The surgeons behind the game have been busy and have had added only one big new feature and added one small enhancement. The new feature is that questions for season 4 are now in the app. This brings the total number of questions to 2,649 questions for all four seasons.

The other small tweaks is that buttons are now highlighted when you hover over them with a trackpad or Apple Pencil, on devices that support a trackpad or Apple Pencil. If there are any issues, be sure to email support. This is can be done via the "About" screen.

The iPad has had its ups and downs over the last 14 years. In that time there have been 37 Wi-Fi devices and 38 cellular devices across four different iPad families of iPad, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. The iPad devices have had an ever changing set of capabilities and features, including Wi-Fi improvements, cellular connectivity enhancements, improved cameras, Touch ID, and even Face ID.

Each iPad has its own place within the entire lineup. The iPad is the entry-level, while the iPad Pro is on the opposite side of the spectrum and has the latest features, and technologies. The iPad Air is a more affordable model that has some of the technologies that were originally on the iPad Pro and have made their way to the Air. This leaves the iPad mini, which to be honest, is a conundrum because it is a mix of the iPad and the iPad Air. It is a smaller size, so it is less expensive than the iPad Air, but has slightly better technology, so it is more expensive than the original iPad.

The current iPad lineup makes a lot more sense than it has previously. There is now a more consistent lineup with the iPad mini at 8.3 inches, the iPad and 10.9, the iPad Air at 11-inches and 13-inches, and the iPad Pro with an 11-inch and 13-inch version.

As mentioned above, the iPad Pro has the latest and greatest technologies in it. Apple has just released two new iPad Pro models, the 5th generation 11-inch and the 7th generation 13-inch. I have purchased one, and what follows will be a bunch of details about the iPad Pro as well as my own thoughts on the device, and its accessories. But first, let us take a brief look at my personal history with the iPad.

Personal iPad History

Being a person who likes to use the latest tech, it would not come as a shock that I have been using an iPad since it was first available back in April of 2010. Unlike iPhones, I have not purchased each new model of iPad. The iPad is not primarily a productivity item for me, instead it is used for development, playing some games, and occasionally used for performing light productivity tasks.

While I have not owned all of the iPad models, I have owned a few including:

• Original iPad (2010)
• iPad 2 (2011)
• iPad 3rd generation (2012)
• iPad Air 2 (2014)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro 1st Generation (2015)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2nd Generation (2017)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro 3rd Generation (2018)
• 12.9-inch iPad Pro 5th Generation (2021)

To this list I can now add the 13-inch iPad Pro, or 7th generation iPad Pro.

As you can see I skipped a fair number of iPads, including the 4th generation, original iPad Air, and the 4th and 6th generation iPad Pros. The reason that I skipped these varied, but it mostly came down to the update not being compelling enough to upgrade. In the case of the 4th generation iPad, it was because it was released 7 months after the 3rd generation, although the 4th generation would have been a better device than the 3rd generation.

It should be noted that I have opted to get the largest screen, not only because I like the idea of having more screen real estate, but also because the highest end devices typically have the best technology in them and I do not mind living on the bleeding edge of technology when it makes sense. Furthermore, when I hand down my iPads to someone else, they can usually appreciate the larger screens.

For the 4th and 6th generation iPad Pros, I opted to not get these device because they did not offer a compelling enough change to warrant purchasing. The 4th generation iPad Pro only added a LiDAR camera, so it was not enough. Similarly, while the 6th generation iPad Pro offered a bit more, the M2 and Apple Pencil Hover. I will admit, I am glad that I skipped because it means that I can purchase the 7th generation 13-inch iPad Pro, which has some great additions. Let us start looking at aspects of the 13-inch iPad Pro starting with the System on a Chip, or SOC.

System on a Chip

Normally when Apple introduces a new device they offer the next processor in the line. For example, the 1st generation iPad Pro had an A9x, the next model had an A10X Fusion. The 3rd generation iPad Pro skipped to the A12X. The 4th generation had an A12Z, which only had one additional GPU core. The 5th Generation introduced the M1 to the iPad Pro line, and the 6th generation had the M2. It would make sense for Apple to have the 7th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro to have the M3. However, they did not do that, and there is a good reason behind that. To explain we need to take a bit of a deeper dive into manufacturing.

Manufacturing Processes

Apple uses Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, to produce their latest and greatest chips. Each of these chips has its own manufacturing process. The reason that Apple, and many other companies, use TSMC is because TSMC has the most advanced manufacturing plants in the world and can produce the best chips.

As technology has progressed the physical size of silicon chips has gotten smaller and smaller. It began with 20 micron, or 20,000 nanometers in size, in 1968. The 10 micron, or 10,000 nanometer, process was used in the Intel 8008 processor. The process size was reduced in 1974 to 6 microns, or 6,000 nanometers, and used in the infamous Intel 8088 processor.

The first sub-micron sizes were developed in 1987 with the 800 nanometer process. This process would not be used widely until 1993 when Intel introduced the P5 Pentium chip running at 60MHz or 66MHz. The 90nm process was developed in 2001 and was eventually used with Sony's Playstation 2, Microsoft's Xbox 360, and the AMD Athlon processors, just to name a few.

One of the turning points for manufacturing, at least in terms of Apple, was the 20nm process. Apple bought PA-Semi, in 2008 and they began putting out their own chips, starting with the A4 in 2011. The A4, A5, A6, and A7, were all manufactured by Samsung. In 2014 this changed when Apple began working with TSMC. The first A-series chip that TSMC produced was the A8, and this was on a 20nm process. The A8 came out in 2014 with the introduction of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and HomePod, to name just a few of the products.

The next process was the 16nm, or 14nm, and this included Apple chips like the A9, A9X, and A10 Fusion. This was a notable process node given that the 1st generation iPad Pro was introduced with the A9X. The A9 had 2 billion transistors, the number of transistors on the A9X was not disclosed.

The 10nm process was short lived, and mostly used by Apple for the A10x and A11. The A10X had 3.3 billion transistors, meanwhile the A11 had 4.3 billion transistors.

The 7nm process entered mainstream with the A12 Bionic, which debuted September of 2018. The 7nm process was used on a number of products including iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. It was also used in the 5th generation iPad mini, iPhone XR, 3rd generation iPad Air, 8th and 9th generation iPad, and the 2nd generation Apple TV 4K. The A13 was in the iPhone 11 line and the Apple Studio Display. The A12 had 6.9 billion transistors, while the A13 had 8.5 billion.

The first 5nm processor was Apple's A14 Bionic, which has been in the 10th generation iPad, 4th generation iPad Air, and the entire iPhone 12 line. The A15 Bionic also used the 5nm process, and was in the iPhone 13 line, iPhone 14 and 14 Plus, 6th generation iPad mini, 3rd generation Apple TV 4K, and the 3rd generation iPhone SE. These came with 11.8 billion transistors on the A14 chips.

The 4nm process was used on the A16 Bionic, which has only been in the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, as well as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. The A16 had 15 billion transistors.

One thing that you may notice with all of the items listed above, is that as the process size gets smaller, the more transistors that can be put onto a chip. With more transistors that are on a chip means that there are more capabilities that a device can have. Typically, the smaller the process size, the more power efficiency increases. Progress has continued until the current size of 3 nanometers.

3 Nanometer

TSMC has indicated there are a number of 3 nanometer processes, including the N3, N3B, N3E, N3S, N3P, and N3X. Each of these has their own benefits. N3 is the base process, which offers 25 to 30% power efficiency over the N5 process. At the same time power increases 10 to 15%.

N3E uses 32% less power and offers 18% better performance. N3P should offer between around 33 to 34% less power than N5 and 19% to 20% better performance than N5. N3X will use a bit more power, but still offer a bit more performance than N5.

These comparisons are good to highlight, because the M2 was manufactured using the N5 process.

M3

The first set of N3 processors that Apple introduced were the A17 Pro and M3 and used the N3B process. It turns out that the N3B process was not the right approach to 3nm processing. While it would indeed work, it was more expensive and per an EE Times article from April of 2023:

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) is straining to meet demand from top customer Apple for 3-nm chips. The company's tool and yield struggles have impeded the ramp to volume production with world-leading technology

With costs being higher, and yields not being what they need. This means that it that it will not work with Apple needs millions of chips. What this means is that Apple is keen to move onto the next process, which will have better yields which means more chips can be manufactured. Apple has introduced a chip that matches this. It is called the Apple M4.

M4

With the introduction of the 5th generation 11-inch iPad Pro and the 7th generation 13-inch iPad Pro, Apple did something different and introduced an Apple Silicon chip on the iPad, before it does so on a Mac. Apple introduced the M4. According to Apple this uses the 2nd generation 3nm manufacturing process.

The M4 has a number of improvements, including the aforementioned 25% less power consumption and 18% improved performance. According to Apple the M4's neural engine is "capable of 38 trillion operations per second, "which is 60x faster than Apple's first Neural Engine in the A11 Bionic chip".

