors are harder to take as gospel as Apple can keep as much or as little of it tight-lipped as they want. Whereas hardware requires outside vendors, components to be engineered and manufactured, etc.

My point here being that, when it comes to Apple software, the absence (beyond the Tim Cook era of WWDC being "new major OS o'clock") of evidence isn't necessarily the evidence of absence.

There aren't that many features in iPadOS that even require an M1. To the best of my knowledge, Apple Pencil Hover is the only feature that having an M2 or newer requires. I haven't heard of anything that is M4 exclusive on the software side of things. Considering that seems to be where Apple (a) puts its greatest effort into on hardware and (b) sells the most and/or makes the most iPad-related money, I'd imagine they'll do whatever they can to incentivize folks to buy M-series iPads as soon as possible.

Though, I'm sure your sentiment is "I'll believe it when I see it". Same here.

 

[AirpodsNow]

I'm a heavy iPad mini user and a casual 12.9" iPad Pro user. The larger iPad Air was alluring. It being limited to the Battery-draining first generation Magic Keyboard for iPad accessory and with no Smart Keyboard Folio attachment has me thinking that it might be time to ditch Apple as far as my large tablet computing needs go...

If they do kill the iPad mini, I'm not entirely sure what I'll do. I might be in your boat sooner than I ever thought I would be!

What do you use your iPad mini for? I had iPad mini 5 and 6 and changed it to air 4, since I could do “more” with it.

 

[rui no onna]

- The iPad Pro models may have jumped in price. But 256GB iPad Pros have not. Apple just discontinued the 128GB capacity and made the starting capacity 256GB, without otherwise raising or lowering the prices of the remaining models. Keeping the iPad Air at $599, but doubling the starting capacity to 128GB, now makes it more compelling. Before, it was easier to nudge someone in the direction of an 11-inch iPad Pro. Now, the 11-inch iPad Pro is priced for those that know they'll want everything it has to offer over an 11-inch iPad Air.

They did increase price across the board by $100. 11” and 12.9” 256GB used to be $899 and $1199 respectively.

 

[Ludatyk]

They did increase price across the board by $100. 11” and 12.9” 256GB used to be $899 and $1199 respectively.

Yup! $100 increase… it’s kinda odd though. Once word of an OLED iPad entered the rumor world… speculating of a price increase of a $400-500 came with it.

I wonder if it was Apple that spread the early rumors to make this $100 price increase seem acceptable.

 

[masotime]

- Apple dropped the Ultra-wide rear-camera on the iPad Pros. Considering I've seen iPad Pros used on shoots to actually shoot video, this is somewhat surprising on Apple's part.

I'm curious. What use cases have you seen for using the ultra-wide camera (specifically ultra-wide) to shoot video on iPad?

 

[rui no onna]

Yup! $100 increase… it’s kinda odd though. Once word of an OLED iPad entered the rumor world… speculating of a price increase of a $400-500 came with it.

I wonder if it was Apple that spread the early rumors to make this $100 price increase seem acceptable.

I never put much credence in those speculations. That would’ve drastically reduced the iPad Pro market.

I was expecting $100-200 which is what we got.

 

[AZhappyjack]

What do you use your iPad mini for? I had iPad mini 5 and 6 and changed it to air 4, since I could do “more” with it.

Not @Yebubbleman, but I love the Mini form factor. It's perfect for carrying with me when I leave the house - watching movies, reading books, playing some basic games, as well as surfing the web (Safari), email and tapatalk. Don't need a $4,000 Pro iPad rig to do that. Besides all of the above, it fits in the pocket of my cargo shorts perfectly, and if I do have my backpack with me, it slips easily in that, as well.

Waiting anxiously to see what Timmy and the boys do with the next Mini... and hope they do it relatively soon.

 

[EdwardC]

Had several iPads since the original with my last being an iPad Air first generation. All great devices but in the end I didn't do much with them other than browse the web. Felt like getting a new toy but after ordering the latest Air on sale for $449.00 I canceled and just bought a Fire Max 11 on sale for $149.00. Not nearly the device but it's really nice for watching You Tube and surfing the web. I'm sure there are many who can utilize all the power these latest devices possess but I'm betting the majority won't even scratch the capability of these tech marvels.

 

[klasma]

I still don't know what I need an M2 or newer M-series SoC in an iPad for.

Fast operations in photo and video editing, complex drawing/painting effects and the like, and also GPU-intensive gaming. That’s what Apple is highlighting in their marketing material. The WWDC and i(Pad)OS 18 will probably add AI features that will benefit from the new SoCs.

 

[AirpodsNow]

Fast operations in photo and video editing, complex drawing/painting effects and the like, and also GPU-intensive gaming. That’s what Apple is highlighting in their marketing material. The WWDC and i(Pad)OS will probably add AI features that will benefit from the new SoCs.

Well, I guess most of us just get the latest soc to run YouTube and Reddit.

 

[Richard8655]

I think they wanted to focus on dropping the price on the 10th Generation (to what it should've been all along). Still, I think that price drop is huge. The 10th Generation iPad was a tough sell at its previous price, while the 9th Generation iPad, having an A13 Bionic (being first featured on the iPhone 11) seemed way too old to make sense buying for anyone but those dependent on either a headphone jack or a lightning connector. I'm not saying that I wouldn't welcome an 11th Generation model, but I think it's at least worth celebrating that the 10th Generation iPad is now finally affordable.

