Apple has already scheduled its next event, dubbed “Let Loose“, for 7 May, with an emphasis on the Apple Pencil. With that in mind, the bitten fruit brand will likely be unveiling its much rumoured iPad Air and Pro refreshes, as these benefit the most from the stylus accessory. But it’s possible that the company may be using it as a way to bring AI to the centre stage as well, with the possibility of the OLED iPad Pro models being the first to sport the upcoming M4 chips.
This comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman via the weekly Power On newsletter. Though for what it’s worth, the phrasing in the newsletter is specifically that “there is a strong possibility that the chip in the new iPad Pro will be the M4, not the M3”.
With Gurman already having claimed that the new chip will be an AI-centric one, this would make the iPad Pro tablets the brand’s first “AI-powered” devices as well. The report then goes on to say that “each new product from then on” will be touted as an AI device, which may include the iPhone 16 coming later this year..
As mentioned earlier, the report also notes that Apple will be using the launch of the M4-powered iPad Pro to detail its AI chip strategy. This is so that the fruit company can show off its AI plans “without distraction” ahead of WWDC, which will see the spotlight being shone on AI software and services instead.
Going back to the Apple Pencil, which is supposed to be star of the next event, Gurman says that the new iteration of the stylus will have haptic feedback. There are currently a couple of rumoured features for the upcoming accessory, including interchangeable tips and support for a squeeze gesture. This could be a way for the stylus to simulate the feeling of, say, using a real pencil on paper. But it remains to be seen if this is the intended implementation of haptics, or if there are any uses for it.
(Source: Bloomberg)
