By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) After a year’s gap, Apple has finally updated the iPad Pro, with a surprise M4 debut and OLED in the spotlight for 2024. Here’s how the newest iPad Pro models compare against the previous generation.2024 iPad Pro with M4 [left], 2022 iPad Pro with M2 [right]The iPad was complete absent from 2023, with the only change being to add USB-C to the Apple Pencil. Instead, consumers had to purchase iPad Pro models that were introduced in October 2022.That one-year gap has given Apple time to make quite a few changes to its highest-tier tablet lineup. The result is its 2024 releases. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Mike Wuerthele) If a single set of M4 benchmarks can be believed, the new higher-end configurations of the iPad Pro have a lead on the MacBook Pro with M3 processor for AI tasks — but not by much.Apple’s new iPad Pro A new benchmark for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with M4 and 10 cores has been posted to GeekBench overnight. In it, the assorted artificial intelligence workloads have perhaps been measured for the first time — but we’re skeptical, considering that the benchmark appears to have been run on iOS 18.If accurate, the score of 9234 on the “Core ML Neural Engine Inference” for iPad Pro is decent. It is not the best from an Apple Product. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Malcolm Owen) Fans of the Jason Sudeikis Apple TV+ show “Ted Lasso” can now preorder Blu-ray and DVD boxed sets for the comedy show from Amazon.Jason Sudeikis as Ted Lasso”Ted Lasso” was a phenomenon for Apple TV+, but you can’t watch it without the Apple TV+ subscription. Following rumors that a Blu-ray box set was on the way for all three seasons, it’s now surfaced on Amazon.Titled “Ted Lasso: The Complete Series,” the product listing reveals that fans can actually buy either the Blu-ray or DVD boxed sets as a pre-order. The release date for the boxed sets is listed as 30 July, 2024 for both versions. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Collectors are going to have to spend $645 to get the Apple Pencil Pro in each of its five different packaging designs — but they’d better buy in store rather than online.Apple Pencil Pro boxes on display in an Apple StoreApple may be cutting down on plastics in packaging, and getting rid of stickers, but it’s not going back to the 1990s when it shipped everything in minimally-printed brown cardboard. Instead, Apple has added full-color artwork to the white Apple Pencil Pro boxes, each one spelling out the word “Pro.”Thought this was pretty fun Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Andrew O’Hara) On Wednesday, the CSA unveiled its latest update to the Matter home automation spec, introducing several new device categories to the burgeoning standard.The Apple Home app on iPhone supports MatterMatter, overseen by the Connectivity Standards Alliance, has officially reached version 1.3, six months after its last major update. Now that the spec is finalized, device manufacturers and ecosystem stewards can add support themselves.New device categories include: Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) The minute-long Apple ad showing art equipment and materials being crushed down into the new iPad Pro is being called heartbreaking, wanton, and creepy.Frame from Apple’s “Crush” adApple first aired its “Crush” ad during the “Let Loose” event that saw the launch of the new iPad Air and iPad Pro models. It shows paints, guitars, toys, sculptures, and more, all being crushed down by an enormous weight, which then rises up again to reveal the iPad Pro.Since that debut during the event, Apple’s Tim Cook tweeted a link to it — and started a backlash. At time of writing, there are over 2,500 comments to his tweet and while many are about iPad details, most are expressing abhorrence at the ad. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (William Gallagher) Starting with the new iPads, Apple has finally stopped including the stickers and it is a relief.Not my car.Okay, it’s partly a relief just for me because I happen to have papyrophobia — I am a writer who is afraid of paper. It’s like an OCD thing and I’m fine with US Letter or A4 scripts. If those are torn, or if you give me a Post-It Note, I am in trouble.Consequently, every single time I’ve bought a new Mac, or an iPhone, or an iPad, there has been a moment of wincing distaste as I hide the stickers back in the box. But I have also never had a moment’s desire to slap any sticker of any kind on anything — and especially not a device I’ve just spent at least a thousand on. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Mike Wuerthele) After a relatively brief stint, Apple TV+ marketing chief Ricky Strauss is heading elsewhere.Apple TV+ logoStrauss was hired in early January of 2023. He led consumer marketing for Apple TV+, including both original series and films. He reported to Tor Myhren.Prior to his marketing work on Apple TV+, he held a similar role for Disney and Hulu for nine years. Under his tenure as president of marketing at Disney the company relaunched Star Wars, and wrapped up the Marvel Infinity Stones saga. Perhaps most importantly, in his role as president of content and marketing the company launched the Disney+ streaming service in 2019. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Mike Wuerthele) A rumor was floating around that mammoth Dungeons and Dragons adventure game “Baldur’s Gate 3” was coming to the iPad — but that has since been squashed by the publisher.Baldur’s Gate 3 promo artworkApple is doing what it can in hardware to attract AAA game developers to Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It has gone so far to develop a game porting kit, which has been co-opted by enterprising users to port just about anything that run on Windows to Apple Silicon, albeit unofficially.Larian has a native port of Baldur’s Gate 3 for Mac. It has had its ups and downs performance-wise, but the latest patch fixes most of the issues that made it unplayable later in the game. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
By news@appleinsider.com (Mike Wuerthele) After a rough start to 2024, promotions on the iPhone appears to have buoyed Apple in China, according to official government data.iPhone doing well in China despite shrinking marketApple and its resellers cut prices in the end of February. This move may have preserved Apple’s quarter, and allowed Tim Cook to say that Mainland China sales were only down 8% versus the 25% that analysts feared.The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology publishes a monthly report, detailing the financial aspects of the smartphone industry in China. In the latest report, cited on Wednesday morning by Bloomberg foreign-branded smartphone sales surged to 3.75 million units, which is up about 12% year-over year. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums
