The drought is almost over. After the longest period ever between the launch of iPads, we know that Apple is about to reveal what’s up its sleeve. Here’s everything you need to know, from the exact timings to what is, and what isn’t, going to be announced.
The invite for the next Apple Special Event.
Apple Event Time And Date
The next special event is an online affair, and you can tune in to hear the news on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific, 10 a.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. U.K. Take note of these times because this is not the normal keynote timing.
You can watch on apple.com, on Apple’s YouTube channel, which already has a countdown page in place, or on Apple TV.
What’s Coming: Apple iPad Pro
This is the most exciting part of the expected announcements, with two new iPad Pro models predicted. There will be new 11-inch and 12.9-inch Pros, possibly with the screen size edging up a fraction. There will be an all-new design, changing the look of the tablets for the first time in more than three years. Expect slimmer bezels around the screen and a repositioning of the FaceTime camera to the longer edge instead of the shorter edge of the display as now.
The display, on both sizes, will be OLED—the first time an iPad will have this technology and it will mark the end to the disparity between Pro sizes. Currently only the larger iPad Pro has miniLED backlighting.
That should have been the biggest news, but the latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman made a surprising claim: Apple could, he says, launch an all-new Apple processor, the M4, something even the latest Macs can’t match.
I’ll be honest, I’m still skeptical on the M4 detail, and I predict that M3 is more likely here, but we’ll see.
The sting in the tail could be a hefty price increase brought about by the OLED screen.
Expected release date: Friday, May 17.
What’s Coming: Apple iPad Air
Apple has never launched new models of the iPad Pro and iPad Air together, so Tuesday will be a very big day for that reason alone.
We’re expecting not one but two new iPads Air. For the first time, there will be two sizes of iPad Air. Alongside the current 10.9-inch model, an iPad Air with a 12.9-inch display is coming, it seems.
This makes sense: the latest MacBook Air with larger display has been a big success. But it does mean Apple will need to clearly demarcate between Air and Pro if they are both released in similar sizes.
One difference will be the OLED screens, which are not expected to land on the Air. One report claimed that the larger Air would use unsold inventory of 12.9-inch iPad Pro displays with miniLED, but then quickly rowed back from this on the basis that it would push the price of the Air up too much.
Expected release date: Friday, May 17 or Friday, May 24.
What’s Coming: Apple Pencil And Magic Keyboard
There’s an Apple Pencil in the image used to advertise the event, so it would be remarkable if there wasn’t a new Pencil. The latest report says that it will have haptic feedback and a new way of interacting with it: by squeezing the Pencil.
Expected release date: Friday, May 17.
What’s Not Coming: AI And Apple Vision Pro
One report said that Tuesday’s event will have a big AI component. While there doubtless will be talk of AI, especially if the Pro does have an M4 chip, the big generative AI innovations will come with WWDC in June.
And there have been rumors that Apple will announce bringing Apple Vision Pro to the U.K., for instance, but I don’t think that’s right. It’s just possible that the China release of Vision Pro could be signaled, but my guess is that WWDC will be the venue for international sales announcements of the headset.