Combined with multiple revelations, Apple's spring new product launch conference may be canceled again this year, which is the second time that Apple has canceled the spring conference after 2023. And the new products that you are looking forward to will be released in the form of a press release on Apple's official website just like last year, and it is expected to be within this week!
If nothing else, Apple has at least announced a number of blockbuster new products, including the iPad and MacBook, the new Apple Pencil for the iPad Pro, the Magic Keyboard, and, as is customary, the iPhone 15 in a new color scheme in March and April.
We know that Apple products have always been "hierarchical", but sometimes for the sake of sales, Apple will also delegate some selling points that cater to consumer preferences to the more first-level products in the product line, such as the iPhone Plus. The same technique will be used on the iPad Air this time.
According to the leaks, Apple has been working on two new versions of the iPad Air, codenamed J507 and J537, which represent 109 inches and 12There are two models of 9 inches, the latter is the current size of the iPad Pro and the largest iPad Air tablet size in history. In recent years, there has been an increasing trend towards tablets, which is due to market data showing that the larger the tablet screen, the more likely it is to be favored by consumers. Therefore, Apple may be downgrading the size of the iPad Pro to the iPad Air for sales reasons.
In addition to the increase in size, this generation of iPad Air is more like a regular iteration of the product, both sizes of iPad Air use a traditional LCD screen, is expected to be equipped with M2 chip, the front design is almost the same as the iPad Air 5 on sale, with a full-screen appearance, touch ID, USB-C interface, and side button positions remain the same. The rest of the configurations have not changed much.
In addition, 12The back of the 9-inch iPad Air has been changed, with a slightly raised lens module that makes the back of the camera no longer smooth, and a flash under the camera. Considering Apple's pricing strategy, 12The 9-inch iPad Air starts at a price or 10 more than the regular oneThe 9-inch version increases by about 1500 yuan,**10.The 9-inch iPad Air is expected to be the same as its predecessor**.
While the iPad Air upgrade isn't ideal, the iPad Pro has changed a lot. The first is that the screen has undergone a sea change. In 2021, the iPad Pro was equipped with Mini LED for the first time, and this year it will switch to OLED screen for the first time.
*The iPad Pro also has two screen sizes, 11-inch and 13-inch, both of which will feature OLED displays with a double-layer tandem structure. According to industry insiders, Samsung Display is responsible for the 11-inch OLED screen, while LG Display is the 13-inch OLED screen.
*The **iPad Pro CAD design sketch shows that with the blessing of the OLED screen, the thickness of the body has been significantly improved, and the thickness of the 13-inch iPad Pro has been reduced by 14mm, which is about 22% thinner compared to the existing model. At the same time, the brightness and color of iPad Pro will also be further improved.
In terms of appearance, the rear camera module and Face ID camera will be adjusted. Previously, in order to enhance the experience of using the landscape screen, Apple changed the front camera of the 10th generation iPad to the side, and this time the iPad Pro will also make the same change, equipped with a horizontal Face ID camera.
In terms of performance, the new iPad Pro is expected to be equipped with the M3 chip, at least one new Apple Pencil, and a new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro, which will also greatly increase the productivity of the iPad Pro.
For a variety of reasons, the M2 version of the MacBook Air 15-inch was not released until July last year, a full year later than the M2 version of the MacBook Air 13-inch. However, this spring season, the MacBook Air 13-inch and 15-inch with the new M3 chip will be launched at the same time.
Thanks to the M3 chip, the MacBook Air will support Dynamic Caching, which dynamically allocates the right cache for different tasks, improving GPU efficiency, mesh shading rendering, and hardware-level ray tracing acceleration. Considering that Apple has been strengthening the gaming attributes of Mac computers in recent years, this means that the MacBook Air may also be called a "thin and light gaming laptop".
Of course, MacBook Air has always been loved by office people because of its thin, light and portable characteristics, and after being fully equipped with the M3 chip, MacBook Air is more than enough to meet daily office needs, and can also provide some professional productivity, which may be more favored by Mac users.
Judging from the information obtained so far, the number of new products in Apple's spring this time is not large, and it is still the regular iteration of iPad Air, iPad Pro and MacBook Air, which may be the reason why Apple chose to cancel the press conference and go directly to the official website.
However, after a year's absence, the iPad product line is still shouldering the expectations of turning the tablet market into decline. In the context of the shrinking global tablet market, the life of various manufacturers is not good, Apple's iPad product line has been "broken" for a year, and in the Chinese market, iPad shipments have been overtaken by Huawei, which has prompted Apple to ensure that the product line is updated this year, and at the same time, come up with more competitive products and pricing.
We see that the iPad Pro with stronger performance, better display, thinner and lighter body, and the larger iPad Air can be said to be Apple's response. For Apple, the focus is still on the upcoming WWDC developer conference and autumn conference. 2024 is also a crucial year for Apple.
According to reliable sources, the new iOS 18 unveiled at the WWDC developer conference will bring a groundbreaking major update, in addition to a new system design and many new features, as well as important advances in the field of generative AI. In particular, how Apple will use OS to connect different devices and build an application ecosystem, and hand over a beautiful report card in the AI era, is also the most concerned by everyone. It will determine Apple's position in the AI era, and it will also have a significant impact on the consumer electronics ecology in the AI era.
As WWDC 2024 approaches, Vision Pro, iPhone, iPad, Mac, OS ......We will wait and see whether Apple's multi-pronged approach can sweep away the haze in one fell swoop and lead the industry reform again.