Bloomberg had reported back in February the Sonos’ long-rumored and long-awaited headphones are dropping in June, a month later than the company originally intended due to a software issue. While Sonos itself has yet to release details about the device, its Dutch authorized dealer Schuurman seems to have published information and images of the headphones ahead of time. A Redditor in the Sonos group has discovered Schuurman’s listings (via The Verge) after someone else found out that the wireless headphones will officially be called the Sonos Ace.
Sonos
Based on the images, the Ace device package will come with the headphones, some wires and a carrying case. It looks like the headphones themselves will have buttons and a toggle switch on the earphone parts of the device. The images are pretty low-quality, so we can’t comment on how premium the model looks, but it does seem like the device is going to be a pair of over-ear headphones. Schuurman has listed the device package for €403.58 ($435), which is pretty near the $449 pricing Bloomberg mentioned in its previous report.
As the news organization said at the time, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is hoping that launching the new device category can help fuel growth for the company known for its speakers and sound bars after years of sluggish sales. The upcoming Ace headphones were reportedly designed to work with the company’s existing devices and can stream audio directly from TVs and music streaming services using its built-in Wi-Fi connection. Bloomberg said that Sonos is also looking into the possibility of releasing an in-ear model in the future to compete with Apple’s AirPods and other similar products.
BitLocker, which is Microsoft’s software encryption for SSDs, has run into its fair share of issues over the years since its release. And now there’s another potential problem looming over Windows 11 users with the upcoming version 24H2 update.
There’s a new report that Windows 11 version 24H2, also called the 2024 update, “may enable BitLocker by default during installation” across various versions of Windows including Home edition, according to German news outlet Deskmodder (reported on by Neowin). Why is this considered bad news? For several reasons.
What’s the problem?
The first is that using BitLocker for encryption can seriously slow down your PCs’ performance by up to 45% in Windows Pro, and would most likely affect other versions of the OS similarly. This occurs due to Windows 11 constantly prompting encryption and decryption processes with data on your SSD while your computer carries out read and write operations.
The second issue is that a user unfamiliar with encryption in general or this specific issue with BitLocker could encrypt their data without knowing and then not be able to decrypt and recover their data due to misplacing or not saving the needed key.
There’s also a third issue with BitLocker in terms of security as well — according to YouTuber Stacksmashing, its encryption can be cracked remarkably easily. Their video demonstrates that if you’re using either a Windows 10 or Windows 11 Pro device with a dedicated external Trusted Platform Module (TPM), your encrypted data can be decrypted and read. You only need a $10 Raspberry Pi Pico, physical access to the target endpoint, and the knowledge of how to do it.
How to fix it
Of course, there is a simple way to fix this auto encryption. You only need to disable Device Encryption inside Privacy & security in Settings. Thankfully users have that option, but many casual Windows 11 users, especially those with Windows 11 Home, may not be aware of the situation, let alone how to fix it.
Hopefully, if this report is true, Microsoft will disable auto-encryption before the update launches. It’s not necessary and causes more problems than it really solves.
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Take the strain, and three, two, one, pull! No, I’m not in the gym lifting weights, but in the woods with my Nikon DSLR and raising its optical viewfinder to my eye to compose a picture. It’s my D800‘s first outing in years and it’s quickly reminding me why I was so happy to switch to mirrorless. At 31.7oz / 900g and combined with my Nikon 70-200mm AF-S f/2.8 VR lens (50.4oz / 1430g) it’s well over 80oz / 2300g, and being cumbersome isn’t even the worst part.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ll come away from this walk in my local woods that’s bursting with fragrant bluebells and wild garlic with some pictures I’m super-excited about (see below), but boy do I have to work that much harder to get the results I want. And without wanting to lug a tripod around, I actually can’t get the same degree of sharpness in my pictures from this day in the dim conditions under a dense tree canopy.
