Apple’s next big event is on our doorstep, starting at 3pm today (May 7).
Don’t come expecting the iPhone 16 phones, though. This is an event all about iPads.
“Let Loose” is its tagline, and the teaser image shows someone holding an Apple Pencil. We expect to see new iPad Pros, new iPad Air tablets and an upgraded Pencil stylus.
There will be new screens, new sizes and faster processors, and maybe a surprise or two the rumours have not clued us up on.
Keen to see what happens, as it happens? You will be able to watch the show online.
How to watch Apple’s iPad event
As usual, Apple will broadcast its launch event from the Apple.com website. Here’s the link you’ll need to watch the show.
Alternatively, a stream will be available from the Apple TV app. The YouTube page for the event is already live, too, and you can set a reminder on that platform if YouTube is your video portal of choice.
What to expect from the Apple event
The May iPad event is expected to focus on three product families: iPad Pro, iPad Air and Apple Pencil.
Apple’s iPad Pro changes are likely to suck up most of the attention. These will be the first iPads to use Oled screens, seen across the iPhone 15 range and the Apple Watch series.
Oled screens are known for their fantastic contrast and super-rich colour. But they typically aren’t as bright as the mini LED screens of the current iPad Pro tablets, which may be about to change with these new iPad Pro models.
Apple is also likely to fill out the iPad Air range a bit, too, matching the iPad Pro with 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes.
You don’t get the high-end Oled display tech. And the iPad Airs are expected to use Apple M2 processors rather than the latest top-of-the-line Apple M4 kind. However, they are still powerful, used in the iPad Pro tablets announced in 2022.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says these refreshed higher-end iPads “will feel more like computers” thanks to a redesign of their keyboard accessories. But would you trade your MacBook for an iPad?
We also expect to see a new version of the Apple Pencil stylus. This will be its fourth major iteration but will likely be called the 3rd Generation Pencil as the last release, in 2023, was just a severely cut down version of the 2nd Generation version.
What’s new? It’s expected to have a new pressure sensor that can tell when the barrel is squeezed, opening up the possibility for all sorts of contextual gestures.
