The most powerful iPad Pro is released, featuring the "Royal Flush" chip M4, making it the thinnest Apple product in history.

The iPad series, which has not been updated for 18 months, finally received a major update tonight.

As the last major product released by Steve Jobs before his passing, the iPad indeed created and defined a whole new category of devices. However, the controversy over "productivity" and "entertainment" continues to this day.

On the 7th, Apple once again responded to Steve Jobs' vision of the future of computing at the press conference.

Apple has placed its most powerful chip in the iPad series for the first time, making the iPad Pro the first Apple device truly driven by AI, ushering in the wave of AIGC for the tech company.

This also tells people that even though the iPad may not be a revolutionary product now, it still embodies Apple's most advanced technology and is an important piece in Apple's future AI strategy. Tonight's event is also the best preview for the June WWDC.

The first M4 chip, the thinnest Apple product, iPad Pro welcomes the "biggest update" after a year and a half of silence. As the facade of the iPad Pro, the new models all come with OLED displays, marking the exit of the LED/mini-LED displays used in the previous generation. For reference, the previous 11-inch iPad Pro used an LED display with support for the P3 wide color gamut and a maximum brightness of 600 nits, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro used a mini-LED display with support for the P3 color gamut and a maximum brightness of up to 1600 nits.

Thanks to the self-luminous characteristics of the OLED display, the iPad Pro that has switched to the OLED camp can make black display deeper, with extremely high contrast, providing more vivid and realistic color performance, and far surpassing the previous generation iPad in details in dark and low light.

The new OLED screen of the iPad Pro also adopts a dual-layer series structure. Compared with the traditional single-layer pixel structure, this design can significantly improve the brightness and durability of the screen.

More importantly, this technology shares the display load by adding an additional layer of pixels, thereby reducing the workload of each pixel, effectively alleviating the "burn-in" issue that often occurs on traditional OLED screens, which is particularly important for extending the lifespan of OLED screens.

AI is the public face of Apple this year, and how to achieve AI + iPad Pro is the top priority on the table.

The new iPad Pro directly "stepped on the gas" in chip selection, skipping Apple's latest M3 series chips and debuting with the M4 series chips built on the second generation 3-nanometer process technology.

The CPU speed of the M4 chip is 50% faster than the M2 chip, and its overall performance is 4 times faster than the current iPad Pro. It also supports ray tracing for the first time.

At the same time, Apple claims that its neural network engine is the most powerful in history, with a running speed of up to 380 trillion times per second, which is 60 times that of the A11. Its performance is powerful enough to surpass all AI PCs today.

To improve the heat dissipation of the iPad Pro, Apple has added graphite heat dissipation to the shell and covered copper on the Apple logo. Apple stated that this design, combined with the M4, reduces the power consumption of the iPad Pro to one-fourth that of a PC.

Equipped with the new Neural Engine M4 series chip, it also significantly enhances AI capabilities. For example, iPadOS can be linked in real time with the camera, directly scanning real-world documents and turning them into electronic documents.

Compared to the recently released "best consumer-grade laptop for AI," the new iPad Pro can be called Apple's first device truly driven by AI.

The new iPad Pro has made minor adjustments in size, extending the 12.9-inch model that has been around for 9 years to 13 inches, a truly tiny change.

In addition, the new iPad Pro has successfully undergone a "micro plastic surgery" on the bezels, making the narrowed front view look even cleaner. With the OLED screen not requiring a backlight module to provide screen illumination, the new iPad Pro has reduced its overall thickness after removing this layer of structure, making it the thinnest iPad Pro in Apple's history.

The thickness of the 11-inch iPad Pro has decreased from 5.9mm to 5.3mm, while the other version's thickness has decreased from 6.4mm to 5.1mm.

The movement of the front camera is also a small highlight. Now the new iPad Pro is more suitable for use in the horizontal direction, paired with the newly released Magic Keyboard. Although there is still a world of difference between the "essence" and a laptop, the "face" does have a taste of high-end elegance.

It is worth noting that the maximum storage capacity of the new iPad Pro still remains at 2TB. After watching the launch event, colleagues couldn't help but say that their iPad Pro at home seems to be able to fight for a few more years.

