Last week, Sony published a seemingly innocuous bit of fluff, touting its long-term "creative entertainment vision" in broad terms, along with some interviews of key employees. Neil Druckmann, studio head of Sony's Naughty Dog, was one of those — and his interview made waves in the game world. According to the interview, Druckmann said AI could "create nuanced dialogues and characters" and also said that the new game Naughty Dog was developing (but hasn't officially announced) "could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming." Some mighty strong and potentially controversial statements from the head of a studio beloved for its The Last of Us and Uncharted franchises.
Problem is, Druckmann was wildly misquoted by his own employers. A few days after Sony published its interview, Druckmann took to X and said "this is not quite what I said." He then went full Ellie-in-revenge-mode on Sony, posting a section of the original interview transcript. (He was actually pretty polite if we're being honest — even the powerful can only bite the hand that feeds so hard.) Regardless, things here do not add up.
In editing my rambling answers in my recent interview with SONY, some of my words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost. Well, here's the full long rambling answer for the final question about our future game... pic.twitter.com/tVuxX3LYJF
Gaming reporter Stephen Totilo shared his own comparison of what Druckmann said and what Sony published, bolding the words in Sony's answer that Druckmann never said — and those words were the majority of the quote. Sony basically put words in his mouth and published them, kicking off a classic gamer freakout.
To be fair, if I was Druckmann, I'd be pretty pissed too. Look at this butchery!
If you're curious (about what he said; and how I spend a Friday night when my wife and kids are away), here's a comparison of the original answer and the edited one.
Many changes
No surprise, this was cut: "Not because games need to be movies, or they need to be TV shows" pic.twitter.com/FkxNkqQPY2
Now, five days later, Sony has removed the interview from its site entirely. However, they didn't just delete the page — they left it up with an apology to Neil and the Naughty Dog team "for any negative impact this interview might have caused."
My favorite bit is easily this:
In re-reviewing our recent interview with Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann, we have found several significant errors and inaccuracies that don't represent his perspective and values (including topics such as animation, writing, technology, AI, and future projects).Sony
So everything he said about animation, writing, technology, AI and future projects had errors. Hey, at least they nailed his name and title.
For the morbidly curious, you can still read the "interview" on archive.org.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-pulls-fabricated-interview-with-naughty-dog-head-neil-druckmann-210340146.html?src=rss
Last week, Sony published a seemingly innocuous bit of fluff, touting its long-term "creative entertainment vision" in broad terms, along with some interviews of key employees. Neil Druckmann, studio head of Sony's Naughty Dog, was one of those — and his interview made waves in the game world. According to the interview, Druckmann said AI could "create nuanced dialogues and characters" and also said that the new game Naughty Dog was developing (but hasn't officially announced) "could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming." Some mighty strong and potentially controversial statements from the head of a studio beloved for its The Last of Us and Uncharted franchises.
Problem is, Druckmann was wildly misquoted by his own employers. A few days after Sony published its interview, Druckmann took to X and said "this is not quite what I said." He then went full Ellie-in-revenge-mode on Sony, posting a section of the original interview transcript. (He was actually pretty polite if we're being honest — even the powerful can only bite the hand that feeds so hard.) Regardless, things here do not add up.
In editing my rambling answers in my recent interview with SONY, some of my words, context, and intent were unfortunately lost. Well, here's the full long rambling answer for the final question about our future game... pic.twitter.com/tVuxX3LYJF
Gaming reporter Stephen Totilo shared his own comparison of what Druckmann said and what Sony published, bolding the words in Sony's answer that Druckmann never said — and those words were the majority of the quote. Sony basically put words in his mouth and published them, kicking off a classic gamer freakout.
To be fair, if I was Druckmann, I'd be pretty pissed too. Look at this butchery!
If you're curious (about what he said; and how I spend a Friday night when my wife and kids are away), here's a comparison of the original answer and the edited one.
Many changes
No surprise, this was cut: "Not because games need to be movies, or they need to be TV shows" pic.twitter.com/FkxNkqQPY2
Now, five days later, Sony has removed the interview from its site entirely. However, they didn't just delete the page — they left it up with an apology to Neil and the Naughty Dog team "for any negative impact this interview might have caused."
My favorite bit is easily this:
In re-reviewing our recent interview with Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann, we have found several significant errors and inaccuracies that don't represent his perspective and values (including topics such as animation, writing, technology, AI, and future projects).Sony
So everything he said about animation, writing, technology, AI and future projects had errors. Hey, at least they nailed his name and title.
For the morbidly curious, you can still read the "interview" on archive.org.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/sony-pulls-fabricated-interview-with-naughty-dog-head-neil-druckmann-210340146.html?src=rss
In the last few months, news organizations have leapt into bed with OpenAI, hatching Faustian bargains where the cash-strapped media industry exchanges a monetary pittance for OpenAI's right to scrape and integrate their content into things like ChatGPT. Those that have signed in blood include News Corp (publisher of the Wall Street Journal), the Financial Times, People magazine publisher Dotdash Meredith, the AP, and now, The Atlantic and Vox Media.
The Atlantic and Vox Media quickly confirmed these new deals shortly after Axiosfirst published the news.
The Atlantic says that it'll be a "premium news source" in OpenAI and that all its citations will be clearly attributed to The Atlantic with links back to the original content. There are concerns from publishers that users of AI chatbots don't actually need to go to the original sources; perhaps the calculus is that, for an industry in the twilight of its lifespan, some inbound link traffic is better than none. Then again, by agreeing to be scraped at all, perhaps The Atlantic is effectively wading directly into the tarpit of its own extinction (and of media as a whole). There will also be an experimental "microsite" called Atlantic Labs that'll showcase "new products and features to better serve its journalism and readers."
Vox Media (publisher of its flagship news site Vox, tech site The Verge, the network of sports blogs under the SB Nation banner and many more) says it'll have a similar style of attribution and linking out to its content.
Vox Media will also use OpenAI data both internally and in public-facing content. Specifically, it'll "enhance" Vox's The Strategist Gift Scout tool that helps visitors find stuff to buy (and helps Vox Media earn affiliate revenue). It'll also be built into the publisher's in-house advertising platform, so expect ads that are even better at following you around the internet and learning about what you want to buy.
There's no indication yet that that either company will publish anything created directly by AI, as sites like CNET and Sports Illustrated have tried with disastrous results, though neither company said anything about keeping AI out of its content either. Over at The Atlantic, it seems likely that any such experiments will be kept to the new Atlantic Labs section, at least for starters.
While a number of publishers have been quick to embrace AI, not everyone is so enthused. The New York Timessued both OpenAI and Microsoft for copyright infringement in December, saying that both companies use its material without permission to train their models. More recently, eight publications owned by the Alden Capital Group, including the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News,sued both companies with a similar complaint. At this point, it seems like it's either spend time and money in a lawsuit to go after OpenAI's rampant intellectual theft or cut a deal that'll make you some spending cash in a dire media market.
It was only last weekThe Atlantic published its own screed decrying media organizations which had taken petty cash from AI interlopers in exchange for something of significantly greater value. The odds unfortunately suggest this story (and my moral high ground) will age just as poorly in the near future.
Update, May 29, 2024, 12:20 PM ET: This story has been updated to include details from Vox Media's official statement on the deal.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/the-atlantic-and-vox-media-made-their-own-deal-with-the-ai-devil-161017636.html?src=rss
Two weeks ago, Google announced a slew of new AI-powered features at its I/O developer conference. Microsoft followed suit last week with the introduction of its Copilot+ PCs that have, you guessed it, a slew of new AI-powered features. Somewhat predictably, Google is announcing its answer to the Copilot+ PC initiative with… the humble Chromebook. The Chromebook Plus line that it first announced last October, to be specific. When Google first announced Chromebook Plus, it focused on a combination of higher-performance hardware as well as some modest AI software features compared to what you’d get on regular Chromebooks.
Now, however, Google is delivering on what it first announced: Chromebook Plus models are getting a host of features that Google first teased last year as well as some new ones we haven’t heard about before.
Google
AI features
For starters, the “help me write” feature Google soft-launched earlier this year is now available on all Chromebook Plus laptops. This should work across any text entry field you find on a website, whether that’s a Google product like Gmail or a site like Facebook. You can use it to get a prompt, or have it analyze what you’ve already written to make it more formal, or more funny (though Google did admit the jury’s out on whether AI can actually be funny). Basically it’s a generative text tool that you can use across the web. It’s not surprising to see it show up in Chromebooks, as Google said you could turn it on in Chrome for Windows and Mac back in February. But Google says that it's being implemented at the OS level on Chromebooks so that you can use it outside the browser
The next feature is another one Google announced last fall, and it’s purely for fun. A built-in image generator will enable you to generate wallpaper and video call backgrounds by typing in a prompt. It’s not at all dissimilar to what you’d do with other image generators, though I can’t yet say how fast it works or how well it sticks to what you ask it for. Google is including a few prompts for you to try or customize to get you started.
Google
The last update is that the Magic Editor in Google Photos is coming to laptops exclusively as a feature for Chromebook Plus devices. First available on Google’s Pixel devices, Magic Editor was part of the Google One subscription plan for a while, but now it’s more broadly available provided your phone meets the minimum specs. As for laptops, though, Chromebook Plus models are the only ones that can use Magic Editor. The reasoning seems pretty simple: Chromebooks can run Android apps, including Google Photos.
Google
Still, if you’ve wanted to mess around with Magic Editor on a bigger screen than your phone, doing so on a Chromebook seems like a decent option. As a refresher, Magic Editor basically lets you manipulate your photos in a variety of ways to change the reality of what you captured, but much faster and easier than using something like Photoshop. You can select people or objects to move them around, have the app turn a cloudy sky blue, resize or delete other objects and generally make it even harder to trust that photos you create or share are authentic.
Unsurprisingly, Google is also baking its Gemini chatbot more directly into Chromebooks by having the app pre-installed and sitting right on the launcher. More significant though is that Google is giving Chromebook Plus buyers a full year of its Google One AI Premium plan, which puts Gemini features right in Gmail, Docs and other Workplace apps. It also includes access to Gemini Advanced, which adds support for things like uploading documents for analysis and access to Gemini Pro 1.5 and its 1 million token context window (which Google said would grow to 2 million tokens soon).
Given that the Google One AI plan costs $20 a month, double the standard pricing for the 2TB storage plan, this is a pretty good perk for Chromebook Plus buyers, even if they don’t care about using Gemini. And it sounds like even if you already subscribe to another Google One plan, you'll be able to get the year of Google One's AI option.
Smaller tweaks
There are also a number of new software tweaks coming to all Chromebooks too. Probably most notable is Game Dashboard, a sort of control center for gaming-related activities. While most Chromebooks still can’t run a lot of games, there are more options now between cloud gaming services like GeForce Now and Android titles. Indeed, Google said that 25 percent of Chromebook owners use them for games, and they’ve seen a 40 percent year-over-year increase in the number of people gaming on a Chromebook.
Google
Game Dashboard has a handful of features, but the most notable one is a comprehensive key-mapping system. This lets you take games that are designed for a controller or touch screen and map their buttons to various keys on your laptop. For Android games with specific swiping patterns, you’ll be able to say pressing a key is the same as doing a certain swipe in a certain direction.
It also provides one-click recording — that’ll start recording both your gameplay as well as a view of you playing via the laptop’s webcam, if you want to be in the video. And you can quickly upload to various services like YouTube or Discord from the Game Dashboard, as well. This feature is exclusive to Chromebook Plus, at least for now.
Google
Other new features include Google Tasks integration into the menu bar — there’s already a calendar widget that shows you your upcoming appointments there, and now it’ll also show you items from your Tasks list, making it a solid one-top look at what’s coming in your day. The screen recorder can now generate GIFs, something we all want to be able to do at any time. And you can set up an Android phone via your Chromebook now, as well. If you scan a QR code on your Chromebook with the phone you’re setting up, your Google account and Wi-Fi info will all sync over.
Future updates
It doesn’t stop there, though. Google also announced a bunch of forthcoming software features to look forward to, just like they did last fall. I appreciate the little sneak peak at what’s coming, and since Google is indeed delivering on what they showed in October I feel confident we’ll see most of these sooner or later.
Chief among them is Google’s Gemini-powered “help me read” feature. As the name suggests, it’ll offer summaries of web pages, documents or PDFs, and you’ll be able to ask follow-up questions. Of course, your results may vary on how useful this all is. Google’s also working on an AI-powered overview screen that’ll pop up when you open your laptop — rather than throw you back into the dozens of tabs you have, it’ll try and organize and show you the apps and pages you have open so you can decide where you want to go from there. It’ll also take into account things you’re doing on Chrome on other devices, so if you’ve been reading on your phone you can jump back in on your laptop.
Google
In the same vein, there’s a new focus tool that combines Google Tasks and YouTube Music with a count-down timer. You can basically pick an urgent task, a playlist and a timer and you’ll go into do not disturb mode while you crank away on what you’re supposed to be doing. Not exactly a game-changer, but it’s kind of clever.
Google
Perhaps most interesting is a new accessibility feature based on the hands-free “Project Gameface” tool it showed off at I/O in 2023 and 2024. Google says it’s building Gameface right into ChromeOS, which will use face and gesture tracking to help people do things on their computer without a keyboard or mouse. It’s “early” in the project’s timeline, so I don’t think we’ll see this six months from now, but it’s definitely an important feature that could make Chromebooks a lot more useful for more people.
Google
Of course, Google and its hardware partners are launching a slew of new Chromebook Plus devices to go along with all of this — you can read about the new hardware here. As for the software, everything should start rolling out today, aside from all of the stuff Google is promising for a later date.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-is-bringing-a-slew-of-ai-powered-software-features-to-chromebook-plus-laptops-130049652.html?src=rss
Google just announced a slew of new features coming to ChromeOS, many of them coming to the more premium Chromebook Plus models that were announced last fall. But today's news isn't just about the software — Google's hardware partners have a bunch of new laptops ready to take advantage of these features. Here's a quick run-down of what's coming.
Acer
Acer has two updates to existing models, the Chromebook Plus Spin 714 and Chromebook Plus 516 GE. These were already two of my favorite Chromebooks, and they've now been updated with new Intel chips. The Spin 714 starts with an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U processor, while the 516 GE has the Core 5 120U processor. Both of these laptops already had solid performance, but it's good to get them with some of the newest chips Intel is offering.
The Spin 714 keeps its lovely 14-inch touchscreen with a 360-degree hinge and a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution; it also includes up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. The 516 GE is one of the game-focused Chromebooks you can buy — as such, it has features like a large 16-inch screen with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. It also has customizable RGB keyboard lights and anti-ghosting technology, an ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6E. You can get up to 2TB of storage and 16GB of RAM on this machine. Despite the gaming focus, I've found it to be the best performance-oriented large-screen Chromebook you can buy, regardless of what you want to do with it. The Spin 714 starts at $700 and the 516 GE starts at $650; both are available at Best Buy for starters.
ASUS
Probably the most interesting new device from ASUS is the ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus, a high-end laptop that should compete with Acer's Spin 714. Given its highfalutin name, it's not surprising that you can get the ExpertBook CX54 with up to Intel's Core 7 processor, paired with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. The display also sounds like a standout: the 14-inch touchscreen has a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution, significantly more pixel-dense than the Spin 714. It also has an 8-megapixel front camera as well as two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports and an HDMI port — that'll enable you to hook up three external monitors. Finally there are two USB-A ports and a microSD slot, making this laptop a good option if you need to hook up a lot of devices. ASUS hasn't yet said when this device will be available, or how much it'll cost.
The company is also updating its Chromebook Plus CX34 model with a 13th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, though that extra power will cost you — it's selling for $499 at Best Buy, compared to the $399 you can get it for at Target with a 12th-gen i3 chip.
ASUS also has a new 2-in-1 Chromebook, the CM30. There have been a few Chromebooks like this over the years, but they've never really caught on. Regardless, the CM30 has a 10.5-inch screen with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution plus 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage for $299. It includes a MediaTek Kompanio 520 processor, so this won't be a performance beast. But if you want a small device for your kid to bang away on this could be a decent option.
HP
Confusingly, HP has two new models, both of which come as "Plus" and "non-Plus" options for lack of a better descriptor. The HP Chromebook 14-inch and HP Chromebook x360 14-inch both come with Intel's N100 or N200 processors, both of which only have four cores. The Plus models, meanwhile, come with a Core i3-N305 chip, which offers eight cores. Both chips were introduced in early 2023, so they're not the most current, but of the two options I think it's safe to say you should opt for the i3 options.
The two models are actually pretty similar, with the main difference being the x360's hinge that lets you flip the laptop all the way around, a gimmick many Chromebooks have offered for years that I don't fine useful. But your milage may vary. Both laptops have 1080p displays (the HP Chromebook Plus 14 offers touch and non-touch options), and the x360 has thinner bezels. Both have two USB-C ports and one USB-A port, and come with 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage. If you want the lightest option, x360 weighs just over 3 pounds, while the standard model weighs 3.2 pounds.
The HP Chromebook 14-inch starts at $249 at Walmart — while its processor may not be the fastest, that's not bad for a budget option. You can get the Plus model for $449 at CostCo. As for the Chromebook Plus x360, that'll set you back $429 at Walmart.
What to buy?
