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Posts tagged with "May 2024 Event"

MacStories Unwind: Federico Visits Medium Ben→

This week on MacStories Unwind, Federico and I discuss how Apple crushed it at its iPad event, and Federico lets loose in London.

Crushing It

Federico Lets Loose in London

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Apple Apologizes for Crush! Video

On Tuesday, Apple introduced its new iPad Pros with a video called Crush! that was meant to convey how much the device can do. The trouble was the way the video delivered the message, depicting musical instruments, books, a record player, paints, a TV, and many other creative tools being crushed by a hydraulic press. When the press opened, it revealed the new iPad Pro.

Crush! was widely criticized by the creative community, including actor Hugh Grant, director Reed Morano, and many others. Within hours, the story had spread beyond the tech industry to all corners of the mainstream media.

Today, as reported by The Verge, Apple vice president of marketing Tor Myhren made a statement to Ad Age, apologizing for the video saying:

Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it’s incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world. Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we’re sorry.

Earlier today, Federico and I covered the firestorm caused by the video on MacStories Unwind+ for Club MacStories members. During the episode, which will be generally available tomorrow, Federico predicted this outcome, which I think is the right move given the widespread strong reaction to the video.

Stu Maschwitz on the Filming of Apple’s Let Loose Event→

This week’s “Let Loose” Apple event was filmed on the iPhone and edited on the Mac and iPad. During the event, filmmaker Stu Maschwitz noticed that some scenes featured a shallower depth of field than is possible with the iPhone’s cameras. Although he doesn’t cite a source, Maschwitz says he figured out how Apple got those shots:

“Let Loose” was shot on iPhone 15 Pro Max, and for several shots where a shallow depth-of-field was desired, Panavision lenses were attached to the iPhones using a Panavision-developed mount called the “Lens Relay System.” This rig is publicly available for rent from Panavision today, although not currently listed on their website.

As he further explains:

With Panavision’s new system, the iPhone’s own lens captures the areal image created by any Panavision lens you like. The iPhone provides the image capture, in ProRes Apple Log, of course.

In fact, “Let Loose” is the first Apple Event finished and streamed in HDR, pushing the iPhone’s capture abilities even further than “Scary Fast.”

The wildest part of all is the seamlessness of it all:

Or think of it this way: Apple confidently intercut footage shot with the most elite cinema lenses available with footage shot with unadorned iPhone lenses.

I appreciate Maschwitz’s perspective on the capabilities of the iPhone’s cameras. Having rewatched this week’s event a couple of nights ago, I would never have suspected it was shot on a mobile phone if I didn’t know to look for the note at the end of the video.

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Quinn Nelson of Snazzy Labs Explains the iPad Pro’s Tandem OLED Screen and the M4 Chip→

Tandem OLED display panels were new to me when Apple mentioned them during the “Let Loose” event yesterday. I figured it was another marketing term like Ultra Retina XDR, but it’s not.

As Quinn Nelson of Snazzy Labs explains in his excellent video, tandem OLED is a technology that stacks two OLED displays on top of each other, creating more light, greater electrical efficiency, and longer-lasting displays. The catch is that tandem OLED displays are hard to make without losing a lot of the light they generate. There have been multiple proposed solutions as Quinn explains, but it’s not clear how Apple has solved the issue with the new iPad Pros. What is clear, though, is that the technology is a big deal.

Quinn also explains the differences between TSMC’s 3-nanometer chip processes and why the M4 ‘…is a necessary strategic leap. It’s not a computational leap.’ The entire video is worth watching a couple of times to understand the nerdiest bits and why they hold so much promise for Apple’s future hardware releases.

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Apple’s May 2024 Let Loose Event: All The Small Things

Apple’s presentation moved fast yesterday, and since the event concluded, more details have emerged about everything announced. We’ve been combing Apple’s product pages, social media, and other sources to learn more about everything announced, which we’ve collected below:

  • Chance Miller of 9to5Mac, reporting based on a memo sent to Apple Store employees that Apple will no longer include stickers in the boxes with the iPads introduced yesterday. Instead, retail stores will have a small number of stickers on hand for customers who ask for them.
  • One of the first things I noticed in yesterday’s video presentation was that Tim Cook’s shoes were different somehow. The detail wasn’t enough to identify them from the streamed video, but it turns out that they were Nike Air Max 1 ‘86’s that were ‘Made on iPad,’ which was embroidered on the tongue of the shoes. Apple has published a Reel on Instagram showing the shoes sketched on an iPad.
  • MacRumors reports that the new iPad Pros support lower refresh rates but not the iPhone Pro’s always-on feature. Nonetheless, the lower refresh rate support should help the iPad Pros extend battery life depending on how the iPad is used.
  • As I first learned from MKBHD’s iPad Pro first impressions video, the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro includes a 60W USB-C charging port, which is a significant increase from the previous model.
  • As Dan Moren explained on Six Colors, Apple appears to be binning the M4 chips in the new iPad Pro models with the 1TB and 2TB storage tiers sporting an additional performance core.
  • The Verge reported that the new iPads have eliminated physical SIM cards in favor of eSIMs, which is likely a space-saving measure.

You can follow all of our May 2024 Apple event coverage through our May 2024 Apple event hub or subscribe to the dedicated May 2024 Apple event RSS feed.

Thoughts and First Impressions on the New iPad Pros from Apple’s Event in London

The new 13" iPad Pro.

The new 13” iPad Pro.

I just came back to my hotel from the media event Apple held earlier today in London at their Battersea Power Station headquarters. I had high expectations for the new generation of iPad Pros that Apple unveiled today – some of which were exceeded by reality (hardware), and others that were, regrettably but unsurprisingly, faced with the reality of the iPad platform (software).

What follows is a loose collection of notes and impressions from the event, where I was able to try both iPad Pro models multiple times and spend some quality time with their accessories.

Let’s dive in.

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Apple’s May 2024 Let Loose Event: By the Numbers

Today’s Let Loose online Apple event was packed with facts, figures, and statistics throughout the presentation and elsewhere. We’ve pulled together the highlights.

iPad Pro

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • The new iPad Pro’s GPU is 10x faster than the original model and 4x faster than the M2 iPad Pro
  • The M4 chip is 50% faster than the M2
  • The M4’s 16-core Neural Engine is 60x faster than the original Neural Engine
  • The M4 uses a 2nd generation 3nm process
  • The M4 features 28 billion transistors
Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • Apple has improved the thermal performance of the iPad Pro by 20% compared to the previous model
  • The Neural Engine can handle 38 trillion operations per second
  • The unified memory bandwidth is 120GB/s
  • The iPad Pro display supports 1000 nits of brightness for SDR and HDR content and 1600 nits peak brightness for HDR
  • Storage capacities range from 256GB to 2TB
  • The Wi-Fi version of the 11” iPad Pro is .98 pound (444 grams), and the 13” model is 1.28 pounds (579 grams). Adding cellular adds 2 grams to the 11” model and 3 grams to the 13” version.
Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • The 256 and 512GB models have 8GB of RAM, while the 1TB and 2TB models have 16GB of RAM
  • The new models support Bluetooth 5.3
  • The 11” iPad Pro is 5.3mm thick, and the 13” model is 5.1mm thick
  • It’s possible to spend $3,077 on a fully-spec’d 13” iPad Pro with Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard for iPad

iPad Air

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

  • There’s a new 13” model
  • The M2 chip in the new Air is 50% faster than the M1 and 3x faster than the iPad Air with the A12 Bionic chip
  • The iPad Air can be configured with up to 1TB of storage
  • The front and back cameras both have 12MP sensors
  • There are 4 colors available, 2 of which are new
  • The 11” Air is 1.02 pounds, and the 13” model is 1.36 pounds, both of which are heavier than their iPad Pro counterparts
  • Both models are 6.1mm thick
  • The 11” iPad Air maxes out at 500 nits of brightness and the 13” model at 600 nits for a 100-nit difference

Accessories and Other

Look at that beautiful row of function keys.

Look at that beautiful row of function keys.

  • The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro has a 14-key function row
  • The price of the existing 10th generation iPad was reduced to $349
  • Apple paid 0 tributes to Warren Buffet’s Paper Wizard

You can follow all of our May 2024 Apple event coverage through our May 2024 Apple event hub or subscribe to the dedicated May 2024 Apple event RSS feed.