The rare "toothpaste-squeezing" iPad Pro also means a soaring price.

According to the official Apple website, the starting price for the 11-inch iPad Pro in China is 8999 yuan, and the starting price for the 13-inch iPad Pro is 11499 yuan. The top-of-the-line 13-inch 2TB cellular standard glass version is priced at 21699 yuan.

iPad Air: The largest in history, but with strict hierarchy

In recent years, the trend in tablet development has been towards larger sizes, and the iPad Air has also reached the largest size in history at 13 inches. Similar to the iPad Pro series, Apple has released two sizes of the iPad Air.

In other aspects, the iPad Air basically continues Apple's traditional design, but the front camera has also been moved to the long side, like the iPad 10 and iPad Pro, and it also has better stereo sound effects, which can be considered a moderate upgrade.

The new iPad Air also brings us more color choices. The new iPad Air is available in four colors: blue, purple, starlight, and space gray, allowing it to better serve users who focus on "iQIYI." When the poster was just released, some comments suggested that color might become a key feature of the new iPad Air, and it seems to be the case now.

In addition to the changes in appearance, the new iPad Air also has some performance improvements. The M2 chip, as the previous generation of the M series, has to be said to have much smaller improvements compared to the M3. However, the result is a lower cost, which is definitely a good thing for many price-sensitive users, and together with the screen, it has become proof of the "strict hierarchy" of the iPad Air.

However, from a price perspective, the new iPad Air does not bring much benefit. The 11-inch iPad Air is priced at 4799 yuan for the Chinese market, and the 13-inch iPad Air is priced at 6499 yuan.

Overall, the new iPad Air maintains its lightweight and portable characteristics while also having more powerful performance and richer features. Of course, it is also more "strictly graded," but this allows the iPad Air to have new vitality in a wider range of user groups.

For ordinary users who pursue high-quality and lightweight office and entertainment experiences, the new iPad Air with more configurations undoubtedly provides a more diverse selection.

For the updates on these new iPads, here is a reorganization of some key points, which may help you better understand the features and differences of these new products.

We will soon prepare a more detailed iPad buying guide for everyone, so please stay tuned for the upcoming updates.

New iPad Pro

All models are upgraded to OLED screens, available in 11 inches and 13 inches, and come with the M4 chip, starting at a price of 8999 yuan.

New iPad Air

Available in 11 inches and 13 inches (the largest ever), equipped with the M2 chip, starting at a price of 14999 yuan.

After this product upgrade, Apple now has the clearest and simplest, yet most strictly graded iPad product line in many years.

iPad (9th generation): equipped with a 10.2-inch screen and a home button. iPad (10th generation): equipped with a 10.9-inch screen, without a home button. iPad mini (6th generation): equipped with an 8.3-inch screen. iPad Air: 11-inch and 13-inch models, equipped with the M2 chip. iPad Pro: 11-inch and 13-inch models, equipped with the M4 chip.

A more productive tool system than the Air: Apple Pencil Pro and other accessories

The Apple Pencil is prominently featured on the poster for the event, showing the high level of attention Apple pays to it.

The Apple Pencil Pro has indeed brought us many surprises this time, first of all, it is the first to be equipped with vibration feedback, which not only brings a writing experience closer to that of a real pen, but also makes drawing and other operations more precise, allowing users to immerse themselves more deeply in their creations.

In addition, to meet the creative needs of different forms and content, and to adapt to different usage scenarios, the Apple Pencil Pro introduces different shapes and functions of "pen tips" that can be quickly replaced using magnetic attraction. However, the most eye-catching feature of the Apple Pencil Pro is the newly added series of squeezing/rotating gestures.

In fact, the second-generation Apple Pencil already had the function of switching tools by tapping the flat side of the pen, but in reality, there was no sensor on the side of the pen, and this operation was only detected by the sensor on the pen tip. The new Apple Pencil has added new sensors to the pen shaft to detect pressure, while retaining existing gestures and adding more functionality.

Developers can also set up interactions to stimulate more creativity, allowing this pen to have more possibilities and better adapt to complex and diverse drawing scenarios.