Part of the chip's ability to perform that many calculations per second comes from the memory bandwidth. Since the M1, the memory bandwidth in iPads has been 100 Gigabytes per second. There is now a 20% increase to 120 Gigabytes per second with the M4.

The M4 actually comes in two variants, a 9-core variant with 3 performance cores, and a 10-core variant with 4 performance cores. For either variant there are 6 efficiency cores. The 256GB and 512GB 11-inch or 13-inch iPad Pro will have the 9-core processor, while the 1TB and 2TB models have the 10-core processor.

This is the first time that Apple has differentiated models of the iPad by having different number of cores depending on model. This is not the first time Apple has done that in general, because this is quite common with Macs, in particular the MacBook Pro.

Media Engine

The M4 also has a couple of other enhancements over the M3, in particular related to the Media Engine. The first of these changes is that it now supports 8K High Efficiency Video Codec, or HEVC. HEVC is the successor to H.264, which has long been the standard compression format for video. HEVC is more commonly known as H.265 and its chief improvement over H.264 is that it can provide better quality video at the same bitrates, meaning that it can look better for the same video size.

The inclusion of 8K HEVC means that you can easily handle processing of 8K video, even though you cannot shoot 8K video on an iPad.

The second change is that there is now hardware accelerated decoding of AOMedia Video 1, or AV1. AV1 is similar to HEVC, except that it is designed for streaming over the internet. This is the first time that AV1 decoding is on an iPad. The benefit to having hardware-acceleration of AV1 decoding is that it will provide more power efficient playback, which means less wear on the battery.

Graphics

Media encoding is definitely an important aspect of the iPad, yet there is another important feature of the M4, the Graphics Processing Unit, or GPU. The GPU on the M4 adds some new enhancements of its own. There is a new 10-core GPU and it includes Dynamic Caching. Dynamic Caching. Dynamic Caching was introduced on the M3, but this is the first time it is on an iPad. Dynamic Caching is a technique that allows the hardware to allocate the proper amount of memory for each task. This can mean that more of the graphics processing unit will be utilized when needed. Furthermore, it also means fixed amounts of memory do not need to be allocated, potentially locking up the memory when not needed.

Dynamic Caching is not the only change. The M4 also supports Ray Tracing, particularly Hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing. Ray Tracing is a technique where the light is more realistically rendered, which can result in more life-like lighting. Here is a great example of how Ray Tracing can improve gameplay. It is title How Nvidia and Valve Gave Portal its Ray Tracing Makeover and while it covers the game Portal, the same information is still applicable to the iPad.

Setup

The first thing that one must do is setup their iPad. If you have a previous iPad you can use a direct connection between the devices to perform the setup. Alternatively, you can use an iCloud backup and restore that to your iPad. For me, I opted to do the direct connection. When you do a direct transfer between the devices, neither device will be usable while the transfer is taking place. The estimates for how long it would take started off at 2 hours and eventually crept up to an estimate of 6 hours. Ultimately, it ended up taking approximately 3 hours to finish, which is still longer than I would have liked.

Given how much is on my iPad, It might have made more sense to do an encrypted backup and then restore to my new iPad, but I did not do that. While writing this section I opted to look at my iPad storage and I saw that I had 35 gigabytes of synchronized media, and I should have removed this before beginning the transfer, it would have saved some time off of the total transfer time.

One thing I did not try was to use a thunderbolt cable to see if I could transfer the data using that method instead. If anybody has done this, I would be interested in knowing how well it worked. If it is not supported, I think that should be something that Apple adds as an option. I understand not allowing standard USB-C cables, as these will only transfer up to 40 Gigabits per second, or a theoretical max of 5 Gigabytes per second. Although, even this would be significantly faster than using Wi-Fi.

I have purchased the cellular version of the iPad since the 1st generation iPad Pro in 2015. Normally, I would just physically move the SIM from my old iPad to the new one. However, the cellular 13-inch iPad Pro does not have a physical SIM slot, only an eSIM. Therefore, my existing data plan for my iPad needed to be moved. The setup steps account for this and my data plan moved successfully without any issues.

Once the setup was complete, all of the apps needed to download and then I could use my new iPad Pro.

Dimensions and Weight

The 13-inch iPad is roughly the same size as the 5th generation iPad Pro. In fact, it only has 0.64% more physical area. This is accomplished by it being 1mm taller and 0.6mm wider. This physical size is needed to account for the new display size of 13-inches. One area where the dimensions have changed is in the depth.

One of the highlighted aspects of the 13-inch iPad Pro is how thin it is. According to Apple it is the "thinnest device we've ever made". Apple's "Let Loose" event video mentioned that it is thinner than the iPod nano, which was Apple's thinnest device. The iPod nano was 5.3mm. The 13-inch iPad Pro is indeed thinner at 5.1mm. This is a significant reduction from the 6.4mm on the 5th generation, which means that the 13-inch iPad Pro is 20.3% thinner, or just over 20% thinner than the 5th generation.

This is a huge difference. The reduction in the physical size does have some implications most notable in the weight, which has gone from 685 grams to 582, a difference of 103 grams of 15.04%. This is a huge and noticeable difference. Another quite noticeable difference was going from the iPhone 14 Pro Max to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, where the devices went from steel to titanium. The reduction in weight for the iPad is almost twice the amount for the iPhone Pro changes.

Next, let us turn to another visual item, and the one that iPad users see the most, the display.

Display

Almost every single product that Apple has created, and that has a battery and is portable, has needed a display of some sort. One notable exception to this is the iPod shuffle, but that was a unique product. Each and every iPad that Apple has sold has had a display. Apple has attempted to obfuscate the technology used in each type of display. To date Apple has employed some marketing names including:

• Retina
• Liquid Retina
• Liquid Retina XDR display

There is now a new marketing name. The 13-inch iPad Pro has a display that Apple is calling "Ultra Retina XDR". The technology used for the display has varied over time and has included:

• Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
• Light Emitting Diode (LED)
• Micro-Light Emitting Diode (Mini-LED)

Different display technologies have their own benefits and approaches.

The 13-inch iPad Pro has a new display. The actual technology used for this display is not brand new, but it is new for the iPad Pro. The Ultra Retina XDR display is powered by Organic Light Emitting Diodes, more commonly known as OLED. Apple has used OLED on devices in the past, most notably on the Apple Watch and the iPhone.

OLED is better in some ways, most notably in that it uses less energy. This is accomplished by only lighting up the pixels that are needed.

In a battery constrained device, like the Apple Watch, OLED is the only way to go because pixels that are not lit do not consume any energy. Even with the Always On display of the Apple Watch and iPhone, items are only updated infrequently, at little as once a minute, so the devices are able to maximize battery and minimize energy usage.

When you extrapolate this technology to a larger device you can have the same benefits. There is a limitation to OLED which does not necessary appear in other display technologies; the organic nature of the diodes. Because the diodes in an OLED display are organic, they can degrade over time. Unfortunately, there is no way to regenerate the organic materials.

This new display is called Tandem OLED and it is worth diving into a bit.

Tandem OLED

Tandem OLED is a display technology that consists of two OLED displays that are connected with some sort of interconnect. This is similar to the way that an M2 Ultra chip is actually two M2 Max chips with their own interconnect. This interconnect actually allows sub-millisecond control over the color and luminance of each pixel, which means that colors can be controlled more fluidly for even better content viewing, particularly for video content.

The reason that there are two panels instead of a single panel is that a single panel is not capable of producing the brightness levels that Apple wants to achieve, at least not in the sizes needed for the 13-inch iPad Pro. The OLED display in the 13-inch iPad is capable of producing up to 1000-nits of brightness. High Dynamic Range (HDR) content is capable of showing up to 1600 nits of brightness.

It is not that an OLED display cannot display 1600 nits, it can. In fact the iPhone 14 Pro/Max and iPhone 15 Pro/Max can do up to 1000 nits, 1600 nits for HDR content, and up to 2000 nits while outdoors. The Apple Watch Series 9 can also do up to 2000 nits, and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 can do up to 3000 nits.

You might think that with a Tandem OLED that ProMotion might not be supported, but it still present. It still has the same range of 10Hz to 120Hz, so if you are accustom to using ProMotion, it is still present.

When I first used the 13-inch iPad Pro, I did not really notice the difference in the screen. It is not that I did not believe it was an OLED screen, I did. However, it became quite apparent once I started working on my review on my 13-inch iPad Pro. The black background of the Notes app was noticeably darker than on my 5th generation iPad Pro.

Now that we have covered the display, let us look at some wireless connectivity.

Wireless Connectivity

All devices these days have a myriad number of radios. This can be for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even Ultra Wideband. The Wi-Fi in the 13-inch iPad Pro has the same Wi-Fi that has been on all 12.9-inch iPad Pros since 2020. That is Wi-Fi 6E, also known as 802.11ax. Wi-Fi 6E was included on the 6th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but on my 5th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro it only has Wi-Fi 6, so this has been a slight improvement. Have I noticed it during normal usage, no because I do not have a Wi-Fi 6E network, so until I have one I will not see any changes.

As for cellular connectivity, the 13-inch iPad Pro has 5G connectivity, as have all iPad Pros introduced since 2021, with the 5th and 6th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pros. So, this has not changed. I would not expect the 5G connectivity to change for a couple more generations, because 5G's successor, 6G, will not likely begin deployment until the 2030s, so it could be anywhere from 6 years to 15 years away, but likely closer to 10 years before deployment begins.

There has been a change from my 5th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the 13-inch does not support EDGE, which is not really surprising given that the EDGE cellular networks were shutdown in 2022, so it makes no sense to continue to support it on the iPad Pro. Strangely though, the iPhone 15 line still does support GSM/EDGE.

Ever since the iPad was introduced in 2010 Apple has offered a cellular option. The cellular options, as you might expect, cost more due to needing the additional hardware needed. Each of the cellular iPad models has had a physical SIM. The iPads that have been introduced since 2018, have all had the option of using either a physical SIM or an electronic SIM, known as an eSIM. This changes with the 13-inch iPad Pro.

Much like when Apple introduced iPhone 14 line, there is no physical SIM slot on the 13-inch iPad. Instead, the only option is to use an eSIM. Therefore, if you have a physical SIM in your existing iPad it will need to be converted to an eSIM by transferring your existing account. For many, this will not be a problem, but it is something to be cognizant about when setting up your iPad Pro.

Cameras

The iPad is designed to be a versatile device and one way that this is accomplished is by providing the iPad with a camera. The camera on the iPad is by no means the best camera, the best camera is reserved for the iPhone Pro line. Starting with the 4th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro Apple added a second camera to complement the existing camera. The Wide and Ultra-Wide cameras were present on the 4th, 5th, and 6th generation iPad Pros. However, starting with the 13-inch iPad Pro, there is no longer an Ultra-Wide camera. Instead, there is just a single camera.

The removal of the Ultra-Wide lens may be disappointing for some, but Apple has indicted that the 12 megapixel camera is improved in a number of ways. This includes capturing photos and video with better color and increased detail in low light. This can be useful for many situations. There is one in particular where the improved lighting can help, and that is with document scanning.

Document Scanning

A task that many users perform is to scan documents into Notes or another application. Typically when you take a picture of a form, or a receipt, you will get a bunch of shadows around the edges. Now, the iPad Pro camera system will attempt to remove as much of these shadows as possible, therefore when you do scan the shadows should be significantly reduced. Along with this, machine learning will be applied to make it even easier to get a more consistent color.

Front Facing Cameras

When the first iPhone was released, it only had a single back camera. It was the same for the iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS. But in 2010 when Apple added a second camera, this time it was on the front. This was great for taking selfies, but it was also very useful for another feature, FaceTime.

FaceTime is Apple's proprietary video call software that works on both iOS and macOS. For its entire existence, the iPad had the FaceTime camera along the top edge, near the power button. This remained the case for all iPads, except for the 10th generation iPad released in 2022. Now, the 5th generation 11-inch iPad Pro and 7th generation 13-inch iPad Pro now have the FaceTime camera along the landscape edge. This makes a lot more sense because a significant number of users use the iPad Pro while it is in landscape mode.

The FaceTime camera is not the only camera on the edge of the 13-inch iPad Pro. When Apple introduced the redesigned iPad Pro in 2018, with the 3rd generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro they added Face ID. The True Depth camera module that actually paints invisible dots on your face so that it can algorithmically compare what if finds to what is stored in the Secure Enclave, which stores the Face ID results. The True Depth Camera is actually now separated from the FaceTime camera. It is in fact separated with a magnet that is used to charge the Apple Pencil, more on that in a bit.

The specs of the front Facing camera has remained the same since the 5th Generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. This means that there is a 12 megapixel camera with an aperture of ƒ/2.4, with 2x zoom out.

Now that we have covered all of the hardware of the 13-inch iPad Pro, let us look at some accessories, including the Apple Pencil.

Apple Pencil Pro

When the 1st generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro was announced, an accessory was announced and it was a stylus that was designed to work with the iPad Pro. The 1st generation Apple Pencil powered and charged via the Lightning port on the original iPad Pro. This remained the same for the 2nd generation iPad Pro.

The 3rd generation iPad Pro was a complete redesign, including the Apple Pencil. The 2nd generation Apple Pencil charged, and paired, strictly by magnets. By simply placing a 2nd generation Apple Pencil on an iPad Pro, it would pair and begin charging.

The 2nd generation Apple Pencil is compatible with the following devices:

• 3rd to 6th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• 1st to 4th generation 11-inch iPad Pro
• 4th and 5th generation iPad Air
• 6th generation iPad mini

Missing from this list, is the 13-inch iPad M4 iPad Pro. That is because there is a whole new Apple Pencil, the Apple Pencil Pro.

Compatibility

Initially, you might think that the 2nd generation Apple Pencil and the Apple Pencil Pro should be interchangeable given the fact that they are both magnetic, but I can attest that the 2nd generation Apple Pencil cannot be used on the 5th generation iPad Pro. The reason for this is because of the placement of the magnets.

The magnets within the Apple Pencil Pro have a different placement, specifically the charging needed to be updated in both the iPad and the Apple Pencil in order to work with the landscape camera.

The Apple Pencil Pro works the same as the 2nd generation Apple Pencil. Once you place the Apple Pencil Pro on the 13-inch iPad Pro, it will pair and begin charging. Let us turn to some other features of the Apple Pencil Pro, starting with Apple Pencil Hover.

Apple Pencil Hover

Since my previous iPad was the 5th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro, I had not yet had a chance to try out Apple Pencil Hover, because that was exclusive to the 6th generation iPad Pro. Apple Pencil Hover is a feature where you can, as the name suggests, hover over an element on the screen and it will highlight the item.

As an example, you can use the Apple Pencil Pro to hover over any standard control and it will be highlighted, similar to how you might use keyboard navigation. In addition to standard controls, you can also hover over app icons. During my testing, it seemed to work for most elements, with one exception, it does not work with hovering over an individual note, within the Notes app. It seems like an oversight for it to not work with Notes.

Barrel Roll

The Apple Pencil Pro has a gyroscope within it. This means that when you are using an app, like Notes, Freeform, or Pixelmator, you will be able to quickly change the size of the brush that you are using by simply turning the Apple Pencil Pro.

You might initially think, "What is the big deal, you can just adjust your grip and adjust the brush size that way." Yes, you can, however when you are drawing being able to quickly, and easily, adjust the angle of the brush without needing to lift up the tip, provides a much more natural mechanism for drawing.

Third-party apps will need to add support for barrel roll for it to work, but it is something that they can add. This is not the only new feature, there is another gesture, squeeze.

Squeeze Gesture

When you are holding a standard pencil you might be tempted to squeeze it. When you do this, nothing much will happen. However, with the Apple Pencil Pro, you will get a popup toolbar. This is the same toolbar that you can activate when you tap on the current item in the toolbar.

Much like the barrel roll, being able to quickly use the toolbar without needing to lose your place and focus is a big step forward particularly for those who like to use the iPad Pro for drawing.

Haptic Feedback

Another new feature that is a nice touch is Haptic Feedback. Now, when you squeeze the Apple Pencil Pro you will get a bit of feedback that will confirm the gesture that you performed. This is helpful for when you may not be able to fully see that a gesture was successfully completed.

Find My Support

The last new feature of the Apple Pencil Pro is something that many have wanted for each of the previous Apple Pencils, and that is the ability to use Find My to locate an Apple Pencil. This is now possible with the Apple Pencil Pro.

Find My is NOT automatically enabled when you connect an Apple Pencil Pro. Much like other devices, you need to actually add it. To add an Apple Pencil Pro to Find My, use the following steps:

1. Open "Find My"
2. Tap on "Devices"
3. Tap on the "+" symbol in the upper right corner.
4. Tap on "Apple Pencil". A popup will appear.
5. Per the popup, attach your Apple Pencil Pro, if it is not already attached. Another popup will appear.
6. In the "Add to Find My" popup, tap on "Add Pencil".
7. A confirmation will appear, and your Apple Pencil Pro will be added to Find My.

Once added, you will be able to use Find My to locate the Apple Pencil. It will show its last location. If it is currently attached to your iPad Pro, it will show that it is attached. If it shows that it is attached to your iPad, then you will likely want to locate the iPad Pro in order to find your Apple Pencil Pro.

You cannot use Precision Finding with the Apple Pencil, because the Apple Pencil Pro does not have a U1 chip, which is required for Precision Finding. Maybe that is something that a future Apple Pencil Pro can add. Even though there the Apple Pencil Pro is not capable of Precision Finding having basic Find My support is a significant upgrade and will bring you one step closer to finding a missing Apple Pencil.

Let us look at one other new accessory, the new Magic Keyboard.

Magic Keyboard

As outlined above already, 2018 was a big year for the iPad Pro. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro included a big redesign, which included flat sides, the 2nd generation Apple Pencil, USB-C, and an updated Smart Connector. The Smart Connector was relocated, which allowed a new accessory, the Magic Keyboard.

The Magic Keyboard is a combination keyboard and case that uses the magnets within the iPad and the Magic Keyboard in order to allow it to be placed properly as well as aligning the camera properly. The Magic Keyboard is not only a keyboard, but it also has a Trackpad as well.

Design

The overall design remains the same, in terms of having a fabric back to help protect the back of the iPad Pro. The Magic Keyboard has a keyboard at the bottom. The material in the Magic Keyboard is now aluminum. This means that the keyboard is lighter than the previous model. It is not just lighter by a little bit, much like the iPad itself, the weight difference between the previous Magic Keyboard and the new one is quite noticeable.

The two previous Magic Keyboards were effectively the same, and the only change was the size of the hinge to accommodate the slightly larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The previous Magic Keyboards had a piece of material that would cover the barrel shaped hinge. The one downside to this change is that you can no longer rely on the hinge to provide a bit of friction against a surface like you could with the previous Magic Keyboard. This is a minor change, but one that you should be cognizant about.

The new Magic Keyboard for the 13-inch iPad Pro now has a tubular shape to the hinge and it is now sans material around it. This gives it a bit more of an industrial look. The tubular hinge also means that the orientation of the charging port on the Magic Keyboard has rotated 90 degrees, to be perpendicular to the orientation of the USB-C port on the 13-inch iPad Pro. This results in the USB-C cable being parallel to the keyboard while open. On the topic of the keyboard, let us look at that next.

Keyboard Layout

One of the most requested features for the Magic Keyboard was the addition of row of function keys. This is now on the Magic Keyboard. Each of the icons in the function row are the same as on the MacBook Pro, with a slight tweak to the F3 key where the icon is in a grid instead of in masonry layout.

The function row even includes a dedicated Escape key. For those who want to use the Magic Keyboard with a terminal emulator, this is huge. If you have ever had to try and connect to a server and use VIM without an escape key, you know how big this is. There is an alternate key combination of command + period, and this still works even with a dedicated function row, but muscle memory with a physical escape key is just better.

One thing to note about the function row is that the keys are half-height. I am sure that some would prefer full height, I will gladly take half-height keys instead of no keys what-so-ever.

Let us now switch to something a bit different with the Magic Keyboard, the possible positions of the iPad.

Positions

The previous Magic Keyboard was somewhat limited in the angles that you could have the iPad. For instance, if you tried to have the entire back of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. against the back of the keyboard, the iPad would lean forward. Yes, it is possible to use it in this position, but it is a bit awkward.

Now, with the new Magic Keyboard you are able to have the 13-inch iPad Pro be at a 90 degree angle with the entire back against the back of the keyboard case. On the previous Magic Keyboard there was one way to have the iPad at a 90-degree angle. You would need to place the iPad so it was a bit above the top row of the keyboard. Here is what that would look like.

You can accomplish the same thing with the 13-inch iPad Pro, and the iPad would be in the same general position, but now that the keyboard includes a function row, the iPad sits right at the top of the function row. Putting the 13-inch iPad in this position could be useful in situations where there might not be a lot of extra space, like on an Airplane.

Being able to position the iPad in a variety of angles is great, particularly if you use the iPad in a variety of situations. There is one last feature of the Magic Keyboard that has seen some changes, and that is the Trackpad.

Trackpad

The Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro has more than just a keyboard. It also includes a Trackpad. This is important if you want to use the cursor on the iPad. The Trackpad on the new Magic Keyboard is significantly larger than on the previous model.

When I saw the differences in the Trackpad sizes, it actually reminded me of when I went from my old 2008 Black MacBook to my old 2015 MacBook Pro. There was a significant change in size to the Trackpad then, and this change feels very similar. It is so similar to that situation right down to the click of the Trackpad.

On the Magic Keyboard for the 5th generation iPad Pro, if you remove the iPad, you can feel the Trackpad actually click, just like the 2008 MacBook did when powered off. However, if you remove the 13-inch iPad Pro from its Magic Keyboard and try to click the Trackpad, nothing happens. This is exactly same behavior as on the 2015 MacBook Pro, which does not move unless there is power.

I cannot say that I have noticed the size difference between the two Trackpads, at least not in my typical usage. If I played more games or used the Trackpad on a more consistent basis I might actually notice it. For me, the Trackpad is mostly used when I need to move to a position on the screen quickly, like when clicking a button. When I do this, I typically use my forefinger and not my thumb. But, with the new Trackpad size, this behavior may change, only time will tell on that.

Benchmarks

No review would be complete without at least some benchmarks. For this review, I have included every Apple Silicon device that I personally own. All of these are running some version of Apple Silicon. There are no Intel Macs on the list. The reason behind this decision is that by not including Intel machines, the comparison will be a bit more consistent and equitable. Plus, I do not have any Intel machines that can run macOS Sonoma.

Given that I am upgrading from the M1 iPad Pro to the M4 iPad Pro, it makes sense to compare the two directly. When you compare my M1 12.9-inch iPad Pro to the new 13-inch iPad you will see there has been a 61% increase in single-core processing, a 57% increase in Multi-core processing, and a 61.5% increase in GPU performance. This is a significant jump. This makes sense given that the process size has gone from 5 nanometers down to 3 nanometers, meaning more chips in the same space.

For the next test I ran Geekbench ML, which is designed to take a look at Machine Learning tasks. Apple positioned the M4 as "built for AI", but we will not know how well until there are features that can really take advantage of the processor. For now, we must rely on benchmarks and below are the Geekbench ML results for each device and the processor being used for Machine Learning.

The ordering of these all makes sense, the newer devices have better scores than the older devices. The most stark difference is when you compare my 13-inch iPad Pro to my iPhone, where the GPU and Neural Engine are no where near each other. The GPU in the 13-inch iPad Pro is no where near my M2 MacBook Pro, which makes sense, given that the M4 in the 13-inch iPad is the base chip, whereas the MacBook Pro is an M2 Max, which is significantly more capable.

Again comparing the 12.9-inch M1 iPad Pro to the 13-inch M4 iPad Pro, there was a 56% increase in CPU processing, 205% increase in GPU processing, and a 37.8% increase in Neural Engine processing. The CPU processing change is in line with the single-core, and close the multi-core benchmark. So this makes sense. However, the GPU on the M4 iPad Pro is a lot faster. It is even faster than my Mac Studio with the M1 Max, but still slower than MacBook Pro with the M2 Max.

There is one last topic to cover, iPadOS.

iPadOS

Most modern hardware is not particularly useful without some sort of software and for the iPad Pro the software that powers the device. The iPad Pro hardware has always been pretty solid and recently the hardware has always outstripped the software.

There are many who have been wanting the iPadOS software to match the capabilities of the device. Some have suggested that the iPad Pro should be able to virtualize macOS, and it would provide an escape hatch for those who want to be able to perform tasks that iPadOS is not currently capable of doing. I think for them it could be a good thing. I would definitely try it out, because I do find myself being less productive on an iPad than I am on a Mac.

Even if Apple did not allow virtualization of macOS on an iPad Pro, there are still a number of things that Apple could add that would not degrade the current experience for many iPad users, but would improve those who need Pro level features. As one example, the ability to record and stream from an iPad. Currently, this is not possible due to limitations of iPadOS.

At one time I thought about trying to use the iPad as a primary device instead of using a MacBook. However, I could never use an iPad as I would a Mac.

Long time iPad Pro-User Federico Viticci has written an article about the shortcomings of iPadOS. This article compiles a long list of items that goes almost a decade and every single one of the items is worth reading.

Personally, for me, there are two things that would make iPadOS even better and provide a bit more "Pro" features.

The first of these would be the ability to use Xcode directly on the iPad. Yes, Swift Playgrounds is available, but there is definitely something different about having Xcode itself. With Xcode on iPad, it would not need to have any simulators because you could just use the device itself.

The second would be additional background tasks, not just audio recording, but allowing true background tasks that would not be killed by simply switching away from the app. Yes, this might require extensive vetting by Apple and even special entitlements (permissions) for this to happen, but it could be a possibility should Apple opt to make it happen.

It is not likely the 13-inch iPad Pro, particularly with 8GB of RAM in the 256GB or 512GB model, could not be capable of handling "Pro" features, it absolutely could handle it. This is because the Mac mini, which has many "Pro" features, has the same base specs, 256GB of storage and 8GB of unified memory. Therefore, this definitely seems more like a choice than any technical limitation.

Many people have been saying for a long time that the issue with the iPad is not the hardware, and I completely agree. The hardware has not been a problem on the iPad, instead the issue is software. We are just a few weeks away from Apple's World Wide Developer Conference. I hope that we will see a significant update to iPadOS, one that goes beyond just making the iPad seem like a larger iPhone with a few extra bells and whistles. Only time will tell us if this will actually be the case.