There are aspects of the Nikon D800’s handling that I really enjoy and mixing up creative tools keeps me fresh as a photographer, but overall my mirrorless camera is a much more streamlined experience and I’m still glad that I made the leap from a Nikon DSLR to the Z6 II. Let’s look at where my DSLR struggles begin.
1. Carrying the gear
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
My Nikon D800 from 2012 is an extra 50% heavier than the Nikon Z6 II I’m now used to, and also the Z7 II that is arguably my DSLR’s modern day equivalent. The 70-200mm f/2.8 F-mount lens is also heavier than the mirrorless Z-mount version, although not by much. Overall, there’s approximately a 20% reduction in weight in the mirrorless version of my DSLR camera and lens pairing.
The DSLR camera body is also bulkier, and I notice this quickly with the chunkier handgrip. In some ways it’s actually a better balance with the fairly large telephoto lens than what my mirrorless camera offers, but in practice I’m wanting to place the DSLR down quicker than mirrorless.
When you’re repeating the motion of bringing the camera’s viewfinder up to your eye to compose a shot, the strain starts to take hold quite quickly.
2. Composing the shot
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
I like the D800’s optical viewfinder (OVF), a lot. It’s a bright and big display through which I can immerse myself in the scene. And it’s one less digital screen to look at, and I’m all for that.
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However, what you don’t get with an OVF, like you do with a mirrorless camera’s electronic viewfinder (EVF), is exposure preview, which is supremely helpful as you go about taking photos. You get a bright display but potentially a very different looking final image, both in brightness and depth of field / bokeh.
That can cause a problem for me because I tend to fiddle with exposure compensation based on the mood I want in the picture. It’s all too easy to leave the camera at -2EV for a low-key effect and unwittingly carry on shooting dark pictures because the end result is not reflected in the OVF display. Overall, I prefer an optical viewfinder display for the feeling and an electronic viewfinder to meet my practical needs.
Another point regarding my D800 is that its screen is fixed, whereas my mirrorless camera has a tilt display which is super helpful for shooting at low angles, which I often do especially in scenarios like this. Some DSLRs like the Nikon D850 also have a moveable screen, but most don’t, and once you’re used to working from a tilting or swivel screen, it’s hard to go back to a fixed one.
3. Focusing issues
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
Focusing isn’t bad with the D800. It’s actually very good, but it’s not as refined as the Z6 II mirrorless camera. It’s evident as I pinpoint certain bluebells – the focus points simply aren’t small enough. I wrestle with autofocus as it hunts for the subject that’s right there, more so than with mirrorless.
If I was taking portraits today, I’d be much more relaxed with my mirrorless camera too thanks to its reliable subject and eye detection autofocus, whereas my D800 has regular back-focusing issues.
I’ve also become accustomed to composing shots through the Z6 II’s LCD display, often instead of the viewfinder. If I try to do the same – focusing through the D800’s Live View – it is a significantly worse experience, too. Nikon DSLRs aren’t really designed to be used for photography with autofocus through Live View, though Canon DSLRs do a better job.
4. No image stablization
When looking closely at the detail of the tree bark in sharp focus, there’s a subtle softness that comes with shooting handheld using a high-resolution DSLR like the D800. (Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
The single thing I miss the most when opting for my DSLR over mirrorless is in-body image stabilization, which in the Z6 II enables me to shoot handheld in more situations.
I remember when I first bought my D800 just how unforgiving its 36MP sensor was regarding camera shake and its resulting effect – softening detail. At the time, my golden rule to calculate the minimum acceptable shutter speed for sharp shots was shutter speed equals the focal length of your lens – for example, 1/200sec when shooting at 200mm.
That rule went out the window with the D800, the highest resolution full-frame sensor ever, and I would have to be conservative by around 2EV. At the same 200mm focal length a faster than normal 1/1000sec was as slow as I could go really. Or I could bring out the tripod to eliminate camera shake.