While Google has made things consistent by using the Plus labeling to assure people they're getting a certain level of performance, there are still a ton of options on the market to sort through. HP's $429 x360 Plus sounds like a solid option, while both of Acer's new laptops should be good for people who are OK spending more money for a more premium experience. That said, my favorite Chromebook is still probably Lenovo's Chromebook Plus IdeaPad Flex 5i — but I'll dig into these laptops soon and see if any of them offer a better value.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/acer-asus-and-hp-all-have-new-chromebook-plus-laptops-with-googles-built-in-ai-features-130029246.html?src=rss
Apple just released an update for iOS (and iPadOS) to tackle a strange bug that cropped up in the past week. When iOS 17.5 came out, some users noticed that photos they deleted were reappearing in their Photos library — now, iOS 17.5.1 promises to fix that. As Apple puts its, the update “addresses a rare issue where photos that experienced database corruption could reappear in the Photos library even if they were deleted.”
As noted by MacRumors, some users on Reddit were seeing photos that were deleted not just weeks ago but months and years ago returning to their devices. Indeed, one person reported seeing photos from way back in 2010 popping up in their library as if they were newly shot.
As usual, Apple hasn’t offered more details besides what is in the iOS 17.5.1 release notes, but we’re reaching out to see if they have any other details about how this bug popped up in the first place. In the meantime, you might as well go update your iPhone or iPad now.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ios-1751-fixes-reappearing-photo-bug-204830179.html?src=rss
Microsoft's Surface Pro strategy has been, shall we say, a little odd lately. The 2022 Surface Pro 9 came in both Intel and Arm configurations, but the Arm-powered device was both slower and significantly more expensive. Then, earlier this year, Microsoft announced an Intel-powered Surface Pro 10, a fine but boring device focused on IT professionals.
Finally, Microsoft has a new Surface Pro that may get the average laptop user to sit up and pay attention. to sit up and pay attention. The new Surface Pro Copilot+ PC (no more model numbers!) is another Arm-powered device, but Microsoft says that performance will not be compromised this time. In fact, thanks to a re-architected version of Windows 11, Microsoft claims these machines are 58 percent faster than “the fastest MacBook Air” with an M3 processor.
Specifically, Copilot+ PCs must hit at 40 trillion operations per second, compared to the 18-ish trillion Apple claims with the M3. The Surface Pro itself hits 45 TOPS. The company further clarified that peak performance is 23 percent faster, while “sustained” performance is 58 percent faster. Notably, Microsoft made no mention of the M3 Pro or M3 Max chips here.
It's also a whopping 90 percent faster than the Surface Pro 9, and Microsoft is promising 14 hours of local video playback time as far as battery life goes. Physically, it's similar to what you'd expect — a tablet with a kickstand and keyboard attachment. But it does look like it has thinner bezels, and a 13-inch OLED screen for the first time. As for ports, two USB-C are all you get here. Finally, there's a "quad-HD" front-facing camera which seems the same as the one we saw on the Surface Pro 10 for Business.
There's also a new keyboard called the Flex Keyboard that is meant to be used both attached to the device or removed and set somewhere more comfortable for you. The trackpad is 14 percent larger than before, as well. You're going to pay dearly for the new keyboard, though — it costs $350, or $450 with a Surface Pen included.
Of course, there are a host of AI-powered features on board here, thanks to the NPU in all the new Copilot+ PC devices announced today. And much of it is happening on device, so you won't have to wait for data to hit the cloud or pay for various pro AI subscriptions. One of the more interesting ones is Recall, which uses natural language prompts to pull data from your PC to resurface it based on whatever you remember about it. Other features include live translations on video chats in more than 40 languages as well as a Windows Photos tool called Super Resolution to improve old images.
Pre-orders start today, and they'll be available on June 18. The Surface Pro starts at $1,000 and comes in four colors; that includes a Snapdragon X Plus chip with a standard LCD screen, 256GB of storage and 16GB of RAM. Stepping up to the OLED model with the Snapdragon X Elite chip jacks the price up to $1,500. (That model also has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.) Microsoft also said you could get a Surface Pro with 5G built-in, but the company's site says those models aren't coming until "later this year."
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/microsofts-new-copilot-surface-pro-has-an-oled-screen-and-a-redesigned-keyboard-175611698.html?src=rss
Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was both extremely successful and extremely divisive in the LOTR fan community. (Separate question, has any recent adaptation or new content in a beloved franchise not been divisive? Thoughts for another time.) Lots of people whined about how Amazon should just trash the first season and start over, but clearly that was never going to happen. What is happening is that season two of The Rings of Power has its first trailer and an August 29 release date.
I'm a pretty big Lord of the Rings fan and found season one enjoyable if not essential, but I like the looks of how things are ratcheting up here for season two. We get plenty of teases of epic battles and creepy creatures as Sauron reveals himself and begins to tighten the noose on all of Middle-earth; there are also looks at him in his "fair" form as he forges the titular Rings of Power with Celebrimbor.
Amazon says the first three episodes will arrive on August 29, with subsequent entries following every week. Like the first season, this one will consist of eight episodes total.
This announcement comes less than a week after Warner Bros. Discovery announced it would release a new live-action Lord of the Rings film in theaters in 2026. Tentatively titled The Hunt for Gollum, the film is directed by and will star Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. That project will be set in the same universe that Jackson built, while Amazon's series is an entirely separate entity. There is some shared DNA, though — the first season of The Rings of Power was shot in New Zealand, like Jackson's films, and composer Howard Shore wrote the main credits theme for Amazon's show after scoring all six of the Middle-earth films.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/lord-of-the-rings-the-rings-of-power-trailer-reveals-season-two-release-date-142522261.html?src=rss
The expensive and gorgeous iPad Pro M4 is a complicated device that’s hard to outright recommend — does it make sense to spend well over $1,000 for a tablet with the inherent limitations of iPadOS compared to a Mac or Windows PC? The iPad Air, however, is much easier to evaluate. Since its 2020 redesign, the Air has had nearly the same form factor as the Pro, with some corners cut to differentiate the two. But the Air is also a clear upgrade over the base iPad, appealing to someone like me who appreciates its excellent screen, superior chip, improved multitasking capabilities and a better accessories experience.
