Apple’s Let loose event just wrapped up, bringing us exciting iPad-centered innovations poised to revolutionise professional environments. To get you up to speed on what’s new for business, this blog highlights the key novelties announced and how these new features and updates are expected to enhance productivity and collaboration in the workplace.

Apple hosting an event just before WWDC is an unexpected move, but the iPad line up was definitely overdue for some love. Since the last iPad release in October 2022, there has been growing anticipation around Apple’s next tablet refresh.

Apple has met the buzz by unveiling a range of new iPads and accessories designed to elevate workplace efficiency and productivity. The start of the show? That is for sure the next generation iPad Pro models, which many have been eagerly awaiting.

The newly announced iPads and accessories offer significant improvements in display quality, design, performance, and camera capabilities. These upgrades provide insight into Apple’s vision for the future of iPad computing and reaffirm its position as an industry innovator.

Let’s dive into what’s new (for business).

 

M4: Rocket Chip

The new M4 chip will debut in the 2024 iPad Pro line-up, making the iPad Pro one of the most powerful AI devices on the market. A summary of its specifications.

• The M4 chip employs second-generation 3nm technology and features a 10-core CPU with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. According to Apple, this setup makes the chip 50% more powerful than the M2 chip in the previous iPad Pro.
• The M4’s 10-core GPU supports dynamic caching, mesh shading, and ray tracing. It also includes a new display engine that provides a rendering speed four times faster than that of the M2.

 

The highlight of the event is undoubtedly the next-generation iPad Pro models. Equipped with the new M4 chip and OLED screen, the 2024 iPad Pro is poised to reshape the workplace. Let’s explore the latest (business) enhancements.

• The new iPad Pro is the first Apple device to feature the M4 chip, which includes an upgraded Neural Engine designed to boost the tablet’s AI capabilities. This marks the beginning of Apple’s move into AI-focused hardware.
• For the first time, OLED displays are being introduced to the iPad. Both the 13-inch and 11-inch models now feature OLED technology, offering benefits like enhanced brightness and substantial improvements in contrast. Perfect for workloads where colour accuracy is essential!
• The switch to OLED displays allows both iPad models to become significantly thinner and lighter. The larger model is about 5.1 mm think, the smaller model 5.3 mm. This makes the devices easier to hold for extended periods and more convenient for travel.
• The iPad Pro is now shifting its front-facing camera to the longer side of the bezel, centring it for landscape orientation just like Mac cameras. This long-awaited change eliminates the video conferencing issue where users appeared to be looking to the side instead of directly at the person they were speaking with.
• Apple has improved the cameras in the new iPad Pro for superior image quality and upgraded the adaptive flash for more efficient document scanning.
• The new industrial design of the iPad Pro 2024 improves the thermals of the device by up to 20%, resulting in an overall 4x performance boost compared to the previous-generation iPad.
• The iPad Pro provides high-performance connectivity with a USB-C connector supporting Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4, enabling fast transfers up to 40Gb/s. Besides, it offers Wi-Fi 6E for rapid wireless connections and 5G cellular for seamless on-the-go access.
• The new iPad Pro is compatible with the new versions of the Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil.

The new iPad Pro now offers a base storage of 256 GB, which is an upgrade from the previous model. The iPad Pro 2024, available in silver and space black finishes, can be pre-ordered as of May 7 and will be delivered starting May 15. Prices start from €963,01 (VAT Excl.) for the 11-inch model. The 12.9-inch model starts at €1239,51 (VAT excl.).