Even though all of the iPad hardware, including the accessories, are solid. There are some shortcomings with iPadOS. Next year will mark 10 years since the introduction of the iPad Pro, as well as 5 years since iPadOS became its own distinct operating system, separate from iOS. It is my thinking that if we do not see any significant, and I do mean substantially significant, change at WWDC 2025, then it might be time to just write off the iPad Pro as being anything except "More Expensive" and a showcase for the latest technologies, because at that point, Apple will have made it abundantly clear that the iPad is not worth their time and anybody trying to use it for actual productivity is fooling themselves that it is possible.

Closing Thoughts

The 13-inch iPad Pro is a great upgrade, particularly from the M1 iPad Pro. The new M4 processor provides a great upgrade, including even faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine. Some of that speed is due to the storage speed being 20% faster at 120 Gbps. The 13-inch iPad Pro is much thinner and therefore lighter. According to Apple it is the thinnest product they have ever released.

Beyond being super thin, and lighter, the 13-inch iPad Pro has an OLED display, specifically a Tandem OLED display. These two OLED displays allows for even richer colors, deeper blacks, and the dual displays allow for up to 1000 nits of brightness, and up to 1600 nits of peak brightness or HDR content.

The 13-inch iPad Pro has its own set of accessories, including the Magic Keyboard. Much like the 13-inch ipad Pro, the updated Magic Keyboard is lighter and slightly redesigned. The redesign includes a function row, including an escape button. This is great or those who rely on the escape key for functions. Even though the function row is half-height, it is still a great addition. The Magic Trackpad also comes with a larger Trackpad. One with Haptic feedback, similar to the MacBook Pro, where the Trackpad only simulates a click, but does not actually click.

The last accessory is the Apple Pencil Pro. It now includes a gyroscope, that is used with a new Barrel Roll feature. Barrel Roll, if implemented by developers, will allow you to change the shape of a brush, just as if it was a physical pencil. In addition to Barrel Roll, you can now use a squeeze gesture to bring up the toolbar, right where your Apple Pencil Pro is. Once it shows, you can easily switch tools, change colors, access the eraser, or any other option within the toolbar, all without needing to leave the current location or look away. You also do not need to worry about losing your Apple Pencil Pro, because it can be added to your "Find My" devices. Therefore, if you do manage to misplace it, you will at least know where its last location is.

If you are looking to purchase an iPad Pro, the 13-inch iPad Pro is a solid option. It is worthwhile keeping in mind that it is never a good idea to purchase something with the expectation that it could do something more in the future, because there is no guarantee of what it will be able to do. Instead, buy the iPad Pro for what is is capable now.

Sources: There are a couple of sources for some of the processor information.

Apple held their "Let Loose" event today. The entire video was 38 minutes long but in those 38 minutes there was a lot of information and all of that information related to the iPad. Specifically, the iPad Air and the iPad Pro, but there was one other announcement related to the 10th generation iPad.

10th Generation iPad

The 10th Generation iPad now has a lower price of $349. This is down from $449. There have been no other changes. With this price drop, the 9th generation iPad is no longer sold from Apple. It is possible that it might still be available from third-party retailers, but I would not expect to purchase it directly from Apple.

Now, let us look at the iPad Air.

iPad Air

The first iPad covered in the event was the iPad Air. The biggest change 6th generation iPad Air is the size. In fact, it now comes in two sizes, an 11-inch and a 13-inch version. The iPad Air comes with an M2, an upgrade from the M1 in the previous generation. One of the other noticeable changes will be the placement of the FaceTime camera, it is now along the landscape edge of the iPad. This is a more natural position for the camera and it follows the 10th generation iPad in its placement.

If you use the iPad Air in landscape mode, you will get stereo sound with the new "Landscape Stereo Speakers", which can improve the sound quality.

There are now also some additional storage options. The options available are 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options. If you do order you have four color options to choose from: Blue, Purple, Starlight, and Space Gray. The Blue and Purple options are new variations on the previous colors.

The 11-inch version starts at $599 for the 128GB Wi-Fi only model. The 13-inch starts at $799 for the 128GB model. The cellular versions are $200 more.

Both models are available to order today and will begin delivering next week.

Accessories

There are ways that you can customize your iPad Air and one of them might be a case. There are some options, including the Smart Folio, or even a Magic Keyboard. The Smart Folio is available in four colors, Light Violet, Charcoal Grey, Sage, and Denim. The 11-inch version is $79 while the 13-inch model is $99.

The Magic Keyboard comes in two colors, White and Black. The Magic Keyboard for the 11-inch iPad Air is the same as the previous version and supports all 11-inch devices and costs $299. The Magic Keyboard for the new 13-inch iPad Air is the same one that supported the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. This comes in the same two colors, but costs $349.

iPad Pro

The main attraction for this event is the iPad Pro. The iPad Pro continues to come in two sizes, 11-inch and 13-inch. This mimics both the 6th generation iPad Air. The 13-inch is a new size but these two screen sizes are the actual sizes. The new screen sizes means that the resolution has changed to 2420 by 1668 for the 11-inch and 2752 by 2064 for the 13-inch model. This is a very minimal increase, but it is one none-the-less. The new size is actually due to one of the big changes to the iPad Pro, a new display. Specifically, the iPad Pro has an OLED display that Apple is calling "Tandem OLED".

The Tandem OLED display is actually two OLED panels that can light up the display as needed with up to 1000 nits of fullscreen brightness for SDR and XDR, and up to 1600 nits for peak HDR content. The OLED display will allow even deeper true black, more details in shadows and low light, and it should be more responsive for any content that is in motion.

With the OLED display there is an additional option, a Nano-texture display. Similar to the Studio Display, the nano crystals are embedded directly within the display. The Nano-texture display is a bit more than the standard display. More on pricing in a bit.

As rumored, the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro are powered not by the M3, but by the M4. The M4 is a 3-nanometer chip that utilizes the second-generation 3nm manufacturing process. This means that the M4 is able to increase its performance while using the same or less power. According to Apple, it is 50% faster than the M2. In fact, it has the same performance as the M2, just uses half the power.

With the increase of power you may expect the thermals to be impacted, but Apple has accounted for that. The iPad Pro has graphite sheets in the device to help with the thermals. Along with this, there is copper in the Apple Logo on the back to help dissipate the heat.

Both models of the iPad Pro are thinner than their previous versions. The 4th generation 11-inch iPad Pro has gone from 5.9mm to 5.3, a reduction of just about 10%. Meanwhile, the 7th generation 13-inch iPad Pro has gone from 6.4mm to 5.1mm. This is a significant reduction of 20.5%. This reduction means that the weight has also been reduced by 4.7% in the 11-inch iPad Pro from 466 grams to 444 grams. The 13-inch iPad Pro has had a much larger reduction in weight from 685 grams down to 582 grams, or a 15% reduction.

The last change to mention is the placement of the camera. Just like the 6th generation iPad Air and the 10th generation iPad, the camera on the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad is along the landscape edge.

While there are only two color options, Silver and Space Black, you do have some options when it comes to storage. In fact there are different storage sizes, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB options. The Nano-texture glass option is only available in the 1TB and 2TB options. There are some slight differences in the processor for the 256GB/512GB models as compared to the 1TB/2TB models. The 256GB/512GB models have a 9-core processor with 3 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. The 1TB/2TB options have a 10-core processor with 4 performance cores and 6 efficiency cores. It is not yet known how this difference will manifest in actual usage, if it will at all.

The one thing not covered yet is pricing. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 for the 256GB Wi-Fi model, the 256GB Cellular model starts at $1199. The 13-inch 256GB Wi-Fi model is $1299 and the Cellular model is $1499. If you want the Nano-texture glass that will be an additional $100, but it is only available on the 1TB or 2TB option.

You can order either model today and it will begin delivering next week. As of this writing some models are already later in May or early June, with the Nano-texture models not shipping until mid-June.

The iPad Pro does have some new accessories.

Accessories

When the 3rd generation iPad Pro was introduced Apple also introduced a new accessory, the Magic Keyboard. The Magic Keyboard is great for having a keyboard with stand that you can use as a case with your iPad Pro. The new iPad Pros also bring a new Magic Keyboard. The new Magic Keyboard has some improvements over the previous version, in that there is a larger trackpad and an additional row of keys, dedicated function keys. This may seem like a small change, and in the grand scheme of things it might be, but having dedicated function keys will make things much easier.

You can get Magic Keyboards specifically designed for the 11-inch or 13-inch M4 iPad. Just like the previous models, there are two color options, white and black. The 11-inch version is $299 and the 13-inch model is $349, the same prices as before.

There is one last accessory to discuss, the Apple Pencil.

Apple Pencil

The 1st generation Apple Pencil was introduced in 2015 with the original iPad Pro. In 2018 it got a refresh with the 1st generation 11-inch iPad Pro and the 3rd generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro. At that time the 2nd generation Apple Pencil changed pairing, and charging, mechanism to be magnets along the landscape side of the iPad.

There is a new Apple Pencil that works only with the new 6th generation iPad Air and the 5th generation 11-inch iPad and 7th generation 13-inch iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil Pro. The Apple Pencil Pro takes what the second generation did and enhances it.

