Belatedly Grading My Predictions for Apple’s May ‘Let Loose’ iPad Event
I know this old news by this point, but I hate leaving things unfinished. Therefore, over two months after the fact, I’m back grading the predictions I made prior to Apple’s ‘Let Loose’ event, in wish they debuted the thinnest Apple product ever, got crushed by their own ad, and expanded (rather than simplified) the Apple Pencil lineup. Among other things.
Let’s get grading.
1️⃣ Apple Pencil Pro — 👍
While it didn’t come with all the features I had hoped for, I got the name, haptic feedback, squeeze button, and magnetic charging all right!
2️⃣ OLED Screen for iPad — 👍
It was probably the surest bet, but still I was blown away by the specs of the Tandem OLED display. Can’t wait to see it come to more products.
3️⃣ M3 Chip Inside — 👎
I said it was a coin flip, and I guessed wrong. Apple leapfrogged the M3 chip and went straight to M4 with the new iPad Pro. In hindsight, there was too much smoke for there not to be fire with them debuting the M4 at this event. But still, the M3 only lasted seven months before its successor appeared.
4️⃣ Every iPad gets an update — 👎
So close, and yet so far. The base iPad didn’t get an update, per se, they just dropped the 9th-gen altogether so the 10th-gen could take the entry-level spot. And the Mini got no update whatsoever. I’m hoping out (slight) hope that it could get a more major update by the end of the year, maybe with that gorgeous Tandem OLED display? (A man can dream, alright?)
5️⃣ New “Pro” Keyboard Accessory — 👍
You know what? I’m going to claim this one as a win. Although “Magic Keyboard Pro” would have been a way better name for what they introduced, “Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro” is the official name for the newest keyboard accessory and it does include “Pro” in there. USB-C data pass through was really the only thing I missed in this prediction.
6️⃣ Mac Virtual Display — 👎
Nope. Basically no new functionality in the software for these new iPads, except for what you can do with the new Apple Pencil Pro. And after The Talk Show Live at WWDC this year, I’m no longer holding out hope for a Mac Mode on iPad. (Although creating a MacPad is ever more intriguing.)
7️⃣ Minimum storage space on the base-level iPad gets bumped up — 👎
Nope. Still stuck at 64GB or 256GB.
8️⃣ Goodbye Home Button — 👍
Yup! No more Home Button iPads for sale from Apple. And the 10th-gen iPad now holds down the fort at an entry price of $349, well below the $400 price tag I had expected.
9️⃣ Event video will be no longer than 45-minutes — 👍
Got it. This one lasted a little over 38 minutes.
🔟 “AI” will be said at least 15 times — 👎
According to a transcript (fittingly generated by an AI analysis of the event’s YouTube video), they only mentioned AI by name 8 times. So about half as many as I expected.
Final Result: 5/10 predictions correct. That’s about par for the course for me. But they’re fun to make, so I’ll keep at it.
Bonus Grading Of My WWDC Wish List
A Siri that doesn’t suck. — 👍
It’s hard to say for sure because I haven’t tested it myself, but I’m optimistically grading this one as a win because it seems like they’ve hanging their hat on Apple Intelligence providing “a new era for Siri.” And its new animation is hella gorgeous.
This is post #3/31 for Blaugust 2024.