Last week, Apple officially announced a special event scheduled for May 7th at 22:00 Beijing time, themed "Let's take flight." Judging from the teaser released by Apple, the focus seems to be on the Apple Pencil, indicating a significant upgrade in both new products and the stylus.
With the introduction of a new pencil, it's highly likely that there will be corresponding new iPad products. Therefore, the new products to be unveiled at this special event should include a brand-new iPad and the next generation of the Apple Pencil.
The all-new Apple Pencil 3
Although it's just an accessory, based on Apple's teaser poster, it seems like the Apple Pencil 3 will be a major highlight this time, with significant upgrades in store.
Last year, Apple released the Apple Pencil (USB-C), which, despite being a new product, fell short in functionality compared to the Apple Pencil 2. It not only lacked wireless charging but also omitted the pressure sensitivity feature.
Therefore, the Apple Pencil 2 remains the most user-friendly stylus currently available. Its release dates back to October 2018, making it quite aged. After five and a half years, a major update is indeed worth becoming the "star" once again.
According to leaked information, the Apple Pencil 3 will largely retain the design of its predecessor, possibly shortening its length and making the surface more rounded, while keeping other aspects mostly the same.
It will introduce a variety of interchangeable magnetic pen tips in different sizes, offering a more diverse range of input options to meet users' varied writing and drawing needs. Additionally, Bloomberg reports that it will also support haptic feedback, providing a subtle vibration to simulate the experience of writing on paper, further enhancing the writing experience.
At the same time, it will introduce a new gesture feature - squeeze gesture, allowing users to interact through squeezing and handwriting with a stylus, making it more convenient and flexible to add shapes, signatures, stickers, or text in various operations, enhancing the efficiency of creation.
As for the price, I think it will probably still be around 999 yuan, but the stylus tip should be sold separately, as accessories can make a good profit.
OLED screen iPad Pro
Moving on to the iPad side, the last update dates back to 18 months ago. Initially, it was thought that it would be launched directly in March like the MacBook Air, but there hasn't been much news. However, at the May event, the new products in this series should not be absent. First up is the top-of-the-line iPad Pro, with no major changes in appearance, offering 11-inch and 13-inch versions, upgraded to an OLED screen.
And they use a double-layered OLED panel structure, with two emitting layers. Compared to a single-layer OLED panel, the brightness of the double-layer structure can be doubled, and the lifespan extended by four times.
Moreover, the double-layered OLED display can reduce power consumption by around 30%. Thanks to the new OLED screen, the body thickness of the iPad Pro will further decrease, with the 13-inch model slimming down by 1.4mm and the 11-inch model by 0.8mm. In terms of core specifications, the processor will be upgraded to the M3 chip.
The biggest upgrade in the new iPad Pro should be in the screen department. Due to rising costs, it may also see a price increase, with the specifications being a regular iteration.
Large-sized iPad Air
On the iPad Air side, a new member will join in, which is the 12.9-inch large-screen version. The Air series will also have 10.9-inch and 12.9-inch models. However, apart from the new size, there won't be any significant upgrades in the Air series. Both products are expected to use LCD screens, upgrade to the M2 chip, following a standard iteration.
Compared to the Pro series, the Air series is relatively more affordable. With the addition of the large-sized version this time, it's a good choice for users who want a big screen but find the Pro series too expensive.
In conclusion
Based on current information, the biggest upgrade and change in this new lineup might just be the all-new Apple Pencil 3. It features a new magnetic tip, squeeze gestures, touch feedback, and other new functions, which should significantly enhance the user experience. As for the iPads, the Pro model upgrades to an OLED screen, the Air series adds a large size, and the processors undergo a regular iteration upgrade, which feels somewhat underwhelming.
Additionally, let's talk about the timing of this event. Apple's first-half events are usually in March or April, in the spring. Even if they don't hold an event, they typically release new products during this period. However, this year they chose to have a special event in May, with WWDC 2024 coming up in June. They could have waited until next month to unveil the new products together, so the timing seems quite peculiar. Could Apple be holding back some surprises?
After all, the new products that have been revealed so far don't seem to be groundbreaking. Of course, it could also be that other competitors in the tablet market are putting pressure on Apple, forcing them to quickly update their products. After all, the sooner they release, the sooner they can start selling.
