Apple’s online store has gone down ahead of its “Let Loose” iPad event, scheduled to kick off at 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time from Cupertino, California.
The online store usually goes down before the company’s special events and had similarly gone down before the Mac event last October and in September before the iPhone 15 event. Apple also took its store offline in preparation for Vision Pro’s preorders in February.
Apple is expected to announce as many as four new iPad models, alongside new accessories and perhaps a new Apple silicon chip. The iPad Air will see a new 12.9-inch screen size for the first time, joining the current 10.9-inch size as both models are set to be powered by the M2 chip. Apple will also upgrade the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil accessories with major revamps, which could include an “Apple Pencil Pro” rebranding.
The event’s headlining product will be a redesigned iPad Pro, powered by an OLED display and a potential upgrade to the M4 chip. The new OLED display is described as the best on the market with improved color accuracy, higher brightness, better efficiency, and deeper contrast compared to the mini-LED and LCD panels on the current iPad Pro. Apple could also make the new iPad Pro its first product with the M4 chip, which is said to tout significant improvements to hardware AI capabilities thanks to an upgraded Neural Engine and other enhancements.
Apple’s “Let Loose” event will be live-streamed via the company’s event page, YouTube, and the Apple TV app. Stay tuned to Supercharged for live and up-to-date coverage of Apple’s first event of 2024.
