Apple Event Rumors: iPad Pro With M4 Chip and New Apple Pencil With Haptic Feedback

[alecgold]

I’d expect SOME A.I. announcements to run on M1-M3 machines... but maybe Apple would use this to screen out any on Intel Macs to drive more conversions... "all this needs advanced neural engines that exist only in Apple Silicon" Just ignore that existing A.I. runs just fine on PC hardware for a few years now.
…

Bit of a false argument, as hardly any serious AI is running on PC’s, it’s running on cloud services.
So if Apple really wants to run AI on a mobile machine, that would really be a nice step forward, and might be a big step forward in privacy.

 

[Regret]

Has Apple ever released its fastest chip first in the iPads before?

M4 is apparently mostly AI-themed in terms of upgrades so bringing it to iPad first, during their big year of AI upgrades kinda makes sense. Would certainly be a good compromise for those who got a M3 Mac recently.

 

[Torty]

Another topic: is this big AI thing expected for iPadOS 17.5? If not.. why M4 now w/o any SW support?

 

[tobybrut]

Who spread the rumors that was the case? Mark Gurman right? Apple hasn’t implied that was what they were doing.

If you don’t believe those rumors, then sure. But if those rumors are accurate, then it makes sense. Feel free to disbelieve those rumors.

 

[Realityck]

Another topic: is this big AI thing expected for iPadOS 17.5? If not.. why M4 now w/o any SW support?

You're too logical.

 

[Realityck]

If you don’t believe those rumors, then sure. But if those rumors are accurate, then it makes sense. Feel free to disbelieve those rumors.

reference

More like creative speculation based on the TSMC road map, not rumors that are based on any kind of facts like starting production with devices using said to be M4 N3E already and shipping in May. Also note that maps of TSMC technology is always an approximation to when the actual technology milestones are achieved.

At this time I see more of the iPads being updated including the popular IPad Mini. The base iPad seems to be more of a Fall affair. The new Magic Keyboard and the 3rd Gen. squeezable gesture pencil are very likely. Possibility Mac mini updates also before WWDC.

 

[TracerAnalog]

Like last year was the year of Apple's headset. The industry cried please save us Apple as only you can because everyone else if floundering and haven't convinced consumers. Well AI is another topic that consumers aren't sold on.

AI will be a force to reckon with, whether people are ‘into it’ or not. Many jobs will be lost, new ones created, and there will be major shifts in industries.
Just not this year😉

 

[TheNewLou]

I can’t imagine the impact that would have on the battery.

It's not like it's going to violently shake

Right now there is zero physical feedback, so it doesn't feel like a real pencil (or crayon, chalk, paintbrush, pen, etc.) at all

A really subtle effect, especially (although this would be difficult) if it matched the irregularity/scratchiness of the brushstroke it's creating (e.g., a marker would feel relatively smooth; chalk or a steel-nib pen much less so) would feel—dare I say it—magical

 

[tobybrut]

Another topic: is this big AI thing expected for iPadOS 17.5? If not.. why M4 now w/o any SW support?

This does seem to be a dilemma. How many features do you promote for iPadOS 17.5 next week and how much is held back for iPadOS 18? There will probably be something significant because of the rumors for why this iPad release has slid by at least two months with the original rumored release dates to be late February to early March. Since iPad releases are only sometimes synchronized with major iPadOS releases (those always happen alongside iPhone releases), the typical Apple software improvements are only to handle new features the new iPad has. Somehow the software needed to support these new iPads seems to be far more significant than in the past if it can push the release date this far back to the point where it nearly collides with WWDC. If the new Pros do indeed come with the M4, Apple’s going to have to cover some new AI features, but I still bet the bulk will come with iPadOS 18. Perhaps Apple will give us a “to be continued next month”?

