Apple iPad 2022 live blog: M2 iPad Pro and new entry-level iPad expected

Here we go again! Starting with the new standard 10.9-inch colorful iPad. Say goodbye to the home button, this new tablet makes the entire iPad line without a home button.

Here are the main details you are probably wondering about:

• 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display
• 2360×1640 resolution
• 500 nits brightness
• Apple A14 chip
• Touch ID top button
• 12MP rear camera – records up to 4K or 240fps slow motion video
• 12MP front camera with 122 degree field of view
• Wi-Fi 6 + 5G (optional)
• USB-C
• Compatible with a new specially designed Magic Keyboard
• Runs iPad OS 16 out of the box
• Colors: blue, pink, yellow and silver

Still no news from Apple, but every time the clock strikes, we get closer. The last word was CEO Tim Cook’s tweet earlier this morning, and we’ve spotted a hint, or at least an indication that we’re looking at an iPad Pro.

Among all the floating doodles passing by is a camera bump with two lenses, similar to the bump on the current iPad Pro. This tablet boasts a camera upgrade among the iPads, with a 12 MP main camera and a 10 MP ultra-wide lens. Apple calls it the Pro Camera System.

It is unclear whether the Apple M2 chip will benefit from a better camera configuration as this chipset is used in laptops, not mobile devices. The Apple A16 platform on its latest iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max is a very different beast to the Apple M2 chipset.

Still, we saw camera improvements in the Apple Macbook Pro that used the M2 chip over its predecessor. This is likely due to hardware improvements, but image processing is part of the chip’s design.

Of course, there might not be any upcoming camera upgrades. The camera bump is one of the few identifiable features on an iPad. It’s just a slab of glass now that the home button is gone. If Apple wants to tease an iPad launch, there aren’t many doodle options.

Let’s talk about the all-important Apple M2 chip that we plan to run the show inside of these new October iPads.

First unveiled at Apple’s WWDC 2022 event in June, it’s already at work in some MacBooks, as mentioned earlier. Despite the name, performance-wise the M2 sits below the M1 Pro and M1 Max (announced in October 2021), as well as (unsurprisingly) the M1 Ultra which was introduced in March this year.

To quote Apple, compared to the standard M1, the M2 has an “18% faster CPU, 35% more powerful GPU and 40% faster neural engine. It also offers 50% more bandwidth more memory than the M1, and up to 24 GB of fast unified memory”.

The biggest hook when it comes to iPads is the promise of improved power efficiency. The M1-powered iPad Pro 2021 promises ten hours of use per charge, but in practice we’ve found the tablet rarely hits that promise. Hopefully, with the M2, Apple can bump that up by an hour (or more).

We were hoping Apple would drop the announcement on its new slates just over an hour ago and 60 minutes later, still nothing from the company’s newsroom. All that means, however, is that the start time must be much closer – maybe things will be different in 50 minutes…

Whether you’re already tempted by the current lineup of iPads or holding out hope for the potential price drop on the new iPads we’re expecting today, keep your eyes peeled for our roundup of the best iPad deals, which is constantly updated to bring you the best prices on Apple’s popular slates.

Our US Editor, Lance Ulanoff, is practically looking at pixels to figure out if it’s secretly an Apple Pencil 3 in Cook’s post, or just the company’s current-gen stylus . At a glance, it looks like the latter, unfortunately.

Here’s that Tim Cook tweet we talked about. “#TakeNote” is the tagline for today’s announcement and as the included video zooms through what at first appears to be an endless tunnel of animated doodles, you’ll start to notice clues as to what will be Apple’s goal today.

The iPad’s ability to facilitate a range of digital creations hasn’t been lost on TechRadar’s Lifestyle Editor – Josie Watson, who is also an artist in her spare time.

She’s already compiled a wish list of features she’d like to see from this year’s iPad Pros. What do you think?

Good morning (or afternoon, depending on where you’re connecting). All signs point to Apple releasing its new iPads anytime now, with the Apple Store shopping pages for iPads set to “be back” and Tim Cook dropping a tempting tweet.

Let’s dive into it.