Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

[crsh1976]

No, please, don’t “reimagine” the iPad. I’m completely in favor of big improvements, but the iPad concept is really great; there’s just a minority that wants to turn it into a boring classic Tablet-PC.

I didn't know things were that binary.

Apple used to be that company that changes things but it's too tall an order for them now apparently.

 

[Seamaster]

“Today we are pushing what users love about [insert Apple product name] even further, our best [insert Apple product name] yet”

"We couldn't be more excited to show you [insert microwaved existing product]"

 

[ThatsMeRight]

This is not an attack on Apple. This is not some kind of troll thing. Apparently, there is simply a structural "loose end" in M1-M3 that they didn't catch while making them and now it is revealed and established. Anyone can make mistakes and there are always mistakes being made by all kinds of companies. The Asbestos makers, J&J, Roundup and Ford, etc. didn't set out to make products to harm people- those we're all unintended/unexpected mistakes too... sometimes not discovered and tangibly known until many years later.

Clearly you've put some thought in this! Though for the M3 there now reportedly is a software solution, so there's that.

Additionally, even if they decide to go for a hardware fix, they don't need the M4 for that. They could simply update the current M3 chip. And there's a precedent:

The A13 chip got a mid-cycle security upgrade. For example, if you bought an iPhone 11 in early 2020 you'll have the "original A13". If you bought an iPhone 11 in late 2020 or later, you'll get a "security upgraded A13 chip". Performance is identical. Features are identical. Except A13 chips produced since late 2020 got a hardware fix. You don't even know if you've got it or not. The same thing happened to the A12-series. The same thing also happened for their watches with S5 chips.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

It's a 2hr event. Apple has my attention.

Where do you see it stating it is a 2 hour event?

 

[slippery-pete]

I agree with much of this. M4 is NOT logical in isolation... particularly with a seemingly established concept of iPhone FIRST, trickle down to Macs or iPads, then trickle down to the other (iPads or Macs)... and get to an AppleTV eventually.

However, again, there is ONE special circumstance to influence "normal": legal risk in continuing to sell chips with an "unfixable" hack hole in them. A company can't just opt to keep selling something that can bring harm to buyers and avoid the legal events that will certainly follow. The ONLY remedy once they know about it is to replace the product with a different one ASAP... and the different one mitigates the legal risk.

As an exercise, change the subject. Corp sells this revolutionary fire retardant called Asbestos. It's incredible... and ideally used in anything subject to the risk of fire. They make vast fortunes with this incredible product. Then they come to realize there is an unforeseen flaw in the product that causes tangible harm to users of it. A choice must be made: keep raking in huge revenue by continuing to sell it or alter or replace the product with something that resolves the harm. The Asbestos makers opted to keep selling Asbestos. They chose to keep the money tap flowing... knowing that it would catch up to them and they would have to pay eventually.

Is that too extreme? How about J&J talcum powder? Or Roundup bug killer? Or the infamous Ford Pinto fiasco? There are actually THOUSANDS of such incidences. Those are just some of the ones that resulted in HUGE legal payouts because they were tied to lives being lost... and thus are generally known to about everyone on some level. This hardware hack hole probably won't kill one person, but it may facilitate some some classic computer-based crimes, resulting in losses of money of size should it affect many Apple product owners. Everyone with a M1-M3 has the "unfixable" hole in their Mac.

Long story short: in ALL of these cases where a company knows but keeps selling anyway, the outcome is always the same. There will be a legal consequence, usually a settlement of size, mostly enriching lawyers instead of the people actually affected. The right move to minimize the size of that settlement is to replace the problematic products as fast as possible. Thus, if M4 is ready, don't choose to launch new products with the problem in them.

I fully grasp the illogic of M4 launching in iPads vs. the established historical sequence of events. So maybe the 2 hours rolls out some Macs too? I don't know. I simply offer the reality of what pretty much always happens throughout history as a unique catalyst for Apple to move beyond M1-M3 and related hardware ASAP. Whether that means iPads with M4 or not is TBD. I am simply not so quick to cling to traditional (sequence of events) against this unique variable... and the certainty of what history shows will follow.

The easy thing to do now is look the other way. A head in the sand that that kind of thing can't happen to Apple is an easy assumption too. But we see regular class actions against Apple and some of those result in settlements. This one will too whether these iPads launch with M3 or M4. Now that the hole is known, the only real question is the ever-growing size of the settlement to follow. The faster Apple stops selling M1-M3 products, the smaller the eventual settlement size.

Those situations the referenced caused PHYSICAL harm to buyers..The Apple situation doesn't cause physical harm.

I wont even get into the fact you are completely overblowing the Apple situation. Have a good one.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Clearly you've put some thought in this! Though for the M3 there now reportedly is a software solution, so there's that.

Additionally, even if they decide to go for a hardware fix, they don't need the M4 for that. They could simply update the current M3 chip. And there's a precedent:

The A13 chip got a mid-cycle security upgrade. For example, if you bought an iPhone 11 in early 2020 you'll have the "original A13". If you bought an iPhone 11 in late 2020 or later, you'll get a "security upgraded A13 chip". Performance is identical. Features are identical. Except A13 chips produced since late 2020 got a hardware fix. You don't even know if you've got it or not. The same thing happened to the A12-series. The same thing also happened for their watches with S5 chips.

I'll buy that M3+ upgraded chip to close-the-hole concept.

Now pair it with the rest...

1. Apparently a month later, all this A.I. spin will flow and probably be spun as needing the new chips to make the most of it. Do iPad buyers feel great a month later if that happens? If iPads aren't ready to sell immediately, it would be only weeks later to WWDC.

2. Rumors are rising that desktops will be updated soon. M3 does NOT have the connector to use 2 together for an Ultra. So a rumor says that ULTRA will be its own chip now. That would give Apple several Macs to launch in either this 2-hour session and/or at WWDC. Disconnected from the direct tie to a MAX releases means such a chip could launch at ANY time instead of only with or after MAX.

A general perception is that high-end Macs are the most profitable Macs sold on a profit-per-unit basis and there is some logical support for flipping the order of releases so that those who burn for "latest & greatest" would pay the MOST for it instead of the least (via M-base) next generation chip releases as established so far.

3. And apparently N3E is a cheaper process. So Apple could conceptually cut some iPad/Mac pricing down to wash the gains OR keep prices the same (or raise them) and book the added profit. It's extremely hard to imagine what modern Apple would choose here. Yes, I guess M3+ could be the first using N3E process too. But I would also guess that the re-engineering involved would probably not be used on a chip to be used as a short-term bridge to M4... UNLESS M4 is simply not ready to be released yet.

We'll all see soon enough. In spite of these posts, I'm not very gut confident about M4 iPads at all. I'm just not absolutely ruling them out either due to the unique variable in play.

 

[antonrg]

Reading this on my Air 5th Gen, so not for me, but glad it’s finally happening as so many people are looking to upgrade their iPads. This should be interesting to see.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Those situations the referenced caused PHYSICAL harm to buyers..The Apple situation doesn't cause physical harm.

I wont even get into the fact you are completely overblowing the Apple situation. Have a good one.

I just referenced those examples- as I WROTE with them- because the extreme nature of them make people generally aware of them. There are countless no-name examples that go the same way. People don't have to die for settlements. Apple just had to settle the "batterygate" case not so long ago. That didn't directly cause any harm whatsoever or any security-driven risk. But the settlement was paid.

This one is more serious than that one but nowhere near the Asbestos-type case. I am extremely confident it will lead to a settlement bigger than "batterygate" but far less than those where the same kind of 'sell anyway' decisions led to loss of lives. There's no loss of life here- just loss of money for those exploited by this hole. The actual settlement is probably 4-6 years out so that there is time for the hole to be exploited enough to fatten the settlement amount. Many M1 Macs will still be in use out to 2030+. There's plenty of time here.