Image 1 of 7
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
I don’t want a tripod for my shooting techniques where I need maximum portability, like this day in the woods, nor do I want to damage the woodland and bluebells – I need a light footprint. No, I’m going handheld all the way.
Now I’m in these woods shaded by a dense tree canopy and the shutter speed I need to use with the 70-200mm lens requires a high ISO, even with the f/2.8 aperture. Put simply, the quality of detail I can get in this scenario cannot match what I can with my mirrorless camera which is equipped with image stabilization and able to shoot at slower shutter speeds and low ISO because it compensates camera shake.
The photos I came away with using my DSLR
Visually most woodlands are messy. You have to search long and hard for tidy compositions such as a single tree standing out from the rest. Or you can embrace and work with the chaos.
I’ve intentionally used a telephoto lens and shot through branches and leaves to add layers, a sense of depth and to bring in those elements that you otherwise have to work so hard to avoid. And I’m certainly not about to cut away branches or rip up flowers to get the shot I want.
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(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
(Image credit: Future | Tim Coleman)
My overall experience bringing my DSLR back out of retirement was fine, but it has reminded me how mirrorless has evolved the camera experience for the better. Ultimately mirrorless is a more refined experience than a DSLR in just about every department.
Images are better, too. I haven’t been able to shoot handheld at ISO 100 under dense tree cover like I could with mirrorless, and there’s just an edge of softness in my pictures caused by subtle camera shake that I don’t have with mirrorless. I’m less concerned with my DSLR’s inferior corner sharpness and pronounced vignetting compared to mirrorless.
I’m not about to sell my DSLR – I’ll give it another run out soon. It’s just I’ve been reminded the extra dedication needed to the craft in order to come away with the pictures that I’m happy with. As I own both a DSLR and mirrorless camera, opting for the DSLR feels like taking the hard path.
If it’s a day ending in “y”, it’s a day when the price of a streaming service is going up –and today’s such service is Crunchyroll. Subscribers who’ve been used to several years of static subscription prices are about to get a financial shock in several countries where both the Mega Fan and Ultimate Fan plans are going up.
The standard Crunchyroll Premium tier will stay the same for now at $7.99 per month. But the cost of Mega Fan will go up from $9.99 per month to $11.99 per month, and the price of the Ultimate Fan tier will rise from $14.99 to $15.99 per month.
As The Verge reports, the service is also shortening its free trial period: that’s going down from two weeks to one. Although the new prices aren’t being implemented worldwide, they are being rolled out in the US alongside Argentina, Colombia, France, Portugal and “select additional countries”.
Who’s next for a streaming subscription price hike?
The most likely source of your next subscription sting is Spotify, which has already (as of the start May) increased its subscription fees in the UK. The same will happen in the US “later this year”, Bloomberg reports. Expect an increase of $1 per month for individual plans and $2 per month for family and duo plans. Which service could be next? There was talk earlier this year about another potential Netflix price hike followed by most recently Peacock, so it doesn’t look to be slowing down any time soon.
It does feel that the various music and TV streaming services are marching in lockstep not just with pricing but with their explanations for it. The money’s to pay for “additional investment”, “additional services” and “additional subscriber benefits”. Was that Crunchyroll, Netflix, Spotify, or another streamer?
In fairness to Sony, the price hikes aren’t massive – but if like us you subscribe to a bunch of different streaming services, what feels like never-ending price increases are taking an increasingly big bite out of wages that certainly aren’t going up by the same percentage points, if they’re going up at all. One price hike is a bit like one wasp sting: individually it’s not too terrible, but if a whole bunch of wasps come at you…
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A couple of months ago, the YouTube TV app on iOS gained Multiview, a feature giving subscribers a way to watch up to four different sports games at once. A company spokesperson at the time told us Android users wouldn’t get the update until later this summer. Well, it seems the platform sped up development because Multiview on YouTube TV for Android devices has recently been spotted rolling out.
