On 7th May 2024, Apple highlighted its major AI features across the iPad lineup. The company talked about the new iPad Air, calling it an extremely powerful device for AI, as well as the enhanced M4 chip, which has a neural engine devoted to the optimization of AI operations, and other AI-powered features like visual lookup, subject lift, and live text capture.
Highlights:
- Apple announces iPad Pro built with the highly powerful M4 chip, and major AI features coming with the device.
- The new AI features include Pro Camera Scanning, faster operations, local and cloud support, and more.
- Several other hardware devices were also announced including Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard.
Finally, after months of Apple’s AI updates such as ReALM and Open ELM which focus solely on large language models, it is time for the iPad to shine. It appears that Apple’s iPad series will receive more than just a significant update and design revamp after an extended gap between releases.
So, what AI features did Apple highlight during this event? How enhanced will the iPad become from these features and enhance the developer community? Let’s explore this article in-depth and find out everything that was discussed at this event.
Apple’s Stunning New iPad Pro
With its incredibly light and thin design, Apple announced the revolutionary new iPad Pro today, elevating portability and performance to a whole new level. The new M4 chip, the next generation of Apple silicon, which offers a significant boost in performance and capabilities, makes the new iPad Pro conceivable.
“Featuring a new thin and light design, breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display, and outrageously fast M4 performance with powerful AI capabilities, the new iPad Pro takes a huge leap forward”
Apple’s latest blog.
The Ultra Retina XDR display’s brightness, color, and precision are made possible by the M4’s brand-new display engine. The new iPad Pro is an incredibly potent artificial intelligence tool, with the most potent Neural Engine to date, a next-generation GPU that expands upon the GPU architecture introduced on the M3, and a new CPU.
All-new accessories further improve the iPad Pro’s superior capabilities and versatility. The redesigned slimmer, lighter Magic Keyboard is brimming with amazing capabilities, and the Apple Pencil Pro introduces potent new interactions that elevate the pencil experience even further.
Overall, with its combination of the greatest displays on the planet, the remarkable performance of Apple’s newest M-series CPUs, and state-of-the-art accessories all in a portable design, the iPad Pro is ideal for professionals of all stripes and is ideal for anybody looking for the ultimate iPad experience.
“With the breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display, the next-level performance of M4, incredible AI capabilities, and support for the all-new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard, there’s no device like the new iPad Pro.”
John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering
5 AI Features Coming to iPad Pro
In this event, Apple teased several AI features that are coming to the stunning new iPad Pro. Let’s take a look at them:
1) M4: The Most Powerful Neural Engine for AI
With a new CPU, next-generation GPU, and next-generation ML accelerators, the iPad Pro now runs on the next generation of Apple silicone, the M4, which is expected to outperform the M2 by up to 50%. Naturally, the chip’s neural engine, or NPU, which is “dedicated to the acceleration of AI workloads,” was also highlighted by the manufacturer.
With a processing speed of 38 trillion operations per second, Apple’s most potent neural engine to date that is 60 times faster than the company’s first neural engine found in the A11 Bionic chip, is featured in the new iPad Pro with M4.
The new iPad Pro’s Neural Engine, when coupled with the CPU’s next-generation ML accelerators, a strong GPU, increased memory bandwidth, intelligent features, and potent developer frameworks in iPadOS, makes it an incredibly potent AI tool.
2) Faster AI-Enabled Tasks
With the iPad Pro with M4, users can complete AI-enabled operations even more quickly. For example, Scene Removal Mask in Final Cut Pro makes it simple to isolate a topic in 4K footage from its background with a single tap. The M4’s neural engine outperforms any neural processing unit found in an AI PC today thanks to its high degree of performance.
So, imagine performing all these AI-enabled tasks much faster as compared to before. This is all thanks to the M4 hardware chip. The brand-new iPad Pro is here to make every process for you much simpler.
3) Local and Cloud Support
The iPadOS contains sophisticated frameworks like Core ML that provide developers access to the Neural Engine for the delivery of amazing AI capabilities locally, such as the execution of potent diffusion and generative AI models with excellent on-device performance.
Additionally, the iPad Pro is compatible with cloud-based services, which lets users employ sophisticated productivity and creative apps that leverage AI, including Adobe Firefly and Copilot for Microsoft 365.
So now developers will have access to various locally running LLMs through iPadOS, where they can perform several complex operations. On the other hand the cloud-based services can also leverage developers by providing online cloud storage and deploying apps on the cloud platform.
4) Pro Camera
An upgraded AI system is now included with the iPad Pro’s camera. Additionally, the new iPad Pro has an improved adaptive True Tone flash that makes document scanning even more efficient. The new iPad Pro uses artificial intelligence (AI) to recognize documents directly in the Camera app.
Moreover, even if a shadow gets in the way, it quickly snaps numerous pictures using the new adaptive flash and stitches them together to provide a much better scan. So, now you can scan your documents hassle-free regardless of lighting noises and shadows, Apple is making wonders.
5) AI-Powered Session Players
Apple has introduced new AI-powered session players, such as bass and keyboard players, to other apps, such as Logic Pro. These players can join a performance with the drummer who is already there.
According to Apple, these AI-powered backing band members are also capable of replying to comments left within the app. The business also introduced ChromaGlow, a Logic Pro plug-in powered by machine learning that adds warmth to recordings.
These AI features will be crucial for those who want to dive deep into making music with AI. Apple is here to take music sessions to completely different levels.
Overall, all these features give us an idea of how Apple’s iPad Pro will leverage developers and customers with the help of its AI prowess. Most of Apple’s event was about hardware-related news which they are bringing out. You can access all the latest information about iPad Pro and the other hardware launching (eg Magic Keyboard and Pencil Pro) by visiting this link. You will also be able to see the pricing and availability of these devices for your country.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the iPad event from Apple not only provided us with the latest breakthrough in hardware technology i.e. iPad Pro, but also with state-of-the-art AI features that come with iPadOS. These features are just a trailer of what’s in store for Apple’s official AI model, that we may probably see in the next iteration of iOS updates.