It’s pretty easy to sum up what’s new about the iPad Air this year. It has a faster M2 chip compared to the old M1, it works with a new Apple Pencil Pro, the front camera has moved to the landscape edge and it starts with 128GB of storage (double the prior model) at the same $599 price. These are all expected updates given that it’s been two years since the last iPad Air. But with the 2024 iPad Air, Apple is also offering an intriguing new option: the first 13-inch iPad that doesn’t carry the “pro” designation and associated costs. The 13-inch Air starts at $799, which is $500 less than a comparably-sized iPad Pro. (The model I tested with 512GB of storage and 5G costs $1,249.)
Hardware updates
I’ve never considered buying a 13-inch iPad Pro. Besides the high price, I also find such a large and heavy iPad difficult to use handheld. It’s great when in a keyboard dock, as the bigger screen is much more suitable for multitasking, but I also want my iPad to be easy to hold for casual tasks, playing games, watching movies and all the other basic stuff tablets are good for.
My current personal iPad is an 11-inch Pro from 2020, so I’m an obvious mark for the new iPad Air. And after testing the 13-inch Air, I’m thinking about jumping on the big tablet bandwagon for the first time. Part of my reasoning is that the 13-inch iPad Air weighs less than the previous-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro it is based on. Those tablets typically weighed in around 1.5 pounds, but the Air comes in at 1.36 pounds.
That doesn’t sound like a major difference, but it’s been just enough for me to feel more comfortable using the Air as a tablet rather than just docked in a keyboard case. It’s still a little more unwieldy than I’d like, and it’s still heavier and thicker than the new 13-inch iPad Pro. But, the iPad Air is $500 cheaper; at that price, I’m willing to accept a little trade-off.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
The new 11-inch model is indistinguishable from the 10.9-inch one it replaces in dimensions, weight and screen size. Don’t let Apple fool you into thinking the screen is a whopping .1 inches bigger this year, because it’s not — the company is just rounding up. (The same goes for the 13-inch Air; it has the same 12.9-inch screen size and resolution as the old iPad Pro.)
The M2 chip is a big selling point for the iPad Air, but note that if you have the 2022 model with an M1, you won’t experience massive performance gains here. Geekbench 6 tests show that the M2’s GPU is about 30 percent faster than the M1, with lesser gains in single- and multi-core performance. But, compared to my 2020 iPad Pro with an A12Z processor, the M2 is more than twice as fast. So if you don’t have an iPad with an M-series chip, the new Air will be a major step forward.
That camera is basically the same as the one in the last iPad Air, but now that it’s on the landscape edge it’s much better for video calling when you’re using it with a keyboard. I’d actually consider taking work calls with the iPad now, something that wasn’t the case before.
I’m also very happy that the base iPad Air comes with 128GB of storage rather than the stingy 64GB it was stuck on last time. It’s far easier now to recommend people pick up the cheapest configuration. And you can also get up to 1TB of storage in the Air for the first time, if you need it.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro
The Air is stuck with the old Magic Keyboard, which is heavier and thicker than the new model and lacks the helpful row of function keys. The Magic Keyboard remains crazy expensive — $299 for the 11-inch and $349 for the 13-inch — but it’s still my favorite keyboard for an iPad. Well, it’s my favorite after the updated version for the iPad Pro. It’s comfortable, quiet and responsive, particularly considering how thin it is, and I have no problem banging out stories on it for hours at a time.
If you’re a fan of the Apple Pencil, though, the good news is that the iPad Air supports the brand-new Pencil Pro. I cover it in more detail in my iPad Pro review, but it does everything the older second-generation Apple Pencil can while adding new features like haptic feedback, Find My support, a squeeze gesture for bringing up menus and the ability to roll the Pencil in your hand to change the width of a brush thanks to built-in gyroscopes. It costs $129, which is the same as the second-generation Pencil. The only bad news is that the old Pencil isn’t compatible with the iPad Air because of a redesigned charging and pairing system that accommodates the landscape front camera.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
What hasn’t changed
That’s essentially everything new about the iPad Air this year. The display remains the same standard Apple LCD, which looks very good for everything I use an iPad for. It’s definitely not in the same league as the new tandem OLED screen in the iPad Pro, or even the mini-LED display that came before it. I definitely noticed the comparatively worse brightness and contrast in the Air’s screen when comparing it side-by-side with the Pro. But, the good news is that I don’t spend all of my life comparing screens, and the iPad Air’s is still a strong selling point for the tablet. It’s laminated to the front glass, unlike the screen on the basic iPad, and it’s more than bright enough for indoor use.
The only thing I wish it had was a higher frame rate. The iPad Pro’s “ProMotion” feature adjusts the frame rate from 10-120hz, while the Air maxes out at 60hz. Over time, I stop noticing that the UI feels comparatively jerky in animations and don’t think about it too much. But whenever I switch back to the iPad Pro, I quickly appreciate how much smoother and more fluid everything feels.
The back camera is identical to the one on the prior iPad Air, which is fine. It’ll take a decent snapshot in good lighting and you can shoot video in 4K at a variety of frame rates. But you can’t record in the ProRes format — Apple limits that to the iPad Pro. But that likely will not be an issue for anyone considering an iPad Air. Similarly, the iPad Air’s USB-C port doesn’t support faster Thunderbolt 4 speed, but in my testing it was fine for pulling in RAW photos from my camera. If your workflow is such that you’ll use that port a lot and benefit from faster speeds, I will shockingly recommend you check out the Pro.
I haven’t even had the iPad Air for a week, so I’ve yet to run our time-intensive battery test. But from the daily use I’ve put in, it typically meets Apple’s 10-hour rating for light tasks like internet browsing or watching videos. Doing more processor-intensive tasks will surely wear it out faster, and I’ve noticed battery life tends to dip a bit when I’m using the Magic Keyboard. But, as with most iPads, you won’t need to reach for the charger too often.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Wrap-up
Jumping back and forth between the iPad Air and Pro has emphasized how great of a value the Air is. I can’t deny there are a number of niceties that all add up to make the iPad Pro experience better. Face ID is clearly superior to Touch ID, for example — I quickly got tired of reaching for the power button to unlock the Air. The iPad Pro’s screen is the definition of luxury, and the improved keyboard case provides a slightly better experience. It’s also lighter and easier to hold, with better speakers, too. And, of course, it has that new M4 chip.