One of the new features is the addition of Find My, which means that if you cannot find your Apple Pencil you will be able to use the Find My network to locate it for you. Along with this, there is also a new gyroscope, which will allow precise control. Rotating the barrel also allows you to change the shape of the pen or brush tools.

The last feature on the Apple Pencil Pro is a new squeeze gesture. This will allow you to quickly bring up a tool palette to quickly switch between tools, line widths, or colors, without needing to lift up your finger and find the necessary button.

The Apple Pencil Pro is available to order now and it costs $129, which is the same as the 2nd generation Apple Pencil. The Apple Pencil Pro is only compatible with the latest devices. As a note, you can also use the Apple Pencil with USB-C with the new iPad Pros.

Closing Thoughts

The Let Loose event was short, but full of a bunch of information. The new iPad Air is a solid update that comes in two sizes, 11-inch and 13-inch models. The new iPad Airs come with an M2, new colors, and support for the Apple Pencil Pro. The iPad Air comes in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB and it starts at $599 for the 11-inch and $799 for the 13-inch model.

The new iPad Pros comes in two sizes, 11-inch and 13-inch models. The iPad Pros with an OLED display, M4, and come in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB options and in two colors, Silver and Space Black. The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 and the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1299.

All of the products are available to order today and delivery begins next week.

Sources: Apple Newsroom: iPad Pro
Apple Newsroom: iPad Air
Apple Newsroom: M4

With Apple's "Let Loose" event in just a few days, it is time to post my predictions for what we will see. This event is happening at a significantly different time than most other Apple events. This one is at 7 am Pacific Time. This differs in that a majority of Apple's events take place at 10 am Pacific Time. Even though this is a different time than most, this is not the first time that Apple has held an event at a strange hour. In fact, Apple's "Scary Fast" event held on October 30th, 2023 was also at a non-standard time, 5 p.m. Pacific Time. So this is not unprecedented, but still a different time.

It is expected that this event will focus on iPads, and the invitation bears this out. The invitation clearly shows a hand holding an Apple Pencil. In addition, Apple's CEO Tim Cook posted "Pencil us in", in reference to the event. Beyond all of these subtle hints, it is time for new iPads. The last iPads released were announced more than 18 months ago, on October 18th, 2022, and released on October 26th. This is the first time since its introduction in January of 2007, and release in April of the same year, that Apple has gone an entire calendar year without announcing new iPad models. With that information out of the way, let us get to what I suspect we will see.

If you would like you can skip to the recap of what I expect.

iPad

The current base model iPad, known as the 9th generation iPad, is the last iPad with a home button. A Home Button has been standard since the original iPad was introduced in 2010. With the release of the 2018 iPad Pro, Apple added Face ID and with the introduction of the 4th generation iPad Air in 2020 Apple began putting the Touch ID sensor in the top button, instead of having a dedicated button. With all of this, I suspect that the 9th generation will no longer be available from Apple, except for maybe education, and possibly only in certain regions.

The reason I suspect this is that while the 9th generation is popular, particularly amongst schools, I think Apple is keen on getting rid of the remaining home-button based iPad. Besides having the home button, it is the last iPad that still uses the lightning connector and the European Union has mandated that all smartphones, tablets, and digital cameras must have USB-C connectors by the end of 2024.

I think how this could handled one of two ways. Either they introduce a new model entirely that maintains the price point of the 9th generation iPad, or the current 10th generation has its price reduced to become the new base-model iPad.

The last possibility is that Apple does not update the 9th generation iPad yet, and instead waits until the iPhone event in the fall before updating the base model iPad.

One thing I could see Apple doing is a minor update to the 10th generation iPad to drop support for the 1st generation Apple Pencil and instead only support the Apple Pencil with USB-C.

iPad Air

The 5th generation iPad was introduced in just over 2 years ago, in March of 2022. That model has an M1. I suspect that it will be updated, most likely with an M2 processor. I am not sure what other changes Apple could make, besides colors, and possibly changing the orientation of camera to be in landscape orientation, similar to the 10th generation iPad.

There are rumors that the iPad Air may now come in two sizes, 10.9 and 12.9, similar to the iPad Pro. This does make sense to do and it would be inline with other devices, like the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air, and the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro.

iPad mini

The iPad mini is not a device that gets updated all that often. In fact, the 6th generation iPad mini was released in September of 2021. This means it has been 2.5 years since it was last updated. It is definitely time for a refresh. The iPad mini is an interesting device given that its screen is 8.3 inches, hence the "mini" moniker. But what makes the device even more interesting is that it has a better processor than the 10th generation iPad, an A15 in the mini versus A14 in the 10th generation iPad.

It would not surprise me to see the iPad mini get updated with an M1 or even an M2 processor. It is also entirely possible that the iPad mini will not be updated until later in the year.

iPad Pro

The iPad Pro is likely to be the star of the event. This is the device that has had the largest number of rumors and also the most anticipated set of upgrades. Apple has positioned the iPad Pro as the most technologically advanced iPad. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro currently has a mini-LED display, but it is anticipated that the new iPad Pros will have an OLED display.

The other big change is likely to come with the placement of the camera. As mentioned in the iPad (no moniker) section, I suspect that the iPad Pro will also have the camera placed along the long edge of the iPad. This would bring it in line with the 10th-generation iPad and more usable for those using video

While there has been no rumors of this, but I think Apple might take the opportunity to have the 12.9-inch iPad start at a higher price, similar to how the iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at a higher price. The way that they did this was to have the higher-end model start with more base storage. I could see the same happening with the iPad Pro.

Colors

There is one thing that I would really like to see from the iPad Pro line and that is new colors. The original iPad Pro came in three, Silver, Space Gray, and Gold. The 9.7-inch iPad Pro came in one additional color, Pink. However, all other models have only come in two color options, Space Gray and Silver. I would like to see some new colors, preferably bright colors. Sure, keep the standards of Silver and Space Gray, but some new colors would be good, like maybe an Orange. People who opt for the iPad Pro do enjoy color options, and not just with the cases. I can understand not providing a lot of colors for the keyboard cases, but for the iPads would be a nice thing to have.

One thing not mentioned, thus far, is the chip that will power the iPad Pro.

Chips used in the iPads

With it being so long since Apple has released an iPad it is not easy to even begin to speculate how they might approach upgrades of the devices. It is reasonable to expect that each iPad model will see an upgrade to the next chip in its own line. For example, the 10th generation iPad has an A14 chip, so I would expect the upgraded version to have an A15. Similarly, the iPad Air currently has an M1, so I would expect this to be upgraded to an M2. The iPad Pro has an M2 now, so it would seem logical to have this upgraded to an M3, but that may not be the case.

There are rumors that none of the iPad will have an M3 chip, instead they will have an M4. This is borne out with model identifiers of iPad16,3, iPad16,4, iPad16,5, and iPad16,6. As explained by 9to5Mac, the 5th generation iPad Air and 5th generation iPad Pro had identifiers of iPad13,x, which both have M1 in them. This matched the Macs with an M1, which were all Mac13,x. Those devices with an M2 were iPad14,x and Mac14,x. From a 9to5Mac article:

According to the leaker, the new iPad Air will be powered by T8112, which is M2. However, the new iPad Pro has an unknown "T8132" chip. For instance, the M3 identifier is "T8122."

To add addition evidence, the manufacturing process used for the M3, M3 Pro, M3 Max, and A17 Pro was a one-off process that was significantly more expensive than the M2 line. So, it is possible that the line of iPads will have an entirely new chip, the M4.

Accessories

I expect that these new iPads will be accompanied by some new accessories. In particular, a new keyboard, and a new Apple Pencil.

Keyboards

Apple has long had accessories designed to go with the iPad. Currently Apple offers three different keyboard types for the iPads. These are the Smart Keyboard, Magic Keyboard Folio, and the Magic Keyboard. I expect that we will see updates to these that will work with the new iPads that are released. I suspect that these will be the same type of devices as the current iPads have.

Apple Pencil

The Apple Pencil was introduced with the iPad Pro in 2015. The first generation Apple Pencil allowed charging either via cable or directly in the lightning port on the iPad. This was not ideal, so when Apple introduced the 2nd generation Apple Pencil. The method of charging for the 2nd generation Apple Pencil changed to be charged directly from the side of the iPad. When you place the 2nd generation Apple Pencil on the iPad it also automatically pairs.

The rumors indicate that there will be a new 3rd generation Apple Pencil and that this one will work similar to the 2nd generation, but will also support a "squeeze" function, meaning that you can configure a function when you squeeze the Apple Pencil.

I think the 3rd generation Apple Pencil will replace the 2nd generation. However, it is also possible that the 3rd generation Apple Pencil will be more expensive than the 2nd generation, likely at $149.

My Predictions

1. New iPad Pros with OLED displays, same sizes of 11-inch and 12.9-inch.
2. New iPad Pros with storage starting 512GB, which will increase price.
3. New iPad Pros will have an M4.
4. New 11th generation iPad introduced.
5. 10th Generation iPad becomes the new "base" iPad.
6. 9th generation iPad is no longer in the line-up.
7. New iPad Air in two sizes, 10.9 and 12.9.
8. New Keyboards for the iPad Air and iPad Pro
9. New 3rd generation Apple Pencil with squeeze gesture

Sometime after the Let Loose event on May 7th, I will provide a recap of what Apple actually announces at the event.

