It’s right about that time of the year when tech giant Apple showcases the latest line of its tablet devices to woo new users and impress its loyal customers, and the Let Loose event certainly didn’t disappoint. Alongside a new iPad Pro with a brand new display and chip powering it under the hood, tablet users can also look forward to a refreshed iPad Air line that brings increased power and versatility to the Apple table.
The New Apple iPad Pro
Already Apple’s most powerful tablet, the new entry takes things up a notch. With an 11-inch (5.1mm thick) and 13-inch model (5.5mm thick) to choose from, the thin and light design is complemented by the breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display that “uses two OLED panels and combines the light from both to provide phenomenal full-screen brightness.” This means an incredible 1000 nits of full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR content, and 1600 nits peak for HDR.
The new M4 chip “features Apple’s most powerful Neural Engine ever, capable of 38 trillion operations per second, which is 60x faster than Apple’s first Neural Engine in the A11 Bionic chip.” Throw in the next-generation ML accelerators in the CPU, a high-performance GPU, more memory bandwidth, and intelligent features and powerful developer frameworks in iPadOS, the new iPad Air combines stellar performance with plenty of capacity for AI-enabled tasks,
Users can also take advantage of the device’s updated camera system. The 12MP back camera will capture images with better colour, textures, and detail in low light, and the new adaptive True Tone flash enables better document scanning than ever before. For those looking to shoot, edit, and share all from the Pro, the four studio-quality mics will be of big help.
iPad Air Reimagined
The good stuff isn’t just restricted to Apple’s flagship tablet; its smaller cousins are also along for the ride. Now available in two sizes for the first time, the 11-inch iPad Air is all about portability, while the 13-inch model provides an even larger display for those desiring more screen real estate. Under the hood, the M2 chip boasts a faster CPU, GPU, and Neural Engine, offering even more performance and upping the game for artificial intelligence like the Pro, albeit on a smaller scale.
On the camera front, the 12MP Wide back camera will deliver high-resolution photos and detailed 4K video with support for 240-FPS slo-mo. Dual microphones make it easier to capture audio from the camera and minimise distracting background noise. There are also new landscape stereo speakers with Spatial Audio, with the 13-inch model capable of even better sound quality with double the bass.
Choosing the Right Apple iPad
With so much to consider, here’s a quick glance at all the possible new tablets that you can already pre-order, including options for the new nano-texture glass that helps to reduce glare without diminishing the image quality:
| Capacity | iPad Pro M4 (11-inch) | iPad Pro M4 (13-inch) | iPad Air M2 (11-inch) | iPad Air M2 (13-inch) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 128GB | – | – | S$899 (Wi-Fi only) S$1,129 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,199 (Wi-Fi only) S$1,429 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| 256GB | S$1,499 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$1,799 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,999 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$2,299 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,049 (Wi-Fi only) S$1,279 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,349 (Wi-Fi only) S$1,579 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| 512GB | S$1,799 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$2,099 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$2,299 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$2,599 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,349 (Wi-Fi only) S$1,579 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,649 (Wi-Fi only) S$1,879 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| 1TB | S$2,399 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$2,699 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) S$2,548 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi only) S$2,849 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$2,899 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$3,199 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) S$2,899 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi only) S$3,349 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,649 (Wi-Fi only) S$1,879 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$1,949 (Wi-Fi only) S$2,179 (Wi-Fi + Cellular) |
| 2TB | S$2,999 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$3,299 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) S$3,149 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi only) S$3,449 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | S$3,499 (standard glass, Wi-Fi only) S$37699 (standard glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) S$3,649 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi only) S$3,949 (nano-texture glass, Wi-Fi + Cellular) | – | – |
In addition, consumers can opt for the following accessories to round out their latest purchases:
- Apple Pencil (USB-C) – S$119
- Apple Pencil Pro – S$199
- Magic Keyboard – S$529