In addition, the Apple Pencil 3 also comes with a "Find" function, helping users easily track and locate a lost Apple Pencil. This feature has been highly praised on AirPods and is indeed very practical for such small accessories. The price of 999 yuan in China also makes it more accessible to ordinary users.

In fact, whether it's different forms of "pen tips" or a variety of Apple-style squeezing gestures, they are all trying to make the Apple Pencil a more comprehensive and professional productivity tool. Since it is a productivity tool system, a keyboard is also essential. The iPad Pro-exclusive Magic Keyboard was also released.

It features an aluminum shell, is more lightweight, and has a larger trackpad, which can make the iPad Pro "look more like a laptop." The prices of 2399 yuan and 2799 yuan are also considered moderate.

I have to say that whether it's the Apple Pencil or the Magic Keyboard, they are adding weight to the iPad, making it a new form of productivity tool other than a computer, but even more portable than a typical laptop.

If the Pro is Max or Ultra, then this system centered around the iPad, Apple Pencil, and Magic Keyboard could perhaps be called "least".

The iPad is not the future of computers, but it can be your other computer.

When the first iPad was released, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said that the iPad would be the future of computers.

PCs and laptops are like trucks that complete heavy tasks, while tablets are like cars, meeting the daily needs of most people.

For this computing terminal between a phone and a PC, Jobs believed that it must excel in certain key features in order to be viable.

However, in the past 20 years, smartphones have undoubtedly become the true mass computers. Even as people begin to talk about the next generation of computing terminals, what comes to mind is often Vision Pro, Ray-Ban Meta, or even some immature AI hardware, with few mentioning the iPad.

In recent years, the update pace of the iPad series has also slowed down. It has been a year and a half since Apple last updated the iPad, making it the longest update cycle for the iPad since its debut in 2010.

Now, Apple's most powerful M4 chip is first installed on the iPad Pro, which also basically indicates Apple's attitude towards the positioning of this product. They are no longer avoiding potential competition with Mac, but aiming to provide a PC-level experience in certain productivity scenarios.

In the eyes of some people, the excessive performance may also be Apple's preparation for a series of AI updates to be released at WWDC. Given Apple's emphasis on security and privacy, many features are likely to rely on on-device AI models, which cannot be achieved without powerful chip support.

In fact, since the launch of the iPad Pro in 2015, Apple has been aiming to make it a personal productivity device comparable to a PC, even if it affects the sales of some entry-level Macs.

Although the iPad Pro is still considered a "buy now, love later" device for most ordinary users, there have been constant doubts about its productivity. However, in recent years, the iPad Pro has indeed been moving towards becoming a productivity tool.

The 2018 iPad Pro eliminated the Home button to make the screen borders narrower, and was the first to replace the Lightning port with a Type-C port, making it compatible with more devices and providing a foundation for more professional workflows.

After Apple separated iPadOS from iOS, it began to increase the differentiation between iPad and iPhone or Mac in software interaction.

The 2020 model introduced the Magic Keyboard and trackpad. iPadOS 13.4 not only achieved precise cursor control, but also continued the intuitive multi-touch gestures, balancing the interaction forms of PC and tablet.

The "Foreground Scheduling" feature launched on iPadOS 16, as well as the optimized support for external displays, even overlaps with some usage scenarios of personal "computers" like the Macbook Pro.

Although tablets and PCs are similar, the entire market has been difficult to see significant growth in recent years, there are still some products that are making waves in the calm waters.

The iPad and other tablet products cannot replace the needs of most people who currently use PCs or Macs as their main productivity tools, but there are always some needs that cannot be well met by current PCs.

Scenarios such as lightweight office work for writers on the go, note-taking for university lectures, real-time photo editing for outdoor photographers, and hand-drawn illustrations for designers... Perhaps Jobs was right, the iPad is a car, but it is a performance car or a utility vehicle. They are destined to not become mainstream means of transportation like family cars, but they do satisfy some users' pursuit of driving pleasure.

As a user, what is truly needed may not necessarily be disruptive or revolutionary products. The diversity of products can also make this world a little more interesting.