And again, I'm offering a logical scenario that speeds us to M4... not in any way predicting Apple is doomed, this will destroy them, etc. People are passionately suggesting that there is no way they jump to M4 and yet there are other rumors about some Apple hardware jumping to M4. These iPads were expected a few months ago and were delayed for some reason. M4 is as good a guess as any.

Whether that leap is caused by the legal concept, M4 just being ready, N3E being more profitable for Apple or something else, it's simply subjective speculation to an M4 launch instead of an M3 launch. I can easily cast doubt on that jump for iPads myself. I just can't logically rule it out as a possibility like some others have in this and other threads.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

I'll buy that M3+ upgraded chip to close-the-hole concept.

This is probably the logical end of that saga. Apple will quietly update the design, so that newer M3 chips aren't vulnerable in hardware.

I am extremely confident it will lead to a settlement bigger than "batterygate" but far less than those where the same kind of 'sell anyway' decisions led to loss of lives.

The previous lawsuit of this nature (chip vulnerability) was dismissed in 2022.

 

[dustin.haley]

Where do you see it stating it is a 2 hour event?

If you click “add event to calendar” it comes up in a 2 hour block. That said, I highly doubt it’s going to be 2 hours as people are saying… could be wrong, but that would be legit crazy.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

If you click “add event to calendar” it comes up in a 2 hour block. That said, I highly doubt it’s going to be 2 hours as people are saying… could be wrong, but that would be legit crazy.

Interesting…that would be quite an event at 2 hours! Could be a whole slew of product announcements. “Let loose” makes it sound like they will be flexing.

 

[Windoes]

Am hyped to trash my iPad air 2, with about none battery left, finally!

 

[mikeoui]

Where is the new mini??? 😭 We're at the longest time ever (952 days) between updates for any iPad since the update from the original iPad to V2 (but that had the iPad Air come out in between).

 

[Dopestdude2]

I think Apple took advantage of the shift during COVID to avoid having to face a live audience, something they couldn't do with their lame updates, price hikes, and inexplicable anti-customer choices these days. Not without getting booed.

This is certainly one of the dumbest takes I’ve seen on here yet. Booing at an Apple event? lol that’s funny. Apple are control freaks, not a chance somebody that would potentially boo would get in and nobody is putting their Apple access on the line to boo at an event.

 

[ThatsMeRight]

I'll buy that M3+ upgraded chip to close-the-hole concept.

Now pair it with the rest...

1. Apparently a month later, all this A.I. spin will flow and probably be spun as needing the new chips to make the most of it. Do iPad buyers feel great a month later if that happens? If iPads aren't ready to sell immediately, it would be only weeks later to WWDC.

2. Rumors are rising that desktops will be updated soon. M3 does NOT have the connector to use 2 together for an Ultra. So a rumor says that ULTRA will be its own chip now. That would give Apple several Macs to launch in either this 2-hour session and/or at WWDC. Disconnected from the direct tie to a MAX releases means such a chip could launch at ANY time instead of only with or after MAX.

A general perception is that high-end Macs are the most profitable Macs sold on a profit-per-unit basis and there is some logical support for flipping the order of releases so that those who burn for "latest & greatest" would pay the MOST for it instead of the least (via M-base) next generation chip releases as established so far.

3. And apparently N3E is a cheaper process. So Apple could conceptually cut some iPad/Mac pricing down to wash the gains OR keep prices the same (or raise them) and book the added profit. It's extremely hard to imagine what modern Apple would choose here. Yes, I guess M3+ could be the first using N3E process too. But I would also guess that the re-engineering involved would probably not be used on a chip to be used as a short-term bridge to M4... UNLESS M4 is simply not ready to be released yet.

We'll all see soon enough. In spite of these posts, I'm not very gut confident about M4 iPads at all. I'm just not absolutely ruling them out either due to the unique variable in play.

Fair enough!

I think that there's a possibility that some AI functionality may be limited to M3 models, as they've recently also launched their M3 Macs. When they launched the MacBook Air M3, they dedicated a whole section to the Air being the "world's best consumer laptop for AI" thanks to the 16-core neural engine found in the M3 chip and the M3's capability to even locally run Large Language Models.

