The launch of the new series of iPads, the first in almost two years, is all about the hardware. It is not clear how far Apple is in the AI race and whether a sensation awaits us. There is also no answer to the question of how the company will utilize generative AI technology to this end close the gap with Microsoft/OpenAI and Google. Apple may choose its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in a month as the stage for this.
In terms of hardware, Apple does have an answer ready. Apple presented the new M4 chip on Tuesday with a ‘neural engine’ that ensures the acceleration of AI workloads. This newcomer succeeds the M3, which was introduced for the Mac last October. The new high-end iPads will therefore have a more powerful chip than the most expensive MacBooks. According to Apple, this was necessary to power the new Oled display in the iPad Pro. The M4 also makes an unprecedentedly thin design possible. The 13-inch iPad Pro measures 5.1mm, thinner than an old iPod nano music player. The new Pro models are four times more powerful than their predecessors with the M2 on board.
The M4 is also powerful enough to soon be able to handle advanced AI functions in the field of images and video. Thanks to this chip, you can already separate a subject from the background in a 4K video in Final Cut Pro with one tap. You can automatically create sheet music in StaffPad in real time when you hear someone playing the piano. Thanks to AI features in iPadOS, you can generate audio captions in real time. The identification of objects in photos and videos is also lightning fast.
Apple will certainly do everything it can to meet the high expectations that the creative world has for its AI. But the big question is whether Apple can come up with innovations that appeal to the general public. In the field of chips, the company has made major investments to prepare the hardware for the AI era. Apple designs its own chips and is no longer dependent on Intel.
Second generation
The new M4 is a system-on-a-chip built with second-generation 3-nanometer technology. The new CPU has up to ten cores (four performance cores and six efficiency cores), while the new 10-core GPU builds on the advanced GPU architecture of the M3. Apple claims that the neural engine is faster than the neural processing unit in any AI PC on the market. Together with other technical gadgets, the M4 turns the iPad Pro into a device that is ideally suited for new apps that work with AI.
A little more about the new iPads. The showpiece is the 13-inch iPad Pro, which is available from 1,569 euros; a price you can buy a high-quality PC for. The 11-inch model retails for 1,219 euros. Both models have become a few hundred euros more expensive compared to their predecessors. You will of course pay even more for 1 or 2 TB of storage space.
In addition to the new M4 chip, the new iPad Pro also gives you a device with a luxurious OLED screen; According to Apple, the most advanced display in the world. If you are still spending, you can get: an Apple Pencil Pro (149 euros), a new Magic Keyboard (349 euros for 11-inch version and 399 euros for 13-inch version) and a Smart Folio (89 euros in 11 inches, 119 euros in 13 inches). With such a combination, a laptop or Mac is hardly necessary anymore. In the middle class, Apple introduces the new iPad Air with improved chips and camera.
Claims against Apple
Apple is under fire in the Netherlands from two claim organizations. Consumer claim and the Aequitas Foundation have gone to court because the Apple company allegedly deliberately made the iPhone 6, 7 and SE slower. More precisely, Apple offered customers software updates that degrade the performance of said 2016, 2017, and 2018 phones. These updates would also have concealed an underlying battery defect. Both organizations are now demanding that consumers be compensated for the damage suffered.
Similar actions are underway in America, with Apple having settled for a total of $572 million. Apple’s aim is to stimulate replacement demand. Apple denies that. The company does admit to having made devices with weakening batteries slower. Apple says it wanted to prevent the processor from draining the battery too quickly. In addition to the Netherlands, actions against Apple are also underway elsewhere in Europe.