These things are all important and useful, but after getting used to the Air again, I don’t miss them too much. The M2 is plenty powerful for my needs, the Apple Pencil Pro experience is identical, the old Magic Keyboard is still great to type on, the screen is bright and colorful and — perhaps most importantly — it’s $500 cheaper than a comparable iPad Pro.
For some, that extra cash might be well worth it. There are some things the Pro can do that the Air cannot, like shooting ProRes video or go into Apple’s Reference Mode for improved color accuracy and consistency against a bunch of color standards. And the M4 will save time on processor-intensive jobs like rendering video. And some people will simply want to get the best iPad they can, money be damned.
But for the rest of us, the iPad Air is still here, offering 80-ish percent of the iPad Pro experience for a lot less money. And for the first time, there is a large-screen iPad at a much more approachable price. My heart may want an iPad Pro, but my head (and wallet) agree that the iPad Air is a far more reasonable option.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ipad-air-2024-review-of-course-this-is-the-ipad-to-get-210019225.html?src=rss
It hasn’t even been released yet, but Apple’s new iPad Pro is probably one of the most divisive devices the company has made in years. On the one hand, it’s an undeniable feat of engineering. Apple squeezed a new M4 chip and “tandem” OLED panel into a tablet that’s somehow thinner and lighter than the one it replaces. And the prior iPad Pro was no slouch either, garnering loads of praise for its combo of power and portability since it was first introduced in 2018.
On the other hand, this tech comes at a cost: the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999, while the 13-inch model costs $1,299. That’s $200 more than before, and that’s without a $299 or $349 Magic Keyboard and a $129 Pencil Pro. (The unit I’m testing is a 13-inch system with 1TB of storage and 5G, which costs $2,099) The iPad Pro has always felt like Apple flexing its muscles, showing off an absurdly powerful and portable vision of tablet computing that’s overkill for almost everyone, and that’s more true than ever. Furious debate has ensued over the value of an iPad Pro and why in the world anyone would buy one instead of a MacBook. This isn’t a new conversation, but it feels particularly heated this time.
Before getting into the details, it’s worth noting that I haven’t even had a week to use the iPad Pro M4. So I can’t assess things like long-term durability, which I can’t help but wonder about given just how thin it is. But in the short time I’ve had the iPad Pro, I can say that it’s somehow a major leap forward that doesn’t significantly change the iPad experience. As such, you’ll have to really ask yourself if it’s worth the price.
Hardware
If you stare at the iPad Pro M4 head-on, you won’t notice any difference between it and the previous model. The display still makes up the vast majority of the front, with thin, equally sized bezels surrounding it. The Face ID camera is now on the landscape edge (a great change that Apple first brought to the basic iPad in late 2022), but it’s basically invisible to the eye — no notch for the Pro.
However, picking up the iPad Pro tells another story altogether. While the new 13-inch model is fractionally taller and wider than the 12.9-inch version it replaces, the iPad Pro M4 is 20 percent thinner and about a quarter-pound lighter. I cannot stress enough how radically this changes the experience of holding the iPad Pro, especially the larger of the two.
Before, the big iPad Pro was just a bit too big and heavy to be comfortable as a hand-held tablet. I used to prefer using the 11-inch iPad Pro or Air when I’m relaxing on the couch browsing the web, playing some games, messaging friends and doing other light tasks. Now, however, it feels entirely reasonable to use the 13-inch model in that fashion. I still think smaller tablets are better for hand-held tasks, but the reduced thickness and weight make the new iPad Pro much easier to handle.
I want to talk a little more about how ridiculously thin this iPad is. Apple has rightly gotten its share of flack for relentlessly trying to make its products thinner, to the point where it affects durability and usability. Perhaps the best examples are the Touch Bar MacBook Pro models that Apple first introduced in 2016. Those laptops were indeed thinner and lighter than their predecessors, but at the expense of things like battery life, proper thermal cooling and a reliable keyboard. Apple reversed course by 2020 when it brought its own chips to the MacBook Pro; those laptops were heavier and chunkier than the disastrous Touch Bar models, but they had more ports and better keyboards and no issues staying cool under a heavy workload.
This is all to say that, for those computers, the pursuit of “thin and light” hampered their primary purpose, especially since they aren’t devices you hold in your hands all day. But with something like an iPad, where you’re meant to pick it up, hold it and touch it, shaving off a quarter of a pound and 20 percent of its thickness actually makes a huge difference in the experience of using the product. It’s more comfortable and easier to use — and, provided that there are no durability concerns here, this is a major improvement. I’ve only had the iPad Pro for less than a week, so I can’t say how it’ll hold up over time, but so far it seems sturdy and not prone to bending.
The iPad Pro on the left, next to the iPad Air on the right.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Beyond that significant change, the new iPad Pro retains the same basic elements: There’s a power button in one corner, volume up and down buttons on another, and a USB-C Thunderbolt port on the bottom. There’s a camera bump on the back, in the same position as always, and a connector for the Magic Keyboard. Finally, there are four speakers, one in each corner, just as before. They sound much better than speakers from such a thin device should sound, a feat Apple has consistently pulled off across all its devices lately. Aside from the size and weight reduction, Apple hasn’t radically changed things here, and that’s mostly OK — though I could imagine some people wanting a second Thunderbolt port just for power when a peripheral is plugged in.
The specs of both the front- and back-facing cameras are unchanged; both are 12-megapixel sensors. Somewhat surprisingly, Apple removed the ultra-wide camera from the back, leaving it with a single standard camera alongside the LiDAR sensor and redesigned True Tone flash. That’s fine by me, as the standard lens is just fine for most things you’ll want out of an iPad camera. Its video capabilities are still robust, with support for ProRes video recording and 4K at a variety of frame rates.