Surely future A18 and M4 chips will be even better suited, but the truth is that for the past few years Apple silicon has been ready for AI - and in the few months Apple's already been pushing the message that the M3 chip is the AI chip.

The N3E process is also a good point. I don't know if they'll do a mid-cycle switch. I do bet it is one of the reasons why we've got an A17 Pro chip in the iPhone 15 Pro. The A17 Pro is unique and I bet it won't be recycled... as they'll likely be using this cheaper process to launch an A18 and A18 Pro chip (for 16 and 16 Pro respectively).

 

[anthogag]

Real Pros use the Pencil with iPad Pro. I hope Apple kept the front facing camera where it belongs, portrait orientation. Let keyboard zombies use iPad Air.

 

[hovscorpion12]

Where do you see it stating it is a 2 hour event?

When you add the event to your calendar it shows starts at 7 AM, ends at 9 AM.

 

[Dopestdude2]

Where is the new mini??? 😭 We're at the longest time ever (952 days) between updates for any iPad since the update from the original iPad to V2 (but that had the iPad Air come out in between).

I think people need to get prepared for a potential end of the mini. It’s telling how little it’s been revamped and not a single rumor.

 

[symphony]

Gurman gets absolutely no points whatsoever, in fact we should penalize him with how many times he flipped flopped until he technically kinda somewhat got it right.

 

[hovscorpion12]

If you click “add event to calendar” it comes up in a 2 hour block. That said, I highly doubt it’s going to be 2 hours as people are saying… could be wrong, but that would be legit crazy.

Yeah. I've always wondered how the calendar gets the time block. I'm curious now to go back and see if there's any screenshots of past events to see if the calendar block matches the actual event time.

WWDC does have 1 PM to 3 PM, which does match up to last year's 2 hour event as well.

 

[dampfnudel]

Finally we will see new iPad mini

They probably won’t let the next iPad mini loose until September.

 

[hovscorpion12]

I think people need to get prepared for a potential end of the mini. It’s telling how little it’s been revamped and not a single rumor.

The iPad Mini is the golden sleeper.

In fact, it's the Gold standard of tablets.

1. Best screen size.
2. Best for portability.
3. Supports 5G.
4. Supports Apple Pencil.
5. Supports keyboards [Not Magic keyboard].
6. Supports Sidecar for Macs.
7. Supports Split-View & Slide-Over.
8. Supports Picture in Picture.
9. Solid price.

The only items missing is
1. 120hz display.
2. Higher storage [512GB].
3. 8 GB base RAM.
4. M1 Chip to handle Final Cut/Davinci Resolve.
5. Mini Magic Keyboard.

 

[mikeoui]

Finally we will see new iPad mini

No mention of the mini in the rumors 😔

 

[symphony]

The iPad Mini is the golden sleeper.

In fact, it's the Gold standard of tablets.

1. Best screen size.
2. Best for portability.
3. Supports 5G.
4. Supports Apple Pencil.
5. Supports keyboards [Not Magic keyboard].
6. Supports Sidecar for Macs.
7. Supports Split-View & Slide-Over.
8. Supports Picture in Picture.
9. Solid price.

The only items missing is
1. 120hz display.
2. Higher storage [512GB].
3. 8 GB base RAM.
4. M1 Chip to handle Final Cut/Davinci Resolve.
5. Mini Magic Keyboard.

Buddy, you’re so right. I have the mini and find it so enjoyable to use most of the time over my pro which I also love. But the size and weight of the mini is perfect. It’s just too god damn slow, apps always reset, screen is slow and Touch ID is frustrating. It also hides the status bar, wish it had Face ID.

Also ffs don’t hard code the volume buttons, which used to be an option. My iPad mini won’t possibly know the direction the button should increase or decrease when it’s laying flat.

 

[Abazigal]

All that hardware. All those accessories. All that power. All that portability…

And still no tablet version of macOS.

The vision pro sports a modified version of iPadOS. This tells us what Apple thinks is the future of computing. I doubt we will be seeing macOS on the iPad anytime soon.