All you need to do to receive the feature is run the latest version of the app on your smartphone or tablet. After installing the patch, scroll down while on the Home tab until you see the section “Watch in Multiview”. Then select a group you want to watch. Audio will initially play from the livestream in the upper left corner. You can change the audio source by tapping another stream twice. The first time brings up the Play/Pause button in the middle, and the second makes the switch.
(Image credit: Future)
You’ll know you’ve done it correctly if the live stream has a white highlighted border around it. It’s important to mention that double tapping a source while the Play/Pause button is showing lets you expand it to full screen. Similarly, you can hit the Go To option while in a portrait view to jump to a specific game or show.
You can’t create your own Multiview setup. Users have to pick one of four pre-selected livestreams provided by the platform. The customization tool remains exclusive to the smart TVs.
Not just sports
According to 9To5Google, the update “can work on any device” and doesn’t require powerful hardware to run. All of the heavy lifting is done by YouTube. The publication states that Multiview is, “for the most part, limited to sports content”. However, in our experience, this wasn’t the case. We were able to watch four different news sources at once including Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, and BBC News. Alongside those were two economic programs as well as a pair of weather channels. To see the others, scroll the content carousel to the left.
(Image credit: Future)
There is a chance you may not see Multiview at first. A Google representative told TheVerge the patch is in the process of rolling out to Android owners and will continue to do so over the coming weeks. Be sure to keep an eye out for the update once it arrives. If you still don’t see it, try closing YouTube TV and then opening it up again. We did that when we didn’t see the new section.
In addition to this upgrade, a handful of users have reported seeing the 1080p Enhanced option reappearing on their Apple TV. This setting lets people enjoy content in 1080p resolution at a high bitrate enabling a better quality stream. The validity of said feature is shaky since YouTube has yet to make an official announcement. So, we reached out for clarification.
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Getting to work an hour late because your iPhone alarm didn’t go off is one of life’s cruelest tricks, but it’s one that an uncomfortably large number of iPhone owners think they’ve fallen victim to in recent weeks.
As reported by US news outlet Today, many iPhone users have taken to social media to complain of iPhone alarm failures, with many of these instances resulting in missed engagements. “I’ve noticed for the past week or so that my alarm just wasn’t waking me up,” says TikTok user @charkaylotte, who owns an iPhone 11, while @elizabethannswenson, in a separate TikTok video, complains of the same issue with their iPhone 15.
Apple has told us that it’s aware of an issue causing some iPhone alarms to not play as expected, and the company is already working on a fix, but we suspect that at least some of the blame can be placed at the door of a little-known iPhone setting that can erroneously cause alarms to play at a lower volume. Allow us to explain.
Introduced with iOS 17 – which, it’s worth noting, is compatible with the iPhone XR upwards – the ‘Attention Aware’ setting allows your iPhone to detect whether you’re paying attention to it and will lower alert sounds if it registers that you are (presumably because Apple thinks you don’t want to be subjected to the Radar tone at full volume while looking down the barrel of your iPhone, which is fair).
Some affected users have reported that turning the Attention Aware setting off has solved their silent alarm woes – perhaps because it’s causing their iPhones to mistakenly sense a face during the night – so to do this yourself, head to Settings, Face ID & Passcode, then toggle the Attention-Aware Features tab off.
(Image credit: Future)
Apple itself has also encouraged affected users to double-check their selected alert tones under Sounds & Haptics in Settings and clarified that any iPhones in StandBy mode should remain stationary through the night to function correctly.
Reddit users have previously noted that reducing the number of alarms you’ve got set to go off in quick succession can limit the risk of no-shows, as can switching any custom alarm sounds to default ones (which isn’t a bad thing in our book, since the iOS 17 alarm tones are so damn good).
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Incidentally, activating Do Not Disturb, the Ring/Silent switch or Silent mode has no impact on the Alarm app, so you needn’t subject yourself to the constant ‘ding!’ of notifications when you’re trying to get a good night’s sleep.
