Apple’s biggest announcements from its iPad event: brighter screen, faster chips and the Pencil Pro

The new iPad Air with the M2 chip adds support for Apple Pencil Pro. Photo / AP

Apple on Tuesday unveiled its next generation of iPad Pros and Airs — models that will boast faster processors, new sizes and a new display system as part of the company’s first update to its tablet line-up in more than a year.

The showcase at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, comes after the company disclosed its steepest quarterly decline in iPhone sales since the pandemic’s outset, deepening a slump that’s increasing the pressure on the trend-setting company to spruce up its products.

Apple is expected to make a much bigger splash next month during an annual conference devoted to the latest version of its operating systems for iPhones, iPads and Mac computers — software that analysts expect to be packed with more artificial intelligence technology.

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Both lines of new iPads add bells and whistles, but have adjusted prices to match. The iPad Pro sports a new, thinner design, a new M4 processor for added processing power, slightly upgraded storage, and incorporates dual OLED panels for a brighter, crisper display. The 11-inch model will sell from $2399 and the 13-inch model from $2599.

The new iPad Air has the faster M2 chip, boasts a new design, more base storage, a new 13-inch display option and a re-centred camera. It will also support use of the new Apple Pencil Pro ($249), which was a function previously exclusive to the Pro models. The 11-inch display will sell from $1199 and the new 13-inch model from $1549.

The 10th-generation iPad will remain on sale, with a price reduction from $899 to $699.

The firm also launched new AI features for its Logic Pro software for songwriting, beat making, producing and mixing — including an AI-driven, personalised backing band. Logic Pro for Mac 11 will be a free upgrade for existing users or $399 new from May 14. Logic Pro for iPad 2 will be available from the same date as a free update for existing users, and available on the App Store for $9.99 a month or $79 a year, with a one-month free trial for new users.

Logic Pro gets AI smarts, including AI-powered session musicians.

Apple is trying to juice demand for iPads after its sales of the tablets plunged 17 per cent from last year during the January-March period. After its 2010 debut helped redefine the tablet market, the iPad has become a minor contributor to Apple’s success. It accounts for only 6 per cent of the company’s sales.

“The enhancements were both needed and predictable in a maintenance sort of way, and may help stanch some of the revenue loss in that product line,” Forrester Research analyst Dipanjan Chatterjee said of the new iPads. “But it’s nothing to get terribly excited about.”

All the new models and software will be available in stores from May 15, with pre-orders beginning today.

– With reporting by Herald staff