Meanwhile, the front-facing camera on the landscape edge of the tablet means you can actually do video calls when the iPad is in its keyboard dock and not look ridiculous. I generally avoided doing video calls with my iPad before, but I’ve done a handful on the iPad Pro and all the feedback I’ve received is that the video quality is solid if not spectacular. Regardless, I won’t think twice about jumping onto FaceTime or Google Meet with the iPad Pro now that the camera position is no longer an issue.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Tandem OLEDs
The next thing you’ll notice about the new iPad Pro is its OLED display. Specifically, Apple calls it a “tandem OLED” display, which means that you’re actually looking at two OLED panels layered on top of each other. The screen resolution is essentially the same as the old iPad Pro (2,752 x 2,064, 264 pixels per inch), but a number of other key specs have improved. It now features a 2,000,000-to-1 contrast ratio, one of the things OLED is best known for — blacks are literal darkness, as the pixels don’t emit any light.
The OLED enables more brightness and improved HDR performance compared to the old iPad Pro — standard screen brightness is up to 1,000 nits, compared to 600 nits for the last model. As before, though, HDR content maxes out at 1,600 nits. This is a nice upgrade over the Mini-LED screen on the old 12.9-inch iPad Pro, but it’s a massive improvement for the 11-inch iPad Pro. That model was stuck with a standard LCD with no HDR capabilities; the disparity between the screens Apple offered on the two iPad Pros was significant, but now both tablets have the same caliber display, and it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Everything is incredibly bright, sharp and vibrant, whether I’m browsing the web, editing photos, watching movies or playing games. I cannot stress enough how delightful this screen is — I have a flight this week, and I can’t wait to spend it watching movies. Watching a selection of scenes from Interstellar shows off the HDR capabilities as well as the contrast between the blackness of space and the brightness of surrounding stars and galaxies, while more vibrant scenes like the Shire in Fellowship of the Ring had deep and gorgeous colors without feeling overly saturated or unrealistic. Given how the screen is the most crucial experience of using a tablet, I can say Apple has taken a major leap forward here. If you’re upgrading from the Mini-LED display in the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, it won’t be quite as massive a difference, but anyone who prefers the 11-inch model will be thrilled with this improvement.
As usual, these screens have all the usual high-end features from prior models, including the ProMotion variable refresh rate (up to 120hz), fingerprint-resistant and antireflective coatings, True Tone color temperature adjustment, support for the P3 wide color gamut and full lamination. Other iPads have some, but not all of these features; specifically, ProMotion is saved for the Pro line. And this year, Apple added a $100 nano-texture glass option for the 1TB and 2TB models to further reduce glare, a good option if you often work in bright sunlight. (My review iPad did not have this feature.) Between that and the improved brightness, these tablets are well-suited to working in difficult lighting conditions.
M4 performance
Choosing to debut the M4 chip in the iPad Pro rather than a Mac is a major flex by Apple. Prior M-series silicon hit Macs first, iPads later. But as Apple tells it, the tandem OLED displays needed the new display engine on the M4 to hit the performance goals it wanted, so rather than engineer it into an existing processor, it just went forward with a whole new processor. The 1TB and 2TB iPad Pros have an M4 with four performance cores, six efficiency cores, a 10-core GPU and 16GB of RAM, while the less-expensive models have to make do with three performance cores and 8GB of RAM.
Either way, that’s more power than almost anyone buying an iPad will know what to do with. Interestingly, even Apple’s own apps don’t quite know what to do with it, either. When the company briefed the press last week, it showed off new versions of Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for the iPad, both of which had some impressive additions. Final Cut Pro is getting a live multicam feature that lets you wirelessly sync multiple iPhones or iPads to one master device and record and direct all of them simultaneously. Logic Pro, meanwhile, has some new AI-generated “session players” that can create realistic backing tracks for you to play or sing over.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Both features were very impressive in the demos I saw — but neither of them requires the M4 iPad Pro. Final Cut Pro will still work on any iPad with an M-series processor, and Logic Pro works on M-series iPads as well as the iPad Pro models with the A12Z chip (first released in 2020).
Of course, when you’re spending in excess of $1,000, it’s good to know you’ll get performance that’ll last you years into the future, and that’s definitely the case here. As apps get even more complex, the iPad Pro should be able to make short work of them. That includes AI, of course — the M4’s neural engine is capable of 38 trillion operations per second, a massive upgrade over the 18 trillion number quoted for the M3.
Unsurprisingly, the iPad Pro M4’s Geekbench CPU scores of 3,709 (single-core), 14,680 (multi-core) and 53,510 (GPU) significantly eclipse those of the M2 iPad Air (2,621 / 10,058 / 41,950). In reality, though, both of these tablets will churn through basically anything you throw at them. If your time is money and having faster video rendering or editing matters, or you work with a lot of apps that rely heavily on machine learning, the M4 should shave precious seconds or minutes out of your workflow, which will add up significantly over time.
Fortunately, the new chip remains as power efficient as ever. I haven’t done deep battery testing yet given I’ve only had the iPad Pro for a few days at this point. But I did use it as my main computer for several days and got through almost 10 hours of work before needing the charger. My workload is comparatively modest though, as I’m not pushing the iPad through heavy video or AI workloads, so your mileage may vary. As it has for more than a decade now, Apple quotes 10 hours of web browsing or watching video. But given what the M4 is capable of, chances are people doing more process-intensive tasks will run through the battery a lot faster.
New Magic Keyboard
As rumored, Apple has two new accessories for the iPad Pro: a new keyboard and the Pencil Pro. Both are still just as pricey as before. $350 for a keyboard case still feels like highway robbery, no matter how nice it is. But at least they’re not more expensive.
The good news is that the new Magic Keyboard is definitively better than the old one in a number of ways. First off, it’s thinner and lighter than before, which makes a huge difference in how the whole package feels. The last iPad Pro and its keyboard were actually rather thick and heavy, weighing in around three pounds — more than a MacBook Air. Now, both the iPad and keyboard case are thinner and lighter on their own, making the whole package feel much more compact.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
The base of the Magic Keyboard is now made of aluminum, which makes the typing experience more like what you’ll find on a MacBook. The keys are all about the same size as before, and typing on it remains extremely comfortable. If you’re familiar with the keyboards on Apple’s laptops, you’ll feel right at home here. Apple also made the trackpad bigger and added a function row of keys, both of which make the overall experience of navigating and using iPadOS much better.