Ideally, though, Apple will soon roll out an update that improves the functionality of the ‘Attention Aware’ setting, which appears to be enabled by default.
Microsoft OneDrive has finally introduced a feature long considered a staple of Google Drive and iCloud: an offline mode. The mode will be rolled out to students and professionals from today onwards, allowing users to save and edit work whether they have an internet connection or not.
Offline mode for the web version of OneDrive will now let you open your files in the various sections of the program, like your shared folder and meeting views, as well as edit your documents, rename them, and sort them – all without needing an internet connection.
All these changes will be ‘saved’ offline and implemented once you regain internet connectivity with your changes synced to the cloud. Files will be marked as ‘available offline’ as they are in Google Drive.
How to set it up
If you want to use the new offline mode for OneDrive, you’ll need to install the OneDrive app on your Windows or Mac device. Once you’ve done that, you need to head over to OneDrive on your web browser of choice.
You should be prompted to complete the one-time setup for offline mode, and voila! You’re all set! You should bear in mind that there are limitations on what you can and cannot do with offline mode at present. As MSPoweruser reports, offline mode only includes support if you have 250,000 files or fewer – hopefully, you do! – and the feature is currently only supported for OneDrive for work and school (although a wider rollout is presumably in the works).
While long overdue, this is a great chance for Onedrive users who have to work on the go and make last-minute changes to work, and it helps take the stress off those unfortunate times when your Wi-Fi crashes and you worry about losing all your progress! Hopefully, this will tempt more people to try the file management program – now that it’s finally up to speed with basically every other alternative.
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Artificial intelligence might seem a little less artificial today now that Memory is live for all ChatGPT Plus users.
After a few months of testing in both the free and pay versions of the generative AI chatbot, OpenAI chose to enable the feature, for paying customers only, in all regions except Korea and Europe.
ChatGPT‘s memory is exactly what it sounds like. During prompt-driven “conversations” with the AI, ChatGPT Plus can now remember key facts about the conversations, including details about you, and then apply that information to future interactions. Put another way, ChatGPT Plus just graduated from a somewhat disinterested acquaintance to a friend who cares enough to remember that your birthday is next week or that you recently bought a dog.
You can tell the system to implicitly remember something or just state facts about yourself that it will remember.
I know, it’s the kind of thing that could make AIs like ChatGPT far more useful or completely terrifying. Up until now, we’ve mostly dealt with generative AIs that had intense short-term memory loss. Systems like ChatGPT, Google‘s Gemini, and Microsoft CopIlot could carry on lengthy, discrete conversations where they’d do a decent job of maintaining context (the longer the conversation, the wonkier this could get). If, however, you ended one conversation and started another, it was like meeting a completely different person who knew nothing about you or the conversation you had three minutes ago.
Unlike human memory, which can remember some things forever but easily forget others, ChatGPT Plus Memory is in your control.
Controlling ChatGPT Plus Memory
As I mentioned earlier, you can help ChatGPT Plus build its Memory by telling it things about yourself that you want it to remember. By doing so, you’ll notice that when you ask, say, your age or where you live, it will be able to tell you. ChatGPT will also take those details and combine them with future queries, which could shorten your conversation and make the results more accurate and useful.
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Memory is enabled by default. You can find it under Settings/Personalization. There’s a toggle switch where you can turn it off.
ChatGPT Plus Memory control. (Image credit: Future)
To see all of ChatGPT Plus’ memories, you select the Manage button, which sits right below the Memory description and toggle. Initially, even though I told ChatGPT Plus to remember things about me, my memory box remained empty. If I had found any in there, I could clear all of them or select only the ones I wanted to remove.
However, when I told ChatGPT “I really love houseplants,” I saw a little notation appear right above its response that said: “Memory updated.” When I selected that, the memory, “Loves houseplants”, appeared below it, and right below that, a link to Manage memories.