Of course, the logical question is, why didn’t Apple just release this next month at WWDC and fold this into the WWDC keynote? Length, perhaps? That implies this May 7 event may be longer than we expect. We can probably expect June’s keynote to be pretty long, then, perhaps upwards of 2 hours. The other explanation is that even though Apple does introduce iPadOS 18 in June, it doesn’t really become available publicly until mid-to-late September, so Apple will have to discern the differences between iPadOS 17.5 and 18.0 anyway, so why not do it at separate times?

 

[Realityck]

That implies this May 7 event may be longer than we expect. We can probably expect June’s keynote to be pretty long, then, perhaps upwards of 2 hours.

I would have thought given the products likely including a couple of wildcards, that the May 7th calendar reminder being two hours seems oddly long. But perhaps anything over a hour would necessitate that. Last years WWDC was very rushed because it was so comprehensive. Perhaps this earlier Let Loose event will allow Apple to gauge response and allow more discussion to what iOS/iPadOS entails.

 

[rmariboe]

For me, lately, the struggle with my iPad Pro is finding a good, reliable, non-subscription based media player. I use VLC, nPlayer, and more recently I purchased OPlayer, and none of them have a reliable UI when using it on an external monitor while reading files from an external hard drive. The UI glitches, or doesn’t work well between the iPad and the external monitor.

Any suggestion is welcome.

I'm happy with Infuse and Plex - both one time purchases 🤔

 

[Populus]

I'm happy with Infuse and Plex - both one time purchases 🤔

I don’t know about Plex (and I think that’s now what I’m looking for), but Infuse is a subscription based app. And the lifetime one time purchase is 100€, which for a media player, is out of my budget.

But don’t worry, I already found two great media players that are fully functional for free, and with a small one time purchase of 7€ you can unlock other interesting features. Those are OutPlayer, and Media Player - PiP and more. Simple and efficient media players at a low price! And fully compatible with the external monitor setup.

 

[Antony Newman]

If the maximum power draw of an iPad Pro is 1/2 that of a Macbook Air - an M4 will run at ~40% slower than an M3 Macbook air (if M4 is on average 10% faster than the M3). It not going to ‘piss off‘ Macbook owners on M3.

If software that leverages on device ML (Adobe Premier/Blackmagic Resolve) - the iPadOs versions could benefit from more dedicated hardware & RAM. It is possible for the next iPad to jump to ‘parts’ of the next M4 chipset running a lower clock frequency.

iPad Air on M2 - for a reduced price; OLED iPad Pro on an M4 for double the price and ‘enough power’ for the next 2-3 years?

It would however leave the Mac Studio and Mac Pros on ‘M2’ technology for a year after an M4 iPad was available (mid 2025 for desktops if Gurman‘s whispers are to be believed). Releasing an EOY M3 for the Studio would also seem a bit bizarre (M4 rumours might even hurt M3 sales if it did come out).

If N3E was indeed in high volume in Dec 2023 - perhaps what we are seeing is Apple jump all non-laptops off M3 (N3B) as quickly as possible?

A 10%+ reduction in manufacturing cost of N3E has to be something the shareholders & board wouldn‘t pass over - especially if the next iPads are on a 18-24 month cycle.

 

[Sami13496]

releasing an M4 will kill M3 mac sales

That is simply not true. Average Mac customer is buying MacBook Air for basic stuff, office work, etc. Most of those customers are so called 8/256 configuration users. They don’t even care if it’s M2 or M3. They certainly won’t be going for entirely different form factor (iPad) just because it has M4 chip in it. Nor will they wait for M4 MBA. Only some enthusiasts might make that kind of decisions.

 

[tutubibi]

I don't think it will be M4. Apple might test drive new optimized process by releasing new iPads with M3X (or M3+) with M3 architecture on N3E process. Something Intel did for a long time, tick, tock.

 

[Gelam]

Oh? Now Gurman believes it’s likely we see an M4 powering the next iPad Pro? After we’ve been discussing it for well over a week…

We held to the belief, it is paying off! (if this rumor is true that is)

 

[Gelam]

I don't think it will be M4. Apple might test drive new optimized process by releasing new iPads with M3X (or M3+) with M3 architecture on N3E process. Something Intel did for a long time, tick, tock.

