Just when we were getting comfortable with Apple M3 chip, the company is reportedly updating the silicon to the next level with M4. Apple’s ‘Let Loose’ event is a week away but it appears that an OLED iPad Pro will be unveiled and that too with the new M4 chip, reports Bloomberg. The report says it will become Apple’s “first truly AI-powered device”.

The May 7 event could be used to explain Apple’s “AI chip strategy without distraction”, allowing it to focus on how the iPad Pro and its other M4 devices will use the company’s AI offerings in iPadOS 18. The explanation may include on-device Apple-developed features and deeply-integrated chatbots from one or more other companies like Google or OpenAI.

The current iPad Pro comes with the M2 chip but if rumours are true, Apple is about to skip the M3 chip and introduce the M4. Recently, Apple marketed the new M3-powered MacBook Air as the “world’s best consumer laptop for AI”.

Beyond the chip, the new Pro models are expected to come with a big OLED upgrade (the first iPhone to use OLED was the iPhoneX) and new accessories, one of which could be the next Apple Pencil with haptic feedback. Haptic feedback on a stylus? What could it be for? Imagine drawing in Procreate and “feeling” the roughness of the paper. That’s a big step up to improve one’s sketching skills.

It’s a Pencil that is also rumoured to have support for the Apple Vision Pro but we don’t know exactly how that would work. There may also be a new squeeze gesture and magnetic tips that allow users to swap them quickly for different styles for different purposes.

Rumour has it that the Magic Keyboard may also get some updates. Over the years, the list of demands from users has increased to include a bigger touchpad and an extra USB-C port.

All of this combined, this could be the biggest iPad Pro upgrade since 2018. OLED is of particular importance because that sharpens up the display greatly. On an expensive machine, having an LCD panel means you have to look directly at the screen. In case you are slightly off-axis, the screen gets dimmer, which is also the case on the laptop.

Moving to OLED will help increase contrast levels and the depth of colours. Playing a game like Resident Evil Village or watching a film like Interstellar, you will have deeper blacks and extra contrast. OLED may also help turn the iPad into a smart display using the same technology as iPhone’s StandBy mode.

But if Apple answers questions around AI and how the iPad may work with that technology, the machine can become the new favourite among many and plenty of people may upgrade.

The superior quality of iPads has made users update less often and that could be the reason why Apple didn’t announce a new version in a long time. Yet, iPad accounted for a substantial amount during Apple’s fiscal first-quarter earnings earlier this year — a healthy $7.02 billion. During an investors call, Apple CEO Tim Cook said: “The iPad faced a very difficult comp, if you recall, in the year-ago quarter where we launched iPad Pro and iPad 10th generation.”

The delay in launching a new iPad Pro could also be because Apple has been waiting for the market to reach pre-pandemic levels. Also, the iPad’s line-up had become slightly muddled, which perhaps would be taken care of.

Besides the iPad Pro, Apple may launch new iPad Air models, one of which could sport a 12.9-inch display. The event is scheduled for May 7 and keep watching this space for updates.

Soon after the May 7 event, Apple will host its annual World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) between June 10 and 14. What makes this year’s event special is a nod to the company’s artificial intelligence ambitions. Last year, WWDC was about announcing Vision Pro spatial computing headset and its visionOS operating system. This year, it’s very different. Of course, you can anticipate big announcements around iOS and iPadOS 18, macOS 15 and watchOS 11, among others. As part of iOS 18, we are expecting AI-specific features, including generative-AI updates to Siri, Pages, Numbers and Keynote. AI can also be incorporated to auto-generate Apple Music playlists based on user input. It will be interesting to see how Siri improvements can integrate large-language models (LLMs), such as natural conversation capabilities and improved user personalisation.