Welcome to a week in which Apple managed to embody both the highs and lows of the innovation experience. For the highs, we had four new tablets and at least two pieces of exciting new technology, both of which can be found in the new iPad Pro. Apple’s latest premium tablet is powered by a new M4 chip (the latest in Apple silicon), and boasts stunning display technology known as ‘tandem OLED’ (it’s a technology that needs some explaining, but we’ve got you covered on that front). We even got a new Apple Pencil, and the fun of saying “barrel roll” over and over again.
That was the high point. The low point followed when Apple had to apologize for releasing a bizarre iPad Pro commercial that upset virtually every creative, as well as people who love Cher and emojis – oh, and Hugh Grant.
Google was also busy this week, dropping the Pixel 8a on the same day as Apple unveiled its iPads – it’s a more affordable, AI-ready Pixel phone that keeps the feature-skimping to a minimum. Google announced the phone just a week before its big IO conference, at which it likely has bigger things in store. I just hope it’s ready for OpenAI to potentially steal its thunder with a rumored new GPT-powered search engine. It sounds exciting, but if it’s going to go toe-to-toe with Google it better be 10 times better than ‘Googling’.
It's a lot to digest (and we didn’t even talk about the upcoming Microsoft Build, and all the AI changes that may be coming to Windows); but if I had my way we would’ve started this newsletter with what I consider the really big news of this week: Superman’s new suit. You see, there’s a new Superman movie coming from writer/director James Gunn in 2025, and now we’ve finally seen the movie’s star, David Corenswet, in his new Superman costume. As a huge Supe fan, this was a big deal for me, and I know I’m not alone.
If you’re a Marvel fan, I think there were some developments in that cinematic universe, too. Whatever.
You can't have missed the brand-new iPads unveiled by Apple this week, and TechRadar managed to get some hands-on time with the 13-inch iPad Pro – the thinnest and most powerful tablet Apple has ever released – backstage at the company's Let Loose event.
The 2024 edition of the iPad Pro gets an OLED screen for the first time, but it's no standard OLED screen: it's called 'tandem OLED' – essentially two displays sandwiched together – and we've taken a deep dive into how it works, and why it's a big deal for Apple.
The much-rumored Pixel 8a is finally official, and the mid-range smartphone brings with it some interesting upgrades over the Pixel 7a from 2023 – including a brighter screen with an improved refresh rate, a more powerful chip, and a host of AI tools.
ChatGPT developer OpenAI is rumored to be developing a full web search engine to take on Google, and according to the latest leak it's set to launch this coming Monday – that's the day before the big Google I/O event, which seems like deliberate timing.
Keen to stream something new this weekend? Max subscribers can enjoy Zac Efron’s critically acclaimed sports drama The Iron Claw, while Doctor Who season 14 and Dark Matter begin streaming on Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus, respectively.