Image 1 of 4
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
I made ChatGPT Plus remember my love of houseplants(Image credit: Future)
Later, when I asked ChatGPT Plus how I might liven up my home, it answered, in part (I bolded the relevant bit), “Adding some houseplants is a great way to liven up your home! They not only beautify the space but also improve air quality and can enhance your mood. Since you love houseplants, you might consider diversifying the types you have….”
As noted, Memory is not free. A ChatGPT Plus subscription, which gives you, among other things, access to the GPT-4 model, costs $20 /£20 a month. I asked OpenAI if any version of Memory is coming to non-paying ChatGPT users and will update this post with their response.
Sure, ChatGPT Plus Memory nudges the generative AI in the direction of humanity, but there is, as far as I know, no way to go into anyone’s mind and delete some or all memories.
Temporary Chat will turn off memories for that that. (Image credit: Future)
While you can turn off Memories, you might like the middle option, which uses the new “Temporary Chat” to introduce short-term amnesia to the system.
To use it, choose the ChatGPT model you want from the drop-down menu and then select “Temporary chat”. Now, nothing you share with ChatGPT Plus during that chat will be added to its memory.
Come to think of it, a real friend, who only remembers what you want them to, could come in handy.
Drone brand DJI could soon be banned from operating in the United States. According to a report from The New York Times (NYT), a bill called the Countering CCP Drones Act “passed unanimously by the House Energy and Commerce Committee” last month. The legislation will move on to a floor vote in the House of Representatives within the next two months. If it passes there, it’ll continue onward to the Senate and potentially the President of the United State’s desk.
There seem to be two main motivations behind this ban. One of the bill’s sponsors, Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, claims “DJI presents an unacceptable security risk” pointing to the company’s connection to the Chinese government. The NYT mentions how vulnerabilities were discovered back in 2020 that CCP officials could’ve utilized to access the personal information of American users. Although these vulnerabilities have since been patched, that hasn’t stopped the US Department of Defense from prohibiting its armed forces from buying the drones.
The other reason is an economic one. Representative John Moolenaar of Michigan said he wants to foster a “competitive… drone industry” in the United States. DJI drones, as you can imagine, are popular in the US making up “58 percent of the commercial market in 2022.” Kicking out the brand would, in theory, allow other brands to grow.
Cracking down
This isn’t the first time DJI has been caught in the crosshairs of the American government. Back in 2021, the company was placed on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List restricting access to key “US technologies”.
It’s important to mention the Countering CCP Drones Act was introduced last spring. If you look through the bill’s summary, you’ll learn that it’ll place DJI drones under the purview of the Secure and Trusted Communication Networks Act. TheVerge in the coverage explains doing so will prevent the devices from accessing US networks, and place heavy limits on a drone’s features.
You may be wondering why the bill is gaining traction now. Well, it may have something to do with TikTok. Scrutiny on Chinese tech has ramped up in recent months. President Joe Biden branded Chinese electric vehicles as a national security threat in March. Then the president signed a bill possibly banning TikTok. It forces parent company ByteDance to sell the platform within a year or get kicked out (or possibly get an extension). Perhaps seeing blood in the water, the DJI ban bill’s sponsors are pushing it as another crackdown on China-based tech companies.
Counterarguments
DJI isn’t too happy about this. Early last month, they posted a facts sheet on their official Viewpoint blog criticizing and countering the arguments in the Countering CCP Drones Act. The company states they don’t help any government in espionage, support human rights abuses, or collect data without user consent. The NYT also revealed DJI is working behind the scenes with lobbyists to remain in the States.
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Even if the company is banned, the technology powering its products may survive. Anzu Robotics is the new kid in the American drone industry and they launched the Raptor earlier this month which utilizes licensed DJI tech, the same kind found on the Mavic 3.
The difference is that Anzu is from Malaysia and they employ domestically made software in their device. With free range to operate, the Raptor could take the throne away from the Mavic 3 although this remains to be seen as it’s pretty expensive. Prices for the Raptor start at $5,000; more than double of the Mavic.
