Apple has announced a presentation for this Tuesday, May 7 at 4:00 p.m. in Spain under the title Let loose, which will initially focus on the iPad, although it may contain several surprises. One of the unusual aspects of the event is that there are three places instead of one where Apple has called the press simultaneously: New York, Toronto and London. La Vanguardia will be present in the latter, in the new Apple offices in the iconic Battersea Power Station building, the old power station next to the Thames (today a spectacular shopping center) that illustrated the cover of Pink Floyd’s historic album Animals ( 1977) and its Remix edition from 2018.
Other elements that make this event unusual. A big presentation in May, four weeks before the start of the WWDC developer conference to be held in Cupertino (California) on June 10, is not part of Apple’s usual canons, because this last event often represents the ramp launch of several new features. Last year, the highlight was the announcement of the Vision Pro spatial computing viewer. It would have made sense for the new iPads to arrive in just over a month. Or maybe not.
Two elements may have influenced Apple’s decision to hold the presentation in three locations where the specialized press will be able to test its new products up close at the end of the event. First of all, the inauguration of WWDC is very focused on artificial intelligence, which will be part of the company’s new operating systems, probably with models of a size that work within each device, without the need to connect to external servers. , which will imply speed, personalization and privacy, but also good data processing capacity.
On the other hand, the need to incorporate advanced artificial intelligence functions in all its devices starting in the fall would imply that the iPads, about to be renewed, would also carry a chip with more cores in their neural engine. At this point, Bloomberg’s leak that Apple plans to incorporate a new M4 chip into its iPad Pro, just six months after announcing the M3, could be a reason for an event dedicated especially to it. At WWDC it could be detailed how this AI will work. For example, with Siri.
Aside from all that, the news on iPad could be important. Apple has been trying for many years for its tablet to become the main computer for many professional uses. It has partially achieved this in some sectors, but despite the power of its machines, it is still awaiting that leap. The iPad Pro, in addition to chips like the M4 (or M3 if it doesn’t arrive), could this time incorporate an OLED screen, which would make them thinner. The sizes of 11 and 12.9 inches would remain.
It would also be followed by a new generation of iPad Air, Apple’s mid-range tablets, in some aspects, from design to processor, almost indistinguishable from the Pro models. The Air could also debut a new large size of 12.9 inches in addition to the 11 inch model. The new generation of tablets is also expected to have a new Magic Keyboard. But the accessory that is safest that we will see is the Apple Pencil, of which a new generation would arrive, as shown in one of the logos of the event.
The London presentation will be at the Battersea Power Station, a former power station that is part of the London skyline, the star of Pink Floyd’s album covers, and which was also the largest brick building in the world. Since last year, Apple has had its London design offices in this emblematic building.
