This is Technology Bytes, episode 61 for May 5th, 2024.
Technology Bytes is a microcast where I share brief bytes on interesting technology.
My name is Joel.
Enjoy, and here we go.
This week I’m pontificating, is that the right word, on something that I know very little about, and that is the Apple event that is coming up in just a couple of days on Tuesday.
So here is the two things that I know.
It is on May 7th, I know that because Apple has said so, and it is at 7am Pacific Standard Time, and I know that because Apple has said so.
Beyond that, everything else I talk about today is pure speculation.
So let me start the speculation with saying, because I don’t know what Apple is announcing at this event, even though it is probably pretty clear what they are going to talk about, it is still a guess, even if it is a really, really good guess.
But one thing beyond the date and the time that I know, is that I’m already trying to figure out how to afford whatever they announce, even though I don’t need it, and I probably can’t afford it, because that is what Apple products do to me.
So let’s talk about what we think, or what I think, is going to be announced on Tuesday morning.
So I think that it is going to be a new iPad, and a couple of reasons why I think that.
One, I listen to quite a few Apple Tech podcasts, and all of those people I listen to have told me that it is going to be an iPad.
And then when you look at the invitation to the event, which is through email, and when I say invitation, it is just, hey, we are doing something at 7am on Tuesday.
It is not like, hey, we like you, come to my campus, or anything.
It is purely just a video drop.
But when you watch that motion graphic that is on Apple’s website, and that came in the email, it is clearly an Apple pencil that is being spun in a hand, and there are lots of colors.
So that alone makes it feel logical to be an iPad event.
And the big rumor with the iPad is that Apple is going with an OLED screen, which, you know, that is a very, very nice technology, and one that I have enjoyed on other devices in my life.
And I think it is a good screen technology to use, especially if you are talking about colors like it feels like they will be, because OLED screens are known for their black, and that is really what starts the whole set of good colors on a screen.
But that in and of itself, and to realize that in June they are going to be announcing iPad OS 18, it feels like that is a limited announcement.
Maybe a video at 7am Pacific Standard Time is exactly why they did it then.
But the graphic also makes you think of the pencil.
Now I have the Apple pencil that is on my iPad Pro, and I use it every day.
And I really like having it.
I take mostly notes.
I am not an artist, so I do not draw.
Although the other day I did draw out the area underneath our stairs at home so I could put some drywall up, so my wife and I could practice our drywall finishing techniques before we have to do it in the real world of our actual house, parts of the house where we live.
But in essence, I just use it as a pencil, or a pen, or a highlighter, studying the Bible, taking notes at church, taking notes at work meetings, those kind of things.
So it will be interesting to see what Apple does with the pencil, because I think in reality there have been some things that I do not use, like hover, because I do not have the latest iPad that lets you use that, so no clue really how that works or anything like that.
You do have pressure sensitivity to a certain extent.
You have the tilting of the pencil to get a different style line.
So lots of things I think they could do with the pencil, and then that makes the event seem just a little bit more interesting.
And then of course everybody is all up in arms about what brains are going to go inside it.
Some are going as far to think it is an M4 chip, and that seems a little odd and a stretch to me since the M3 chip from Apple just came out.
And of course everyone wants Apple to talk about artificial intelligence and what is going to be in the new devices.
They have already talked about that a little bit in hardware with the iPad Air and saying it is a great machine for artificial intelligence.
And that has the M3 or just the M2.
Sometimes I get confused.
But the reality is that the brains that Apple puts in it cannot be that big a deal.
They cannot talk too much about artificial intelligence because they are only a month away from WWDC where that seems like it will be a big ticket item.
Either way, I don’t know that I will be able to watch the event at 7 because I have a job.
But I am looking forward to watching it eventually and to trying to figure out how to spend money I don’t have to buy something I don’t need because that is what Apple does to me.
And either way, I will enjoy talking about it with my son.
Oh, who by the way probably can’t afford it either and maybe is not drawn to purchase it as much as I would be but we do like to talk about Apple products.
Well, that is all I have for today.
If you have comments or suggestions or questions you can send them to TechnologyBytes at MerigFamily.com Sorry about that.
That is M-E-R-I-G-F-A-M-I-L-Y dot com.
Thank you once again for listening to the TechnologyBytes microcast.
I look forward to the next time, next week talking about exactly what Apple released.
We are together taking another bite of technology.
