By Dan Moren

May 7, 2024 8:19 AM PT

What Apple didn’t mention in its iPad keynote

Apple on Tuesday made some big moves to its iPad lineup, introducing new models of the iPad Air and iPad Pro, as well as a new Magic Keyboard and the Apple Pencil Pro. But Apple’s video was fairly short, clocking in just over half an hour, so as usual, there are some details that it didn’t have space to share. Good news, though: I’ve collected a few of the biggest ones for you!

The ninth-generation iPad is (mostly) dead

Pour one out for the home button: with the tenth-generation iPad’s price drop to $349, it now solidly holds down the low end of the company’s tablet lineup. The ninth-generation model has accordingly shuffled off this mortal coil, though you can, as of this writing, grab an eighth-generation model from Apple’s refurbished store. It’s also still available for education customers, which have whole fleets of older iPads. (And would we be surprised if it found its way to Walmart or Costco at some point soon?)

This standardizes Apple’s iPad design across its lineup, with edge-to-edge screens, USB-C ports, and flat edges, no matter which model you buy—except the mini is now the only model with the front-facing camera in portrait orientation instead of landscape, which is slowly killing me.

Logic Pro and Final Cut Pro updates come to the Mac as well

If you’re a Mac user casting an envious glance at those newly updated Pro apps for the iPad, don’t worry: the Mac versions of the software will be getting many of the same benefits.

Logic Pro for Mac 11 will be available, like Logic Pro for iPad 2, on Monday, May 13, and include the Session Players, Stem Splitter, and ChromaGlow features. It’ll be a free update for existing Logic Pro users or cost $199.99 for new customers.

The Final Cut Pro story is a little more complex. Final Cut Pro for Mac 10.8 will appear as a free update for existing users or $299.99 for new customers. It brings new AI-powered features like Enhance Light and Color and Smooth Slo-Mo, custom names for color corrections and video effects, and the ability to search the timeline index and text-based timeline. However, it doesn’t seem as though it gets several of the other features of Final Cut Pro for iPad 2, like the integration with Final Cut Camera or Live Multicam.

Nanotexture will cost you

Unsurprisingly, for those who’ve opted for the glare-reducing nano-texture option on Apple’s standalone displays, the iPad Pro version will cost you. For one, it’s only available on 1TB and 2TB models, meaning a starting price of at least $1599 for the 11-inch model and $1899 for the 13-inch model, but on top of that it’s a $100 premium.

This new nanotexture formulation was built with the iPad in mind, meaning that it’s meant to survive contact with our greasy paws (as well as the Apple Pencil). As its positioning on only high-end iPads implies, it’s really meant for professionals working in environments with heavy glare. The nanotexture cuts glare, but as you’d expect, it also lessens the dramatic blacks of the OLED display.

Smart Folio gets redesigned

If you don’t want to splash out for the pricey new Magic Keyboard, there are also redesigned versions of the Smart Folio for your iPad Air and iPad Pro, which Apple says now “supports multiple viewing angles for greater flexibility.” (Though I’m not sure exactly what that means: it looks pretty much like the previous versions.)

The Air model will come in four colors—charcoal gray, light violet, denim, and sage—while the Pro version is available black, white, and denim¹. 11-inch versions cost $79; the 13-inch model will run you $99.

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]

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