A lot has happened since Apple last updated the Pad Pro. What should we expect on May 7?
The iPad, remember that? It’s been a minute since Apple unveiled a new tablet–about 807,690 minutes, to be a bit more precise–but all indications point to brand new models being rolled out as part of an Apple keynote next week, on May 7.
A lot has happened in the intervening time. Apple released iPadOS 17, the Apple Vision Pro was announced and shipped, and the M2 processors have given way to the M3–with the promise of more soon. Throughout all of that, the iPad Pro and 10th-generation iPad have remained static and unchanging—and the iPad Air and iPad mini lines date back even further, to March 2022 and September 2021 respectively.
So what do we expect from some brand-new iPads? Can Apple move the needle significantly, or is the iPad hardware still so far out ahead of its software that we’ll end up with a lot more horsepower but without too much to use it on?Get the OLED out
The biggest improvement is likely to come in the form of new display technology for the iPad Pro line, which is expected to adopt organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) for all its models. That’s a big difference from the previous two generations, which used different screens for the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models: the smaller used typical LCD technology, but the big model’s Liquid Retina XDR used the more advanced mini LED, which provides much finer control over backlighting, thus improving the deepness of blacks and the max brightness (up to 1600 nits when viewing HDR content, as opposed to 600 nits for LCD displays).
An OLED display will prove even more significant there. The company has long used OLED tech in its smartphones, starting with the iPhone X, and it’s also been in the Apple Watch since its debut. Because each individual pixel provides its own backlighting and can be turned off, this allows for even deeper blacks. Given the iPad’s use as a popular device for video playback, this stands to make your TV shows and movies look even better.
Of course, that will come with a hefty price tag.