Today Apple has sent out invitations to an event happening on May 7th, 2024, titled "Let Loose". The event will be available on Apple.com and via the Apple TV app at 7 a.m. Pacific Time on Tuesday, May 7th. The graphic for the event depicts a hand holding an Apple Pencil, therefore it is expected that this will be the anticipated iPad-focused event.

You can watch the event on the Apple Events page or via the Apple TV app.

As with most events, I will post my predictions sometime prior to the event.

No matter how you slice it, there is nothing free on the internet. There is a maxim that goes “If you are not paying for the product, you are the product”. Spelled out, if you are not paying for a service with money, you are paying with your data. It is that simple. Many websites use ads as a means of paying for supporting their website. Many sites use ads that are targeted towards your interests because it will end up making more money than using generic ads.

Larger companies sometimes have the opportunity to entice people to use their services with incentives. One example is Microsoft and their Microsoft Rewards program.

Microsoft Rewards

Microsoft Rewards is a program that allows you to perform various tasks, like performing searches, completing polls, and performing other tasks. The tasks are not just limited to Bing, but you can also complete tasks on your Xbox or Windows PC. Each of these tasks will reward you some points. The number of points vary on the task. Here are some of the points that you can earn.

You can earn up to 150 points, per day, by searching on the desktop. You can earn up to 100 points per day for searching on a mobile device.

You can earn points by playing games on your Xbox, or in the Xbox Mobile app. You can also earn points by completing weekly, and monthly, quests on your Xbox.

There is no definitive consensus as to how much you can earn per month, but it is close to 20,000 points, if you perform all of the tasks, provided you live in a region where you can earn all of the points.

Once you have earned enough points, you can trade in your points for gift cards, or you can donate your points.

My Experience

I went back and looked at when I first signed up for Bing Rewards, the predecessor to Microsoft Rewards. The earliest email I could find was from 2014. Therefore, I have been using it for nearly 10 years. Over that time I have earned just over 650,000 points. I am sure I could have earned more over that time, but I know there was a time when I did not complete my daily searches, and therefore did not earn points.

As you perform the daily tasks on the Bing website you will start a streak. As you lengthen your streak you will end up earning additional points for continuing the streak. These points are on top of the regular daily points.

For the last few years I have been trying to make a concerted effort to complete the daily tasks and searches to earn a lot of points. I did not have any particular goal in mind, but just enough to redeem some points. It took me years of searching and playing Xbox games, but eventually I did earn a lot of points.

As of this writing, I have a streak of 364 days. This means that for the last 364 days I have done the daily tasks on the Bing website. I have absolutely been doing the tasks for longer than that, but the Bing website decided, on multiple occasions, to decide that my activities did not count as a streak. This has happened multiple times over the last few years.

Each time that the streak breaks, it requires me to start the streak again. The streak, in itself, only matters because it would allow me to get a badge. The current set of badges include:

• Office Mate: 1997 lifetime points
• Dos Boss: 8088 lifetime points
• Audiofile: 35,000 lifetime points
• Local Hero: 98052 lifetime points
• Founder: 441,975 lifetime points
• 7-day set
• 30-day set
• 180-day set
• 365-day set
• 999-day set

I have earned all but the 999 set. It would take me 21 months to get the 999-day set badge. Honestly, the thought of continuing to do the daily tasks for that length of time is, in a word, tiring.

I have mostly been doing the Microsoft Rewards tasks to be able to automatically redeem a 1-month subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The automatic redemption reduces the number of points needed to redeem a code. For the length of time that I had been doing the auto redemption

In December, I redeemed a vast majority of my points for Game Pass Ultimate. I did this not only because it made sense, but also because I have heard horror stories of some people losing access to Microsoft Rewards, and I opted to redeem my points instead of losing them.

Now that we have covered my experience, let us look at some recent changes.

Recent Changes

Over the last few months Microsoft has been making massive changes to the Rewards Program. They have reduced the amount of points that you receive for various tasks. You are still able to receive enough points to redeem Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, or other gift cards, but the points have been reduced.

Another set of changes that they have made recently is that you can only earn up to 25 points by clicking on items. Now, you must perform searches in order to redeem points. Beyond this, Microsoft has implemented a delay between all searches in order to receive points. I can understand wanting to put some delay, in order to stop bots, and this is entirely understandable. However, adding a significant delay also means that it takes an increasingly longer amount of time to complete the daily searches.

Decision to Stop Earning Rewards

Even though you can still earn enough to redeem a gift card, or Game Pass Ultimate, every month, it takes a lot of time to complete the searches every day. In addition to this, the Xbox Rewards apps, on both iOS and Xbox, also take a lot of time.

Beyond the time, the apps do not always trigger the rewards, even though you have completed the tasks. With the delay, app issues, and the overall amount of time needed to complete everything, I have opted to stop doing the searches. I am not entirely sure when I will stop but it will likely be when I’m able to redeem another 3-month Game Pass Ultimate. This would end up being the last of my points, which seems like a good time to stop.

I have already stopped my monthly auto-redemption of my 1-month Game Pass Ultimate and since it is just half-way through the month, it is likely that I will redeem the 3-month Game Pass Ultimate towards the end of the month, and then that will be it for Microsoft Rewards.

Closing Thoughts

There are times in life when you have more time than money. There are other times when you have more money than time. I am in the latter portion. Now, I end up paying for things with my own money. I do this instead of using coupons, or in the case of Microsoft Rewards, allowing Microsoft to use my data to, in exchange for free rewards that I can redeem.

As outlined above, this is because it takes entirely too much time and effort for, what in me, is not worth the trade off. I am not discouraging anybody to use Microsoft Rewards, but for me, it is no longer worth my time. If you want to be able to get rewards, including gift cards, Microsoft Rewards may be worth your time, but expect additional changes in the future.

I, like many tech literate people, end up having multiple hats. One of those "jobs" that many tech literate people end up performing is being tech support for others. When you do need to provide tech support for others, there are instances when that can be accomplished via email, text message, or even over the phone. However, there are those times when you need to actually see what is happening. This requires connecting to a computer. For this, this is where remote control software can be handy.

There are a variety of options available depending on your needs. If you only need to connect to your own computers, you can probably use Apple's built-in software. It becomes a bit trickier if you need to connect to remote devices, but there are some solutions. Some of the available options are Jump Desktop, ZoHo Assist, AnyDesk, and Team Viewer, just to name a few.

Let us look at one in particular, the one I used, Team Viewer.

Team Viewer

For the last decade I have been using Team Viewer. Team Viewer is one of the myriad options available for remotely connecting to devices. The reason that I have been using Team Viewer is because it is cross-platform. I, as you probably guessed, use a Mac, but the other person I support is using a Windows computer.

Team Viewer offers a couple of different methods for connecting to a remote device. The first is by prompting the remote user to allow you to connect to their computer. This method is good if you are on the phone with them. The second option is by using a password. You can configure one so that you can always connect to the device, provided it is powered on.

The reason I chose Team Viewer was because it was free to use for personal use. According to their website:

"...Remote access software connects individuals and devices, allowing you to collaborate, interact, and provide support for free..."

Team Viewer has worked well for over a decade, at least, it did until earlier this year.

The Issue

Over the last couple of months Team Viewer has, incorrectly, been thinking that I am using Team Viewer in a "commercial" manner. Now, I have only ever had two computers connected to my account. One being my own computer, and the second being someone else's. I only ever connect to the other person's computer when they call and need help. When I setup the other computer, I created a password so I could connect automatically if I needed to.

Because Team Viewer thinks I am using their software in a commercial manner it only allows you to be connected for five minutes. To add even more friction, it is not possible to immediately reconnect. Instead, you had to wait at least one minute between connections. This arrangement effectively makes the software useless for remote support and troubleshooting. I struggled through getting kicked off every five minutes for two different sessions, but ultimately decided this was untenable.

Possible Solution

You, reader, might be wondering, "Doesn't Team Viewer have a paid version?". Yes, they do. I am not opposed to paying for software. Not only because I am a software developer and would like people to buy my apps (and books), but because if you like good software, you should probably pay for it. I pay for quite a bit of software, even on a subscription basis.

Paying for the service is one way of that I could have made the error disappear. Team Viewer has a few options, with different levels depending on your needs. The package that would have made sense for me is called "Team Viewer Personal". When I first encountered the issues I looked into the pricing for this. It would cost just $25 per month, and billed on an annual basis. This is comes out to just under $300 per year. To me, this is an absolutely ridiculous amount to pay, per year, to support a single computer.

A second possible solution was to contact Team Viewer support and explain that their software had incorrectly identified me as a commercial user. However, I figured that this approach would go nowhere. Therefore, I only had one option remaining; just completely replace the software with another solution, and that is what I did.