I suppose that might also be possible. We will see in a week's time.

 

[Gelam]

That’s why they give features only for newest devices. Or promote apps/games which only run on the latest and greatest.
Wanna have a 80% charge limit? You need to get 15 series. Wanna play resident evil? You need to have at least 15 pro. Etc.

Actually the force hard 80% charge limit is such a good feature I hope will be in every apple devices. From iPads to MacBooks to Apple Watches.

Otherwise I have to constantly look at the charge % and unplug/replug chargers all day. I also do not want to install 3rd party apps to control charging behavior. The current "optimize" charging feature is also not enough because my charging schedule changes all the time.

 

[Torty]

I don't think it will be M4. Apple might test drive new optimized process by releasing new iPads with M3X (or M3+) with M3 architecture on N3E process. Something Intel did for a long time, tick, tock.

It could also get the Neural Engine cores from A17 pro which would double the performance compared to M3. Then in fall the A18 pro will get new NE cores.

 

[Torty]

That is simply not true. Average Mac customer is buying MacBook Air for basic stuff, office work, etc. Most of those customers are so called 8/256 configuration users. They don’t even care if it’s M2 or M3. They certainly won’t be going for entirely different form factor (iPad) just because it has M4 chip in it. Nor will they wait for M4 MBA. Only some enthusiasts might make that kind of decisions.

Agree but if M4 is big in media with all the AI buzz they could hold out till there is a M4 Mac available too. This is also what I would do if I hadn't already got my M3 MBA a few weeks ago.

 

[ric22]

If the maximum power draw of an iPad Pro is 1/2 that of a Macbook Air - an M4 will run at ~40% slower than an M3 Macbook air (if M4 is on average 10% faster than the M3). It not going to ‘piss off‘ Macbook owners on M3.

Did M2 run ~40% slower on the iPads? I didn't see that anywhere. Single core certainly remains the same... Perhaps an issue only when all cores and the GPU are all demanded at once.

 

[ric22]

It could also get the Neural Engine cores from A17 pro which would double the performance compared to M3. Then in fall the A18 pro will get new NE cores.

I think that's been debunked- some stats on paper made the A17 Neural Engine look more powerful, but that wasn't really the case at all- it wasn't even as capable as the M3 Neural Engine- all caused by misleading numbers provided by Apple.

 

[Torty]

I think that's been debunked- some stats on paper made the A17 Neural Engine look more powerful, but that wasn't really the case at all- it wasn't even as capable as the M3 Neural Engine- all caused by misleading numbers provided by Apple.

18 TOPs for M3 vs. 35 TOPs for A17 pro. It’s from apple site.
They also say „2x faster“

 

[ric22]

18 TOPs for M3 vs. 35 TOPs for A17 pro. It’s from apple site.
They also say „2x faster“

I'm aware of the 18 vs 35 numbers. Not sure Apple said the A17 was 2x faster than the M3, though?? Two times faster than the A16 perhaps? Anyway, TOPS is apparently not a particularly meaningful measure of real world performance. It was discussed at length in another thread. Have a Google... The M3's NE is apparently much quicker in most tasks.

Edit: If anyone with the necessary technical background is reading this, can you elaborate on the matter, please?

 

[Torty]

I'm aware of the 18 vs 35 numbers. Not sure Apple said the A17 was 2x faster than the M3, though?? Two times faster than the A16 perhaps? Anyway, TOPs is apparently not a particularly meaningful measure of real world performance. It was discussed at length in another thread. Have a Google... The M3's NE is apparently much quicker in most tasks.

Edit: If anyone with the necessary technical background is reading this, can you elaborate on the matter, please?

Yes 2x of A16. Then you can do some research A16NPU -> A15 NPU -> M2 NPU -> M3 NPU. I also read about it and I couldn't find any evidence that the M3 got the NPU of the A17 pro. So according data it looks like it uses the NPU of A15/M2. A16 got the same, is a bit faster because it got higher clock than A15.