 Watch Mark Gurman discuss the new iPad Pro on Bloomberg Television. When Apple Inc. released its latest iPad Pro last month, one of the biggest questions was whether the tablet could finally serve as a laptop replacement. After trying out the device, I can tell you that it performs quite capably on that front — with one exception: the size of the screen.
To test the new 13-inch model, I used it in lieu of my MacBook Pro over the past two weeks. The device has a lot to recommend it. Its faster processing power — along with recent improvements to the Stage Manager interface — make it easier to multitask. And the new OLED screen technology vastly enhances the visuals. Those upgrades, along with the revamped Magic Keyboard, make the new iPad Pro a viable computer substitute. Let's start with the keyboard. It has a considerably larger trackpad, full function key row and metal palm rest, making the experience very similar to that of a MacBook. At the same time, the combination of the iPad and Magic Keyboard is significantly lighter than my laptop (and even feels a lot lighter than my old iPad Pro). The new OLED technology — short for organic light-emitting diode — is impressive. Placing it alongside a recent 16-inch MacBook Pro makes the Mac display colors look dull, washed out and less bright. Video, photos and games all appear much more vibrant on the iPad than the laptop. Even day-to-day tasks are more visually appealing.  Old Magic Keyboard (left) compared with a new model. Source: Mark Gurman Then there's the multitasking capabilities. Now, this has been a big issue for me over the years. I've felt that Apple could do more to improve multitasking by making the iPad more like a Mac. The company still hasn't fully addressed these concerns, but the new iPad does make strides in the right direction. For those unfamiliar, the iPad has two multitasking modes: - The standard multitasking system. Apple calls it "Split View and Slide Over." This lets you pin two apps side by side and then slide over another app on the side with a narrow interface.
- Stage Manager. This interface, which launched to much controversy, lets you move windows around and resize them just like you can on a Mac.
I wasn't a fan of Stage Manager when it first came out, but it now works more smoothly. It's the key factor allowing me to use the iPad like a Mac, creating workspaces of different windows that can I move around to my liking. For instance, I have one space with Messages, Mail, Safari and X, plus another with Calendar, Notes and a couple of other apps. It's similar to the Spaces concept that has long existed in macOS. Compared with the iPadOS 16 version, iPadOS 17 Stage Manager is quicker and less buggy. It also makes it easier to adjust the size of windows and does a better job letting you bounce between the windows you currently have open on your screen. Apple has fixed a lot, but there's still more that needs tweaking. Here's what Stage Manager would need for it to achieve computer-level multitasking: - You should have the ability to run more than four apps in a single window. This is an easy one given that the iPad now has up to 16 gigabytes of memory and the powerful M4 chip. So there shouldn't be hardware limitations. If Apple doesn't do this, they're needlessly holding back the product.
- Right now, Stage Manager essentially runs as a layer on top of iPadOS, meaning you can't access your home screen of widgets and app icons. It would be a far better experience if this were changed.
- There's also a related issue where sometimes a window can be difficult to track down because there are layers of other windows on top of them. This was a problem that Apple solved years ago on the Mac with Expose, and it should do the same with the iPad.
The bigger-picture issue here is that while Apple tried to reinvent multitasking on the iPad with Stage Manager, it didn't change the app-switcher interface to go alongside it. When you open the app switcher (by swiping up and holding or pressing the keyboard function), you get six cards of apps or workspaces to jump into. That interface makes a lot of sense for the "Split View and Slide Over" approach, but not so much for Stage Manager. When users have the more powerful system enabled, the app switcher should move to an Expose-like interface — where users can swipe up on their trackpad to instantly see all of their open windows and navigate between spaces.  Stage Manager on the iPad Pro. Source: Mark Gurman I don't think Apple has to bring macOS as a whole to the iPad, but it should make the iPad approach on par with its computer software. At the same time, the company should continue to push forward on making universal Mac and iPad apps, so there isn't a gap between what can run on your laptop and tablet. If Apple can finally resolve these challenges, there's really only one thing necessary to get me off my Mac and on to the iPad full-time: a 15-inch screen. Now that my two-week test is over, I am starting to shift back to my MacBook Pro. Not because of its performance, but because of the bigger display — even though it doesn't have touch capabilities or the crisp visuals. I just need more real estate. Unfortunately, a 15-inch model doesn't seem like a priority for Apple. The company is more focused on selling customers both a Mac and an iPad — rather than one machine that can do it all. Apple does plan to add OLED and touch-screen support to Macs in the next few years. But it seems more committed to distinguishing its tablets and computers from one another than serving customers who want something more.  