The MacRumors Show: M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air Are Finally Here!

On this week's special episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss Apple's newly announced iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Pencil Pro, and revamped Magic Keyboard accessory.


We explore the updates to the iPad Pro's hardware, such as the introduction of the M4 chip, OLED displays, a landscape front-facing camera, an Adaptive True Tone flash, and a thinner design. The iPad Air is now available in a larger, 13-inch display size option and offers the M2 chip, a landscape front-facing camera, and ‌Apple Pencil‌ hover.

The Magic Keyboard for the ‌iPad Pro‌ now features an aluminum top case, a new trackpad with haptic feedback, and a function row, while the Apple Pencil Pro introduces the squeeze gesture, barrel roll, haptic feedback, and Find My integration.

We evaluate these new products and discuss the potential implications of the upgrades for users, including professionals who rely on the iPad out in the field. The MacRumors Show is now on its own YouTube channel, so make sure you're subscribed to keep up with new episodes and clips going forward:

You can also listen to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, or your preferred podcasts app. You can also copy our RSS feed directly into your podcast player.


If you haven't already listened to the previous episode of The MacRumors Show, catch up for our predictions about Apple's "Let loose" event to see what we got right and wrong.

Subscribe to ‌The MacRumors Show‌ for new episodes every week, where we discuss some of the topical news breaking here on MacRumors, often joined by interesting guests such as Matthew Cassinelli, Brian Tong, Quinn Nelson, Kevin Nether, Jared Nelson, Eli Hodapp, Luke Miani, Mike Bell, Sara Dietschy, iJustine, Jon Rettinger, Andru Edwards, Arnold Kim, Ben Sullins, Marcus Kane, Christopher Lawley, Frank McShan, David Lewis, Tyler Stalman, Jon Prosser, Sam Kohl, John Gruber, Federico Viticci, Thomas Frank, Jonathan Morrison, Ross Young, Ian Zelbo, and Rene Ritchie.

‌The MacRumors Show‌ is on X @MacRumorsShow, so be sure to give us a follow to keep up with the podcast. You can also head over to The MacRumors Show forum thread to engage with us directly. Remember to rate and review the podcast, and let us know what subjects and guests you would like to see in the future.

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Top Rated Comments

klasma Avatar
12 months ago

The rumor of Vision Pro support for the Pencil was alongside a rumor that it would optionally charge by USB-C. Otherwise how is a Vision Pro owner supposed to charge it?
Place it on the top like eyebrows, and it will charge via previously unnoticed coils in the AVP. ;)
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Johnny907 Avatar
12 months ago
Silly me, based on the headline I thought this would be a video comparing the Pro and the Air side by side and discussing the actual differences.
Skip.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
12 months ago
@Dan Barbera @Hartley: According to Federico Veticci from MacStories, the iPad nano-texture uses a new chemical process and is smooth like the regular glossy display (no paper-like friction effect):

According to Apple, they’re using a new chemical process to alter the glass with nano textures, which ensures the display keeps the same properties as the glossy one – same brightness, same contrast. […] What I wasn’t expecting when I grabbed the iPad Pro with the nano-texture display was that the display felt as smooth as the regular glossy one. […] If you were expecting this matte option to feel rough like paper, this is not it”.

(https://www.macstories.net/stories/thoughts-and-first-impressions-on-the-new-ipad-pros-from-apples-event-in-london/)
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
groove-agent Avatar
12 months ago
Finally here? We didn't really know they were coming in the first place (other than rumours). Maybe it should have read "The MacRumors Show: M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air Are Here!"
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rwlombard70 Avatar
12 months ago
Firstly, love your show and really enjoy your discussions! So, I’m a longtime Apple devotee and my first Mac was the Mac Plus. I’m old enough to have a .mac email address! lol. I’ve also had nearly every iPad model since it’s reLease. Funny story about that, when the first gen iPad was actually delivered it was the day my second son was born. I saw that it had been delivered to my house and I had to run home to “take care of our dog”. I came back to the hospital with the iPad and the family was there to see the baby. Looking back I feel a little guilty that the iPad took attention away from my son but it sure did! One thing that I always find interesting is that people always want it to be a Mac. I’ve seen the Mac go through all of its evolutions and like iPadOS, it was far from perfect for a very long time. And it isn’t now either. But it is more mature because it’s had decades to get there. To your point, I believe iPadOs will get there too. I haven’t fought what the iPad is. It’s not a Mac and should never be one. It truly may not serve everyone’s workflow ever and that’s ok. No computing device does. And software takes time to grow up. Look at Apple Maps. A mess when it came out and everyone expected it to be Google Maps right away. Well flash forward several years and it’s pretty much the go to for the vast majority of Apple users. iPadOS is going to get there, but differently than MacOS, and that’s perfectly ok. Frankly, when I use my Macbook Pro now it feels dated. Sure, it does some things better. So does the iPad, and again to your point, look at how much more the iPad now does. Oh, and one of those things that is vastly important is that it has a cellular radio! I work in finance and use a PC a lot for it, but also my iPad for most of it as well. In fact, I’m trading in my M1 14” MacBook Pro for the new iPad Pro. I don’t want or expect it to be a Mac and honestly, Apple has never claimed it was or that it would be.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
erikkfi Avatar
12 months ago
The rumor of Vision Pro support for the Pencil was alongside a rumor that it would optionally charge by USB-C. Otherwise how is a Vision Pro owner supposed to charge it?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)