We didn’t see it coming. The M4 chip, expected for several weeks, could appear under the hood of the new OLED iPad Pros expected on May 7, during the keynote organized that day. Until now we thought that it was the M3 which would be integrated under the chassis of the American tablets.
The M4 chip powering the new iPad Pros is a major first for Apple. And this for several reasons that we list below.
- This is the first time that a new Apple silicon chip has been announced in May
- this is the first time that iPad Pros have skipped a generation of M chips (the 2022 iPad Pros, which are the most recent, are entitled to M2)
- this is the first time that a new generation of M processors has arrived on iPad before arriving on Mac
- This is expected to be the first Apple motherboard to feature a thirty-two-core Neural Engine
The Neural Engine is a pneural network acceleration uce. This improves the calculations of the operating system with artificial intelligence. However, it turns out that the AI ​​would precisely be the highlight of the conference scheduled for next month. Apple would like to present its iPad Pro M4 as the first device dedicated to this technology, which already equips the proprietary voice assistant Siri or the recommendations offered by other apps installed natively on iOS.
We don’t yet know the exact release date of the new OLED iPad Pros, but if pre-orders open on the day of the Apple Event, then the tablets could arrive at the first customers around mid-May. Probably too late for French Days, therefore, a period of promotions dedicated to France.
As for the M4 on computer, know that MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini could also be eligible for it later in the year.
Top-level performances expected
The iPad Pro with M4 chip will undoubtedly be, when they are released and probably for many months afterwards, the most efficient tablets ever released by Apple. Alongside the Neural Engine and the GPU integrated into the SoC (system on chip), we should thus be entitled to eight or sixteen gigabytes of RAM depending on the model.
Two screen sizes are expected at the turn. On the one hand, a first iPad Pro 11.1 inches would benefit from a slightly wider diagonal than its predecessor. On the other hand, the iPad Pro 13.1 inches could also sign the arrival of a new size, the most imposing of all iPads combined. All with a ProMotion refresh rate of one hundred and twenty frames per second, which should be appreciated by potential gamers or video editors.
Potential 15- or 20-inch iPads may also be in the pipeline, according to some previously published clues. But these devices will probably not see the light of day in 2024.
Artificial intelligence on iPad Pro M4
With its Neural Engine, the iPad Pro M4 should therefore give pride of place to artificial intelligence. Several associated new features have already leaked to the specialized press. These, which remain unofficial, are associated with iOS 18 but iPadOS 18 should be based largely on the same source code.
Among the expected changes, we think in particular that the sequel iWork would integrate generative AI to include images or automatically created text within Pages or Keynote documents. Siri could also offer better responses than before, as part of a partnership with OpenAI or with Google (Gemini). Finally, know that the Apple Music streaming service could also complete your playlists according to your tastes, by learning from your past listening thanks to machine learning. Count on 10.99 euros per month to subscribe to the platform today.
- iPad Pro OLED could be announced on May 7 with an M4 chip
- This is the first time that an Apple silicon chip has arrived on iPad before being offered on Mac
- The M4 would feature a new Neural Engine for artificial intelligence
