Episode 85 - Apple's "Let Loose" iPad Event with the M4 iPad Pro and M2 iPad Air

This week on the Solid State Podcast, we engage in a bit it of loose “deja vu”… You might remember last time we were together it was all-things-iPad, but more specifically what we felt the future of the iPad should look like. No true predictions, certainly nothing based on facts or even strong rumors, just if Cupertino were foolish enough to turn their iPad factory over to three gadget nerds for a year, what would come out the other end? 

Fast forward just a few short days, and the world watched as Apple… published a pre-recorded video to tell us what they see as the future of the iPad. 

Fancy new displays that are supposed to be the new gold standard in content consumption? Check. 

Fill out the middle of your lineup with bigger, cheaper models that still have enough horsepower to run a small datacenter… so you can play Candy Crush a bit faster? Oh yeah. 

A top-end price point that literally made my wallet shriek in fear? Sadly… can confirm. 

See from Apple’s point of view, it seems the iPad lineup is “right where they want it”… a shape, size, and price point for nearly everyone. But looking back to our episode just a couple weeks ago, we can’t help but ponder the question “why?” as we consider the most capable of these new offerings. Do you really need an OLED display to watch the next season of House of the Dragon? Is an AI-focused M4 processor the missing ingredient to faster scrolling on Instagram? 

We just keep coming back to one conclusion… this announcement, well its Part 1…

The other side of this cliffhanger seems to be looming in June’s WWDC, but in the meantime, there’s new iPad hardware to play with and for better or worse, let me go find my wallet…