If you want something more budget-friendly, check out TechRadar’s list of the best drones for 2024.
Apple has scheduled its next product showcase for May 7, a few weeks before the Worldwide Developers Conference gets under way. While the company is, as usual, being a bit coy about what’s on deck, the signs are all there. It had been rumored for months that Apple would refresh its iPad lineup in May. Sure enough, the image on the announcement for this “Let Loose” event includes an illustration of a hand holding an Apple Pencil.
Various reports over recent months have offered some insight as to what Apple has up its sleeves. So, with that in mind, here’s what to expect from the upcoming iPad event:
M3 iPad Pro
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
It’s been about 18 months since Apple updated any of its iPads, so its tablet lineup is due for a refresh. It won’t exactly come as a surprise to see Apple slot M3 chips into the latest iPad Pro models, since the most recent versions run on M2 chipsets.
Otherwise, the biggest update is expected to come in the form of OLED displays, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. That should bring richer colors and deeper blacks to the iPad Pro.
Since OLED panels are thinner than LCD panels, that should allow Apple to reduce the thickness of the iPad Pro. According to 9to5 Mac, the 11-inch iPad Pro will be 0.8 mm thinner at 5.1 mm, while the 12.9-inch model will be more noticeably slender, as the thickness is expected to drop by 1.5 mm to 5 mm. A leaker has suggested that the bezels could be up to 15 percent thinner than previous models as well.
Rumors have been swirling for a while that Apple may offer a glass-backed iPad Pro this year to enable MagSafe charging. Meanwhile, there have been hints that Apple will solve one of our biggest iPad bugbears and move the front-facing camera to the landscape edge of the Pro, as it did with the entry-level iPad in late 2022. That means the camera will be more optimally placed for those who use a Magic Keyboard or folks who simply prefer a landscape orientation.
M2 iPad Air
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
As for the iPad Air, which Apple has left in stasis for over two years, that’s expected to get an upgrade to M2 chips from the M1 that the tablets currently use. There are rumblings that Apple will go with the older chip in the iPad Air to differentiate it from Pro models and ensure that the latter devices clearly remain its highest-end tablets. Reports suggest that the iPad Air’s front-facing camera is also blessedly moving to the landscape edge.
There is one other big change we’re expecting for the iPad Air, and I mean that in the most literal sense. Apple is rumored to be prepping the first 12.9-inch iPad Air. It’s likely to be the least expensive option for a large-screen iPad, even though that would run somewhat against the “Air” part of the name.
Display analyst Ross Young previously suggested that the 12.9-inch iPad Air screen would have a mini-LED display, but that no longer appears to be happening — at least for now. However, Young says that Apple may release an iPad Air with such a display later this year. Meanwhile, the new iPad Air models may have a larger camera bump, perhaps so Apple can add a flash.
New Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil
Engadget
Gurman reported last year that Apple was working on a revamped Magic Keyboard, but only for the iPad Pro, not the Air lineup. The updated keyboard is said to make the iPad Pro look more like a laptop, with a larger trackpad. It’s said to be made of aluminum to make it sturdier than previous models, though “the exterior shell of the Magic Keyboard will retain the cover material of the current model,” Gurman says.
In addition, Apple is expected to unveil a new Apple Pencil to replace the second-gen model. Dataminers have suggested that an updated peripheral could include a squeeze gesture to carry out certain actions and have Find My support. Some reports have indicated the next Apple Pencil could work with Vision Pro drawing apps too.
What not to expect: A new iPad or iPad mini
Even though the iPad mini in particular is getting very long in the tooth — the most recent model arrived in September 2021 — you probably shouldn’t expect a new model to show up at the Let Loose event. Not are we expecting to see a new base iPad. Reportssuggest an 11th-gen iPad and an updated iPad mini may arrive later this year, but maybe don’t hold your breath for them.