Screens

Once the trouble started the first time, I thought about what software I could use to replace Team Viewer. I looked at several different options, but ultimately landed on a piece of software that I have used before, Screens by Edovia. I am not new to Screens, I actually use the iOS version regularly to connect to my Macs from my iPhone and iPad. When I am on my Mac and need to connect to another of my devices, I just use the built-in Screen Sharing app.

I went back and looked at when I first purchased the Screens app, and it was in 2011 when I purchased Screens for iOS. I then purchased Screens VNC for the Mac in 2014. As mentioned above you can use the Screens apps on your local network and connect to other devices, but Screens really comes into play when you use it to connect to remote computers.

The way that the system operates is by using a relay server, hosted by Edovia, to connect your computers together. This relay software is called "Screens Connect".

Screens connect runs as a service in the background and will keep your computer connected to relay servers so you can access any registered computer at any point. The use of a relay server means that you do not need to open up ports on your router just to use the service.

Setup

Previously, I have done Screen Connects installs on a Mac, but this was my first time doing an install of Screens Connect on Windows. The install was pretty straightforward but one of the steps is to install TightVNC. This is standard free remote connection software. When you set up TightVNC you are required setting up a password, which you can be prompted for when you actually connect to a remote Windows computer.

This password can be entered every time you connect, or you can configure it to be saved within the Connection Settings for a device. This option is good so you do not need to enter in the password each time. Once you have installed Screens Connect, you will not likely need to worry about managing settings later on, but you can do so by right-clicking on a computer and then clicking on "Edit".

Screens App

In order to use Screens Connect, you will need to purchase the Screens app on your Mac. Technically, the app is free, but there is an in-app purchase.

Once you download the app you will have a few options. There are two subscription options; a $2.99 monthly subscription and a $24.99 yearly subscription. The monthly subscription is great for those who only need to do remote support, or need remote access to their computers, on an infrequent basis. There is a third option, which s particular good for those with subscription fatigue. There is a one-time "lifetime" purchase. This, as you might suspect, is more expensive. The one-time purchase is $79.00.

Given how infrequent I need the app, I could have opted for the monthly subscription of $2.99 and just re-purchase it each time I really need it. However, I actually opted to go for the one-time purchase of $79.00. I opted for the one-time purchase partially due to subscription fatigue, but also because I would rather just have a one-time purchase for the software.

I may have to re-purchase the software again once Screens 6 comes out, but, as of this writing, Screen 5.0 just came out four months ago so it will likely be a while before they end up releasing the next major version that requires purchase. So, I do not have any issues with spending the money.

Overall Experience

After I had installed Screens connect on the remote computer, where I previously had Team Viewer installed, and connected using the Screens app I immediate noticed one difference, the screen quality. When using the Screens app the quality was significantly better than when using Team Viewer. It is not like the Windows PC was using a 4K monitor or anything, but it was noticeably clearer and sharper.

The second thing I noticed was the improved responsiveness overall. Instead of clicking taking multiple seconds for an action to complete, things just actually worked as expected. I would absolutely expect a bit of delay due to the age of the computer, and the fact that it is a remote connection, but I did not realize just how poorly the Team Viewer experience was.

Screens 3

As mentioned earlier, I purchased the Screens VNC app back in 2014. Out of curiosity I re-downloaded the latest version of that, which is from 2018, to see if it would work. And, guess what, it actually did run, and it will connect to newer devices. This was simultaneously surprising, and not surprising.

It means that I did not necessarily need to purchase the Screens 5 app, but I do not know how long the Screens 3 app will continue to run. Besides that, supporting small software companies is always a good thing, particularly if you want the software to stay around.

Closing Thoughts

If you have a Mac and are looking for an app that allows you to connect to a remote Windows computer, you may want to look at Screens and Screens Connect. Yes, you will need to purchase a license for the Screens app, but you do have three options, a monthly subscription, a yearly subscription, or even a one-time "lifetime" purchase. The one-time purchase is not an insignificant amount, but it is not exorbitant amount either.

Screens is designed for the Mac, but the fact that they have Screens Connect for Windows means that they do know that a certain segment of their user base does need to connect to other devices.

Today Apple announced that WWDC 24 will take place from June 10th to June 14th.

The format will be the same as the past few years, in that there will be an in-person experience for a limited group of developers and the conference will be available to stream online for everyone. You will be able to stream the videos online at developer.apple.com or via the Apple Developer App.

Should you wish to attend in-person you have a short amount of time to do apply to attend in-person.

As part of their effort to help the next generation of developers, Apple will be announcing the winners of the Swift Student Challenge on Thursday, March 28th, 2024. These winners will be eligible to attend the keynote in-person. Along with them, 50 Distinguished Winners will be invited to the Apple Campus for a three-day experience. You can read more about the criteria for these on the Apple Developer website.

Source: Apple Newsroom

By now you have likely heard that the United States Department of Justice, along with 15 States Attorneys General, and the District of Columbia, are suing Apple under the Sherman Antitrust act.

I am not a lawyer, nor have I ever studied to become one. Instead of me trying to decipher everything, I want to point you an article titled Understanding the DOJ’s Antitrust Complaint Against Apple by John Voorhees from MacStories. John is a lawyer and as such he has a much better understanding of the nuances, and the laws, than most pundits talking about the lawsuit.

I have read through John's article and I do want to pull a couple of relevant parts:

So far, all we have to go by in the DOJ’s action against Apple is the DOJ’s complaint. Under federal law, Apple has 60 days to file an answer, and that deadline could get extended. I mention that because it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that what the DOJ has filed are merely allegations and arguments. The complaint simply represents the facts the DOJ thinks it can prove and how they apply to antitrust law.

This is a good little legal factoid.

Regarding Messaging:

What releasing RCS won’t do is eliminate the DOJ’s argument that third-party messaging services should have access to it just like Messages will as a fallback when a service’s own network is unavailable. That’s something, but the DOJ’s messaging arguments still feel like a bit of an empty sack.

Many have attempted to argue that Apple should be forced to open up their iMessage protocol because lower quality videos are sent to Android phones. This has nothing to do with iMessage, but the fact that SMS is a global industry standard. Apple has not yet implemented the newer Rich Communications Services, or RCS. However, it will be doing so by the end of the year. There is nothing stopping families from using another service, like WhatsApp, Google Chat, or any other messaging app to send images and videos in higher quality.

Regarding Game Streaming:

(Game Streaming) is another good example of a situation where Apple hasn’t done itself any favors. In 2020, Microsoft was beta testing an app-based version of Xbox Cloud Gaming. When Apple told the company that every app on the service would need to be downloaded locally and reviewed by Apple’s App Review team, Microsoft abandoned its app for the Apple-favored, browser-based approach.

To me, this one in particular is entirely on Apple and wanting to boost revenue. If I have subscribe to a game streaming service, there are no security implications for any of Apple's devices. This is because streaming, by its very nature, is merely transmitting audio and video over the internet to the device, just like a movie streamed from a service. Deliberately blocking this is just egregious. As John states:

The DOJ’s arguments will still apply to the period when streaming wasn’t permitted, which may lead to financial penalties...

My Thoughts

This is going to be a long and drawn out case. There are some aspects of this case that I find super flimsy. Futhermore the re-writing of history regarding the iPod, which is not covered in John's article, is particularly egregious, because the U.S. has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the iPod. Additionally, the iPod has nothing to do with the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft in the 1990s, but that is a whole other topic.

I am not sure how much coverage of this I will have on the site, given that it is super nuanced and Apple is going through legal fights all of the time. If there is a settlement and major changes come out of it, I will likely cover it, but as stated before, that could be years from now. I also would not be super suprised if Apple attempted to settle instead of going to trial, but only time will tell.

Today Apple has announced updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models, now with the M3 System on a Chip. According to Apple, the M3 processor in the MacBook Air is up to 60 percent faster than the M1 model, and up to 13 times faster than the last Intel-based MacBook Air.

The 13-inch M3 MacBook Air starts at $1099, with an 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine, and 256GB of storage. The 15-inch model offers the same specifications, except for the 15-inch screen, is $200 more and starts at $1299. You can configure up to 24GB of unified memory, and 2TB of storage.

The M3 MacBook Air does come with a three new features. The first is the AV1 decode engine built directly in the chip, making decoding even faster. This is not present in the M2 MacBook Air. The second feature is support for Wi-Fi 6E, which can result in faster Wi-Fi connections with the right access points.

The last, and arguably more meaningful feature for many users, is the ability to connect two external displays. This is more than the single display you could connect previously. The M3 MacBook Air can support the internal display and one external display up to 6K. In order to use two external displays, you will need to have the MacBook Air lid closed. This second display can be up to 5K resolution running at 60Hz.

You can order them today and they will be available starting this Friday, March 8th, 2024.

The 13-inch M2 MacBook Air remains on sale and now starts at $999 for an 8-core CPU, 8-Core GPU, 8GB of unified memory, and 256GB of storage. You can still configure the M2 MacBook Air with up to 24GB of unified memory, and 2TB of storage.

Source: Apple Newsroom