Apple's Siri interface. Photographer: Thomas Trutschel/Photothek/Getty Images Apple prepares to give Siri an LLM revamp. The big news at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference next week will be the company's renewed push into artificial intelligence. As I've outlined previously, Apple's approach will integrate AI into many of its core apps and features, including Photos, Messages, Notes and the Safari browser. It will handle voice memo transcriptions and provide recaps of meetings, text messages, emails and articles. There also will be new bells and whistles like AI-created emojis. But Apple's original AI product — Siri — will get some love as well. The company is overhauling the digital assistant with its own large language models, an underlying technology behind generative AI. The new system will allow Siri to control individual features within applications for the first time. This won't require any setup by the user or from developers, differentiating from existing features like Siri Shortcuts and App Intents. Instead, the iPhone's AI will analyze what a person is doing and auto-enable Siri to help. For instance, users could ask Siri to delete or forward an email. Or they could have Siri edit a photo, summarize a meeting or move a note to a different folder — all within the apps themselves. Today, Siri mostly lives outside of the app universe, controlling more general items like smart home appliances, music and system settings. Over time, this new feature will expand to allow multiple commands at once. For example, you could tell your iPad to write an email and send it to your spouse. But it will take time to get this ready. Though Apple plans to push out several AI features this fall with iOS 18, the upgraded Siri capabilities won't arrive until sometime next year. Still, they provide a good idea of how broad Apple is thinking about AI — and how deeply it hopes to integrate the technology into its products. In other iOS 18 news, here are a few additional tidbits: The Settings app is getting revamped with a cleaner interface, better organization and much-improved search (this is coming to macOS as well). Control Center, meanwhile, will be upgraded with a new music widget and improvements to how it operates smart home appliances. The Messages app is getting some tweaks beyond AI, including new icons for the Tapbacks function and effects for individual words (right now an effect only works for an entire message). The Photos app will have an updated interface, and Mail is getting several improvements. The changes coming in watchOS 11 are described as less significant than the ones last year, but they will include an updated interface for Siri and upgrades to the Fitness app. For users of the Vision Pro headset, the new visionOS 2.0 will address missing features from the first iteration. That includes adding dedicated versions of Apple's own apps, rather than just using the iPad ones.  Apple retail store announcement for Malaysia. Source: Apple Malaysia gets its first official Apple retail store June 22. A recent tour of Southeast Asia by Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook was meant to show Apple's commitment to the region — from operations to sales. With the China business slowing, the company is looking to countries like India, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand to supply new customers. Apple already has stores in India, Singapore and Thailand, and now Malaysia is set to get its first outlet. After some delays, the Apple store at the Exchange TRX Center in Kuala Lumpur will open June 22.  MacBook Pros on display at an Apple retail store. Photographer: Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images Apple's back-to-school promotion is nearly here. We're heading into summer, and that means it's almost time for Apple's annual back-to-school promotion. Last year, Apple launched the program just after its Worldwide Developers Conference in early June, but I expect this year's version to debut a little bit later in the month. It's an important one for Apple, which needs to work through its inventory of old Macs before an end-to-end overhaul of the lineup debuts with M4 chips. The new releases will kick off this fall with the MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac. The back-to-school promotion also could help attract attention to the iPad, which was revamped in May (though it's unclear if the new models will be part of the deal). Last year's promotion gave Mac buyers a $150 gift card, while iPad purchases got $100 in credit.  The Apple TV+ logo. Photographer: SOPA Images/LightRocket Apple TV+ is finally coming to Android phones. When Apple launched its TV+ streaming platform in 2019, the company brought the service to several smart TVs and set-top boxes. It later added TV+ to game consoles like the PlayStation 5 and launched a TV app for Windows earlier this year. But a big omission has been Android phones, which lack a dedicated TV+ app. That's going to change. The company is hiring a senior Android engineer, and I'm told this is for an effort to develop a new application for smartphones. Apple already runs TV+ on Android-based TVs.  The Canoo Lifestyle Vehicle. Source: Canoo Apple car hardware manager lands senior role at Hyundai-Kia venture. Manfred Harrer, one of the most senior design managers for the canceled Apple car project, has landed a top role at Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp.'s joint research and development unit. In his new job, he'll run the companies' push into next-generation vehicle technologies. He had only joined Apple in 2021 after serving as a top executive at Porsche. Like many others, he was out of a job after the car project came crashing down earlier this year — and it appears he had no interest in working on new iPhones, the Vision Pro or the company's secretive home robotics efforts.  Tim Cook at WWDC last year. Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America WWDC 2024 — June 10-14: Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference is set to kick off on Monday, June 10. That's when the company will unveil iOS 18 and the next major versions of its iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro and Mac software. The new iPhone operating system is considered internally to be the biggest upgrade in the device's history, and the Vision Pro is getting its first significant software update since the headset was released. Apple used WWDC 2023 to unveil the Vision Pro, but the stakes are even higher this year. The 2024 event is expected to showcase its renewed AI strategy. Q: What do you think will be the biggest thing unveiled at WWDC?
Q: Are you expecting new hardware at the conference?
Q: Which Apple devices will support its new AI features? | 
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