Final Cut Pro 2 and Logic Pro 2 for iPad Updated Along with Their Mac Counterparts

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Last year at this time, I beta-tested Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for iPad. I was impressed with both and found editing podcasts in Logic Pro for iPad surprisingly easy. That said, both apps were still limited compared to what their sibling versions could do on the Mac. With today’s update, Apple appears to be pushing both apps much further into ‘Pro’ territory than ever before, undoubtedly thanks to the M4 chip inside the new iPad Pros.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

In what I think is a first for one of its iPadOS apps, Apple has given Final Cut Pro for iPad a version number. One of the most impressive features shown off today was Live Multicam, which supports up to four simultaneous live camera feeds:

Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 delivers Live Multicam, an innovative new solution for users to capture up to four different angles of a single scene, whether working with their own devices or collaborating with others. Live Multicam connects wirelessly via Final Cut Camera, a new video capture app, enabling users to view up to four iPhone or iPad devices and providing a director’s view of each camera in real time. Each live camera feed can have settings adjusted right from Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 to easily dial in exposure, focus, zoom, and more for the perfect shot. Editable preview clips are immediately passed through to Final Cut Pro for iPad and replaced with full-resolution files in the background, so users can seamlessly move from production to editing.

Final Cut Camera is a separate new app for the iPhone and iPad that works with Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 to feed each video stream to an iPad for real-time, wireless capture.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The app also offers greater storage flexibility, allowing videographers to edit projects on an external drive. Here’s how Apple describes it in its press release:

For even more storage flexibility, Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 now supports external projects, letting users easily create or open projects on an external storage device and import media without taking up space on their iPad. Editors can quickly hand off external projects to another editor or take them into Final Cut Pro for Mac; create new projects on external storage; and seamlessly import high-resolution files and professional codecs like ProRes and Log.

Additionally, the update adds new color-grading presets, text titles, and soundtracks. Final Cut Pro for Mac is being updated to version 10.8, which includes new AI features and organizational tools.

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

Logic Pro has been updated for the iPad and Mac, too, with several features, including:

…Session Players, which expand the popular Drummer capabilities in Logic Pro to include a new Bass Player and Keyboard Player; Stem Splitter, to extract and work with individual parts of a single audio recording; and ChromaGlow, to instantly add warmth to tracks.

The common thread among these updates that Apple highlighted is the apps’ reliance on AI and machine learning to make complex edits to compositions.

Apple says that Final Cut Pro for iPad 2, Final Cut Camera, and Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8 will be available later this spring, while Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Logic Pro for Mac 11 will be available on the App Store starting Monday, May 13.

You can follow all of our May 2024 Apple event coverage through our May 2024 Apple event hub or subscribe to the dedicated May 2024 Apple event RSS feed.

Apple Expands the iPad Air Lineup

Source: Apple.

Source: Apple.

The big news for the new iPad Air is that it comes in two sizes now: 11” and a new 13” model. The Air has also upgraded from the M1 to the M2 chip and moved the front-facing camera to the landscape side of the tablet, and it has higher storage configurations, works with the new Apple Pencil Pro, and comes in new colors.

A new blue and purple join starlight and space gray.

A new blue and purple join starlight and space gray.

Before today’s announcement, the iPad Air was close enough in specs to an 11” iPad Pro that the two felt like fraternal twins. With today’s update, though, the iPad Air is more versatile and better differentiated from the iPad Pro models despite the fact that both models now come in identical sizes.

There’s now a more substantial difference between the chips used in Air and Pro models. The M2 in the Air is a healthy step forward that Apple says makes it 50% faster than the M1 model. Like the iPad Pros, anyone who has used an iPad for video conferences will appreciate that the Air’s front-facing camera is on the landscape edge of the device. The Air also works with the Apple Pencil Pro.

The new iPad Air works with the existing model of Magic Keyboard.

The new iPad Air works with the existing model of Magic Keyboard.

However, the new iPad Air is not compatible with the new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. Instead, it works with the existing Magic Keyboard. The iPad Air’s storage configurations aren’t as expansive as the iPad Pro, either, topping out at 1TB, although that configuration and the 512GB version are new to the Air. Meanwhile, the base configuration has been doubled to 128 GB. Apple also introduced new blue and purple Airs that join the starlight and space gray models.

Source: Apple

Source: Apple

I like what Apple has done with the Air a lot. The updates address the most glaring shortcomings of the tablet while clarifying how it differs from the iPad Pro, which should reduce customer confusion. Personally, I’m more interested in the iPad Pro, but the Air has grown into an impressive laptop alternative of its own, filling a MacBook Air-like role in comparison to the iPad Pro, which has MacBook Pro vibes now.

The 11” iPad Air starts at $599, with the 13” version starting at $799. Both models can be ordered today with deliveries starting May 15th.

You can follow all of our May 2024 Apple event coverage through our May 2024 Apple event hub or subscribe to the dedicated May 2024 Apple event RSS feed.