At 10:00 pm on May 7th, Beijing time, Apple’s “Let It Go” special event was officially held.
The iPad product line, which has been out for two years, has finally received an update. The lighter and thinner iPad Pro is now equipped with a powerful M4 chip, and the iPad Air has also ushered in the dual-size era of 11-inch & 13-inch.
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The Apple Pencil product line also has new products. The new Apple Pencil Pro is coming. Apple wants to make the entire product line “Pro”. In addition, there are new Magic Keyboard, new Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro 2 software released, let’s take a look!
Let’s look at the iPad product line first.
The new iPad Air debuts first. Apple brings 11-inch and 13-inch versions of iPad Air for the first time.The new iPad Air is equipped with a powerful M2 chip. Relying on the faster CPU, GPU and neural network engine in the M2 chip,The performance of the new iPad Air is more powerful, and Apple also emphasized its excellent performance in utilizing practical AI functions.
The front-facing 12MP wide-angle camera adopts a horizontal design – that is, it is placed on the long side of the fuselage. It supports the function of centering people and is suitable for horizontal Facetime calls.
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The new iPad Air also supports high-speed wireless LAN, and cellular network models can support 5G networks. The screen uses a Liquid Retina display and supports Apple Pencil Pro, Apple Pencil (USB-C) and Magic Keyboard. The new iPad Air can open up more possibilities for users' productivity and creation.
In addition to starlight and space gray, the new iPad Air also has two new colors: blue and purple.
In terms of price, the 11-inch iPad Air WiFi version: 128GB is priced at 4,799 yuan, 256GB is priced at 5,599 yuan, 512GB is priced at 7,299 yuan, and 1TB is priced at 8,999 yuan. Cellular version +1,000 yuan.
13-inch iPad Air WiFi version: 128GB is priced at 6,499 yuan, 256GB is priced at 7,299 yuan, 512GB is priced at 8,999 yuan, and 1TB is priced at 10,699 yuan. Add 1,000 yuan for cellular version. Consumers can order the new iPad Air starting on May 9th, and the new product will be officially released on May 15th.
New iPad Pro debuts
After the iPad Air, Apple served the main course – the new iPad Pro.
This time the iPad Pro also comes in two sizes, 11-inch and 13-inch, with thicknesses of only 5.3mm and 5.1mm respectively (yes, the 13-inch version is thinner), which is lighter and thinner. The new iPad Pro is available in silver and space black, and the casings are made of 100% recycled aluminum.
Both models are equipped with a breakthrough ultra-precision Retina XDR display, using breakthrough double-layer series OLED technology to achieve a stunning visual experience.
The full-screen brightness is 1000nits, the HDR peak brightness is as high as 1600nits, the contrast ratio is 2000000:1, and it supports ProMotion adaptive refresh rate of 10-120Hz.
Apple also offers an optional nano-texture display glass panel for the new iPad Pro, which helps reduce glare while maintaining image quality and contrast.
The new iPad Pro has graphite sheets added to the main shell, and copper elements are added to the back panel logo to help dissipate heat, improving the heat dissipation effect by 20%.
iPadOS combined with professional APP can achieve twice the result with half the effort. At this conference, Apple also brought new iPad versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro 2. In addition, there is also Final Cut Camera, which can help users connect iPhone and iPad to achieve real-time multi-camera functionality.
Logic Pro 2 adds new AI-powered accompaniment functions such as “bassist” and “keyboardist”, as well as other AI-powered functions.
The new iPad Pro rear camera uses a 12MP wide-angle single camera and supports shooting 4K Pro Res video. Equipped with adaptive True Tone flash, which can significantly improve the document scanning effect. The front camera (12MP) also comes to the long side and comes with a character centering function, which is very suitable for video calls.
Even more important than the iPad Pro is its debut M4 chip.
The new M4 chip is based on the second-generation 3nm process technology and has up to 10-core CPU (4 performance cores and 6 energy-efficiency cores) and 10-core GPU.
Compared with the previous generation iPad Pro M2, the performance is improved by up to 50%, and the 3D rendering performance is accelerated by up to 4 times. This allows the new iPad Pro to play and edit up to five 4K ProRes materials at the same time.
