Benjamin Mayo

As part of the Apple event today, the company unveiled the new lineup of iPad Pro tablets. The 2021 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro feature the 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU M1 chip, and a new Thunderbolt connector (over the same USB-C port). The larger 12.9-inch model also sports a new mini-LED screen, which Apple calls ‘Liquid Retina XDR’.

For the first time, iPad Pro is also available in a 2TB storage option and up to 16 GB RAM. Cellular iPad Pro now support 5G connectivity for ultra-fast data transfer speeds. The new 11-inch iPad Pro starts at the same $799 price point, whilst the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is now $100 more expensive, starting at $1099.

Apple today unveiled a brand new Siri Remote for the Apple TV, alongside a hardware refresh for the Apple TV box itself.

The new remotes combines a trackpad with clickable D-Pad buttons. The remote is backwards-compatible with older Apple TVs than run tvOS, and it will be available in May. You can buy the remote separately for $59.

Apple today released the first trailer for the highly-anticipated second season of Apple TV’s ‘Ted Lasso’. The second season will debut on the service beginning July 23rd.

You can watch the trailer after the break …

The Apple Store is now showing the iconic ‘Be right back’ message. This follows the usual tradition ahead of Apple product media events.

Apple’s Spring Loaded event starts at 10 AM PT today. We are expecting updates to the iPad Pro and iMac lines. Other rumors included the launch of long-anticipated AirTags trackers, updates to the cheaper iPad and iPad mini, as well as a new ‘Podcasts+’ subscription service.

After more than two years of rumors, many believe that today is the day that Apple’s AirTags — a competitor to Tile trackers — will be unveiled for real. In support of that hype, even more accessories of AirTags have surfaced in photos. That being said, various accessories for AirTags have been prevalent on Amazon and eBay for a while.

As shared by known leaker UnclePan on Weibo, this particular AirTags accessory looks like a luggage tag made of the same kind of rubber as Apple’s watch bands. The AirTag itself would slot inside the circular area.

Apple has so far dabbled with a small array of original podcasts, including the For All Mankind companion show and true crime series The Line.

However, rumors have persisted that Apple has bigger ambitions in this space as it looks to compete with the growing podcast libraries from the likes of Spotify. Today, Vox Media’s Peter Kafka says that he believes Apple will announce a new podcast subscription service on Tuesday, at Apple’s April ‘Spring Loaded’ event.

In a research note released today, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that the iPhone 13 lineup will bring 5G mmWave (millimeter wave) to more countries.

The iPhone 12 supports 5G worldwide in every country, it is sold but the mmWave antenna is only included on the iPhone 12 models sold inside the United States. mmWave coverage is limited but if you can find it, users report multi-gigabit download speeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is set to release an open letter to artists later today. Most significantly, the letter says that Apple Music pays one cent per stream. That is roughly twice what Spotify pays, according to estimates.

Streaming services are trying to show that they are friendly to artists, especially as revenue from concerts and tours cratered during the pandemic. In the same vein, Apple recently invested in an independent music artist platform called UnitedMasters.

Apple today released its Environmental Progress Report for 2021 with a central focus on its previously-announced goals to reach net carbon neutrality for all of its supply chain and products by 2030. Apple’s own operations have been carbon neutral since April 2020 (h/t setteBIT).

The 2021 report reviews the significant steps towards lowering environmental impacts of its products over the last year, and projects Apple’s progress towards net zero emissions from now until 2030.

It is now possible to buy new audiobooks and add them to your Audible library without having to use the web browser. (Update: Some readers are telling us they have had this ability for a while. We have reached out to Audible for clarity.)

With an Audible membership, users get (at least) one credit per month to spend to buy and own an Audible book forever. Before today, iOS users were forced to visit the Audible.com website to actually spend these credits. But now, this functionality is available directly inside the native Audible app on iPhone and iPad.

EverythingApplePro’s latest video includes 3D-printed mockups and renders based on leaked schematics currently being used by accessory makers as they prepare for the fall iPhone 13 launch.

Notably, the diagonal layout of the rear cameras seen earlier this week is corroborated, coming to both the base model iPhone 13 and the 13 mini. The iPhone 13 Pro Max keeps the same camera module layout but the individual lenses are significantly larger, and the overall module sticks out farther from the phone’s body.

As part of Apple’s continued environmental commitments, the company today announced a new $200 million ‘Restore Fund’ that will develop new financially-viable initiatives to restore forest woodland areas, which removes carbon from the atmosphere.

The fund aims to generate meaningful financial returns on the investments. Apple hopes that will convince other companies to follow its lead and start up other forest restoration projects.

iOS 14.5 is bringing a variety of changes and enhancements to the Podcasts app on iPhone and iPad. With a recent server side change, the new Podcasts app displays the release schedule for a particular podcast on the show details page.

As shown in the screenshots, the episodic release period — such as weekly, monthly, or daily — is now shown alongside the podcast category and ratings summary inside of Apple Podcasts …

TSMC is Apple’s primary chipmaker and serves as the exclusive supplier of A-series and M-series Apple silicon chips. The company today reported strong earnings results for the first quarter, with downstream partners such as smartphone, tablet, and laptop makers seeing strong demand as people continue to work from home.

However, it warned that the global chip shortages will continue for the foreseeable future and well into next year. Naturally, this has concerning implications for Apple’s product rollouts.

Amazon today introduced the second-generation of its Echo Buds while the Apple community awaits the introduction of AirPods 3. For the first-gen buds, Amazon only offered them in black, but this year they have added a white color… and the white case design very much borders on AirPods Pro/AirPods 3 territory.

Also just like AirPods, the new wireless charging case is an optional extra, priced $20 above the normal $119 price point. However, to be fair, that is where the similarities end, as the Echo Buds lack the stems that are currently AirPods’ trademark …

Although the overall chassis design of the iPhone 13 this fall will look almost identical to the iPhone 12 series, the rumor mill has come to a consensus that the notch is getting smaller.

The display notch first appeared on the iPhone lineup with the iPhone X in 2017, when Apple shrank the screen bezels dramatically. The design and size of the notch remained unchanged with the following three generations of iPhone. It seems this year Apple is finally ready to make some design improvements in that area …

As part of a sweeping report released today, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo says that the long-rumored Apple AR/VR headset will feature as many as fifteen cameras. 

Previously, Kuo has said that he expects the headset to arrive in 2022, priced around $1000. 

In 2023, Kuo expects even more drastic changes to the iPhone lineup. This apparently includes moving Face ID from a visible notch to being integrated under the screen.

A periscope-style telephoto lens is also predicted …