The trackpad also now has no moving parts and instead relies on haptic feedback, similar to the MacBook trackpads. Every click is accompanied by a haptic that truly tricks me into thinking the trackpad moves, and small vibrations accompany other actions as well. For example, when I swipe up and hold to enter multitasking, there’s a haptic that confirms the gesture is recognized. Third-party developers will be able to add haptic trackpad feedback to their apps, as well.
Between the improved layout and thinner design, the Magic Keyboard is essential gear if, like me, you make your living while typing. It’s wildly expensive, yes, but it’s also extremely well-made and thoughtfully designed in a way that I just haven’t seen anyone else match yet. Yes, there are plenty of cheaper third-party options, but the Magic Keyboard is the best option I’ve tried.
Apple Pencil Pro
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
WheneverIreviewaniPad, I can’t help but lament my complete lack of visual art skill. But even I can tell that the new Pencil Pro is a notable upgrade over the model it replaces, which was already excellent. As before, it magnetically attaches to the side of the iPad Pro for charging and storage, something that remains an elegant solution.
The Pencil Pro does everything the second-gen Apple Pencil does and has some new tricks to boot. One is Squeeze, which by default brings up the brush picker interface in apps like Notes and Freeform. It’s a quick and smart way to scrub through your different options, and it’s open to third-party developers to use as they wish in their own apps. The Pencil Pro isn’t too sensitive to the Squeeze gesture; I didn’t find myself accidentally popping open the menu while doodling away. The new Pencil also has a gyroscope, which lets it recognize rotation gestures — this means you can “turn” your virtual brush as you paint, giving it another layer of realism. Between tilt, pressure and now rotation sensitivity, the Pencil Pro is even better at capturing how you are using it.
Apple also added haptic feedback, so when you squeeze the Pencil you’ll get a vibration to confirm the action. It’s also used in a great new “undo” menu: if you squeeze the Pencil and then tap and hold on the back button, you can then quickly scrub through and undo everything you’ve written, step-by-step. This history makes it easy to take some risks while working on something and then quickly rewind if you’re not happy with the results. And each step of the log is accompanied by a haptic buzz as you scroll forwards and backwards.
Finally, the Apple Pencil Pro has Find My integration, which will make it easier to find when you inevitably lose it in the couch cushions (or leave it at a coffee shop). Given that Apple threw in a lot of new features and kept the price the same, I can’t complain too much about the Pencil Pro. The only bummer is that the new iPad Pro doesn’t work with the second-generation Pencil, presumably due to a different battery charging and pairing setup necessitated by moving the front camera to the same edge as the charging area. So if you’re upgrading, a Pencil Pro (or the less capable $79 USB-C Pencil) will be a requirement.
iPadOS
I think it’s worth a quick mention that Apple has not made any changes to iPadOS to go along with this release, and it’s one of the things that has made the internet very angry. There’s been a lot of chatter from some people who think the iPad Pro should run macOS or similar software; the vibe is that the iPad’s hardware is wasted on iPadOS.
I can only speak for myself and note that I was able to do everything my job asks of me on the iPad Pro while I was testing it, but that doesn’t mean it would be my choice over a Mac for certain situations. If I was at an event like CES, I’d want my MacBook Pro to facilitate things like transferring and editing photos as well as working in Google Docs. I can do those things on an iPad, but not as easily, mostly because the Google Docs app doesn’t handle going through comments and suggestions well. I did, however, find it easy and fast to import RAW photos from my SD card to the Lightroom app. For the first time, I felt comfortable doing my entire review photo workflow on an iPad. Even things like tearing through my email are better in the Gmail web app than the Gmail app for iPad. Overall, though, I was perfectly happy using the iPad Pro as my main computer; some things are a little tougher and some are easier. The whole experience doesn’t feel significantly better or worse, it’s just different. And at this point, I enjoy seeing what I can do on platforms that aren’t Windows and macOS.
Ultimately, Apple has shown no indication it’s going to make iPadOS more like a Mac. By the same coin, it still shows no indication of making a Mac with a touchscreen. For better or worse, those two worlds are distinct. And with no rumors pointing to a big iPadOS redesign at WWDC next month, you shouldn’t expect the software experience to radically change in the near future. As such, don’t buy an iPad Pro unless you’re content with the OS as it is right now.
Photo by Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Wrap-up
The iPad Pro M4 is a fascinating device. I can’t help but want to use it. All the time. For everything. It’s truly wild to me that Apple is putting its absolute best tech into not a Mac but an iPad. That’s been a trend for a while, as the iPad Pro lineup has always been about showing off just how good of a tablet Apple can make, but this one truly is without compromise. It doesn’t just have a nice screen, it has the best screen Apple has ever made. It doesn’t have the same processor as some Macs, it has a newer and better one.
To get all of that technology into a device this thin and light truly feels, well, magical. That’s how Steve Jobs described the first iPad; significantly, he also said it contained “our most advanced technology.” In 2010, it was debatable whether the first iPad really had Apple’s most advanced tech, but it’s absolutely true now. And that’s what makes the iPad Pro such a delight to use: it’s a bit of an otherworldly experience, something hard to come by at this point when so much of technology has been commoditized.
But when I think realistically about what I need and what I can reasonably justify spending, I realize that the iPad Pro is just too much for me. Too expensive, too powerful, maybe a little too large (I truly love the 11-inch model, however). If you’re in the same boat, then fortunately, there’s an iPad that offers nearly everything the iPad Pro does for significantly less cash. The iPad Air may not be nearly as exciting as the Pro, but it offers the same core experience for a lot less cash. But if you aren’t put off by the price, the new iPad Pro is sure to delight.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ipad-pro-2024-review-so-very-nice-and-so-very-expensive-210012937.html?src=rss