Good point. The simultaneous 9th and 10th gen offerings was confusing as hell, especially for new cost-conscious iPad buyers. At least now the standard line has been clarified with the 10th. But the 11th is still overdue if they want to keep that segment motivated and interested.

 

[erikkfi]

Apple didn't introduce new versions of the Smart Keyboard Folio

I didn't see this one coming and.. while "distraught" is too strong a word, I'm really upset about it. The Magic Keyboard is fine if you want to turn your iPad into a laptop, but it's so oddly tone-deaf for Apple to talk so much about the Pencil Pro and not have a case that provides a keyboard while supporting Pencil-based use cases. So odd. Profit margins by now must be astronomical on the Keyboard Folio, which hasn't been redesigned in forever. Just keep making it!

 

[Yebubbleman]

What do you use your iPad mini for? I had iPad mini 5 and 6 and changed it to air 4, since I could do “more” with it.

I do everything on a mini that I would otherwise do on a 10.9"/11" Air or 11-inch Pro (E-mail, iMessage, Notes, Web browsing, Hearthstone, watching movies and TV in the myriad of streaming apps that exist, plus Movies Anywhere and my own iTunes library, YouTube, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, etc.; basically as a media consumption and communications device that handles the occasional game here and there.

The only real difference is that I'm more inclined to take the mini around to more places. It's a lot more awkward to take the larger tablets out and about casually.

They did increase price across the board by $100. 11” and 12.9” 256GB used to be $899 and $1199 respectively.

Weird. For some reason, I thought the price on the 256GB 11" was always $1000. Incidentally, I think the stupid American practice of having a base cost be one cent off from an even number ending in 0, got my wires crossed. $100 extra. That blows.

I'm curious. What use cases have you seen for using the ultra-wide camera (specifically ultra-wide) to shoot video on iPad?

I used to work at a place that did video shoots on 11-inch iPad Pros. I think that shooting video on a 12.9-inch or 13-inch iPad Pro would entail a lot less flexibility when it comes to the kinds of places you can take the iPad to record in (though, that would certainly make way more sense on an iPhone). To me, it would seem as though the larger the iPad, the less sensible using the rear cameras to record video would be. But that's just me. All that to say that I don't think it's a big loss on the 13-inch iPad Pro, though it could be on the 11-inch.

Fast operations in photo and video editing, complex drawing/painting effects and the like, and also GPU-intensive gaming. That’s what Apple is highlighting in their marketing material. The WWDC and i(Pad)OS 18 will probably add AI features that will benefit from the new SoCs.

Who is electing to do these on an iPad rather than a Mac? I think that's the main question here. The iPad has always made sense as a device that does certain things better than a phone and more conveniently than a Mac. That was the premise that Steve Jobs introduced the original under. That makes all the sense in the world. Having the iPad Pro replace a proper Mac when the latter still does these things leaps and bounds better than the former (all while charging a comparable amount seems to make little sense. Then again, I have found that I much prefer to work with Apple's Keynote on an iPad than I do to a Mac. Or at least I did several versions ago. If the same power is there, and the UI is properly optimized for touch, then fine, an iPad generally entails less overhead than a Mac. But, I don't see this as being applicable for too many places outside of Apple's own apps. Would love to be proven wrong here.

Good point. The simultaneous 9th and 10th gen offerings was confusing as hell, especially for new cost-conscious iPad buyers. At least now the standard line has been clarified with the 10th. But the 11th is still overdue if they want to keep that segment motivated and interested.

I don't think that's the segment of users that care about specs. They just want an iPad that works and that isn't so slow or so likely to be obsoleted soon. I've used the A14 Bionic in an iPad before (albeit it was the 4th Generation iPad Air and not the 10th Generation iPad). It's definitely fast enough to sate any casual user. Apple is not making iPadOS require heftier hardware. It's just making it buggier. But that's a whole 'nother problem.

I didn't see this one coming and.. while "distraught" is too strong a word, I'm really upset about it. The Magic Keyboard is fine if you want to turn your iPad into a laptop, but it's so oddly tone-deaf for Apple to talk so much about the Pencil Pro and not have a case that provides a keyboard while supporting Pencil-based use cases. So odd. Profit margins by now must be astronomical on the Keyboard Folio, which hasn't been redesigned in forever. Just keep making it!

I'm totally in the same boat. The iPad Pro has too many new elements for me to feel comfortable about throwing that much money at (iPads historically don't weather significant changes to either thinness or display caliber all that well [on average]). It's really cool that you can control iPadOS with a mouse/trackpad. But the feature still seems half-baked and not all that necessary, given that it's an operating system designed around touch input first and foremost.

But even if I was to tolerate a trackpad on my keyboard attachment, the battery drain issue of the original Magic Keyboard for iPad is crap.

So, one's options for first party keyboard attachements are:

(a) Buy the current iPad Pro, buy the new Magic Keyboard and hope that it doesn't have the same battery drain issues

(b) Buy the current iPad Air, be stuck with the existing Magic Keyboard

(c) Buy a refurbished M1 or M2 iPad Pro or Air, use the Smart Keyboard Folio, but forego video calls with the camera in any kind of a normal position while you have it on


Not great!