The dynamic caching function helps the chip greatly improve graphics performance when running various apps and games, and supports hardware-accelerated grid shading and light tracing to achieve better complex scene effects and a full sense of atmosphere.
M4 also has Apple’s most powerful NPU neural network engine to date, which can perform 38 trillion calculations per second.
M4 has an excellent energy efficiency ratio. It uses half the power to achieve the same performance as M2. Compared with the new generation of PC chips, M4 consumes only a quarter of the power.
But one thing to note is that the specifications of M4 on different configurations of iPad Pro are different.
On the 256GB or 512GB storage model, the M4 has a 9-core CPU (3 performance cores and 6 energy efficiency cores) and a 10-core GPU, paired with 8GB of memory.
On the 1TB or 2TB storage model, the M4 specifications are higher, with 10 CPU cores (4 performance cores and 6 energy efficiency cores) and 10-core GPU, and the memory is upgraded to 16GB.
The new iPad Pro will be available for order at 9 a.m. on May 9 and will be officially released on May 15.
In terms of price, the new iPad Pro 11-inch (wireless LAN version): 256GB is priced at 8,999 yuan, 512GB is priced at 10,699 yuan, 1TB is priced at 14,099 yuan (nano glass version is 14,899 yuan), 2TB is priced at 17,499 yuan (nano glass version is 18,299 yuan) ).
New iPad Pro 13-inch (Wireless LAN version): 256GB is priced at 11,499 yuan, 512GB is priced at 13,199 yuan. 1TB is priced at 16,599 yuan (nano glass version 17,399 yuan), 2TB is priced at 19,999 yuan (nano glass version 20,799 yuan). If you choose the cellular version, the price will add an additional 1,700 yuan.
Unlimited creativity with Apple Pencil Pro
When Apple officially announced this special event two weeks ago, Apple Pencil had already appeared in the promotional video. Including multiple Apple logos expressed with different brush strokes, it is obvious that different brushes are used. The recently leaked “Apple Pencil Pro” rumors have finally been confirmed, and Apple has brought a new Apple Pencil Pro.
A new sensor is added to the Apple Pencil Pro body. Users only need to pinch the pen body to open the tool tray to quickly switch tools, line thickness and color.
Apple Pencil Pro has a built-in gyroscope to achieve side rotation function, providing more convenient operation. Users can now precisely control brush tools of different shapes by rotating the Apple Pencil Pro body.
A custom haptic engine delivers perceptible and precise tactile feedback. When you pinch or tap twice, there will be a slight vibration to confirm the operation.
When the Apple Pencil hovers over the iPad, users can visually preview the exact pen position on the display, allowing users to write, draw and draw more accurately.
In addition, two taps on Apple Pencil Pro can also quickly switch between brushes, erasers and other tools.
Apple Pencil Pro can be magnetically attached to the side frame of the iPad for pairing, charging and storage.
The three generations of Apple Pencil currently sold on Apple's official website are the first generation, second generation and USB-C interface version. The new Apple Pencil Pro paired with the latest OLED iPad Pro will definitely make the main application scenarios represented by painting smoother, which can be said to be good news for digital creative content producers.
Apple Pencil Pro is compatible with the just-released 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro (M4) and the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Air (M2). The new product is priced at RMB 999 and will be officially launched on May 15.
Other Accessories
In addition to Apple Pencil, Apple also brought a new Magic Keyboard specially designed for iPad Pro at this special event.
It is made of precision aluminum metal, is thinner and lighter, and has a floating design that can support the iPad Pro at a suitable angle for user convenience. As long as the Magic Keyboard and iPad are magnetically attached, the smart contacts will start supplying power and transmitting data.
The new Magic Keyboard is available in two colors and has a new row of 14 function keys, allowing users to directly adjust screen brightness, volume, etc. The glass touch panel is larger and also supports touch feedback.
The new Magic Keyboard for the 13-inch iPad Pro (M4) is priced at RMB 2,799, while the 11-inch model is priced at RMB 2,399.
