If you love gadgets and gizmos, this year’s product conferences are having them aplenty.
We’ve poked through the many product announcements made by the biggest tech companies and product trade shows of the year, so far, and compiled them into this list. It features the items we think are the most important, or the most interesting. So far this list covers Apple WWDC, Apple Let Loose, Google I/O, Microsoft Build, Mobile World Congress and CES. Please check back as we will update this list.
The biggest buzz at this show was the new feature called Apple Intelligence (AI, get it?). Apple will be adding its own AI, via a combination of on-device processing and cloud processing, to many Apple apps, giving them features like writing help or image editing. Apple promised its AI will be highly personalized and built with safety at its core.
Apple also revealed how developers will soon be able to bring the Apple Intelligence experience into their software, allowing for things like image generation, or new prompts to Siri. Apple is also working with OpenAI to allow its device users to access OpenAI with plans to add options to other LLMs in the future.
Apple’s new Passwords app
While you can already use your iCloud account to store and sync passwords across your devices, it wasn’t easy to figure out. The new Passwords app will include new features like a new column on the left that lets you more easily navigate your password collection. For instance, you can view all your passwords or just Wi-Fi passwords (a new addition), passkeys or codes that aren’t related to a website or service.
MacOS Sequoia, iOS 18
The latest operating system version is called macOS Sequoia. One of the biggest features is iPhone mirroring, which lets you control your iPhone from your Mac.
As for the latest iOS, iOS 18, one big new feature is that users will be able to lock an app when they hand over their phone to do things like show someone a picture or let them play a game.
There were more Apple WWDC announcements as well.
Apple Let Loose
The iPad lineup is getting a facelift and one of the most important additions is that it now comes in two sizes, the 11-inch display and a 13-inch display. The cost is $599 for the 11-inch and $799 for the 13-inch.
The iPad Pro is being touted as the thinnest iPad ever. Features include an OLED display in two panels called Tandem OLED. It also has a nanotextured glass option for less glare. And, it features the next generation of Apple silicon called M4, a jump from M2. In the U.S., the 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 for the Wi-Fi model, and $1,199 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299 for the Wi-Fi model, and $1,499 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
The M4 chip is the fourth generation of Apple’s custom SoCs. It features a new display engine, as well as significantly updated CPU and GPU cores. Apple claims that the new CPU is 50% faster than the M2 chips that powered the last generation of iPad Pros, while the GPU will offer a 4x increase in rendering performance.
Inside Tandem OLED
Among its many features, the Tandem OLED screen can support an incredible 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness for both SDR and HDR content, and 1,600 nits of peak HDR brightness.
Apple Pencil Pro
Shocking as it may seem, it’s been nearly a decade since the first Apple Pencil was announced, way back in 2015. The stylus hasn’t seen much in the way of updates since then. The most significant arrived in 2018, bringing magnetic charging to the line. Last year, meanwhile, saw the arrival of a less expensive model with fewer features and USB-C charging. Many of the new features with the Apple Pencil Pro come from the squeeze. You can create animations, move and rotate the object and even apply lens blurring.
Apple announced a new and improved Magic Keyboard, its keyboard accessory for iPad. The Magic Keyboard has been “completely redesigned” to be much thinner and lighter, Apple says, and now includes a function row for quick access to controls like screen brightness. Beyond that, the new Magic Keyboard features aluminum palm rests and a larger trackpad. Plus it’s more responsive, Apple says, with haptic feedback.
There were more Apple Let Loose announcements as well. Read about the others
From generative AI to accessibility, Kyle Wiggers takes you on a journey of all of Google’s AI announcements.
Wear OS 5
Google gave a developer preview of the new version of its smartwatch operating system, Wear OS 5. This release focuses on improved battery life and other performance improvements, like more efficient workout tracking. Developers are also getting updated tools for creating watch faces and building watch apps.
Google unveiled its next generation — the sixth, to be exact — of its Tensor Processing Units (TPU) AI chips. Dubbed Trillium, they will launch later this year. If you recall, announcing the next generation of TPUs is something of a tradition at I/O, even as the chips only roll out later in the year.
Pixel 8a
The new Pixel 8a smartphone is a budget version starting at $499 but is packed full of features.
Pixel Slate
Google’s Pixel Tablet, called Slate, is now available. If you recall, TechCrunch’s Brian Heater reviewed the Pixel Tablet around this time last year, and all he talked about was the base. Interestingly enough, the tablet is available without it.
Gemini 1.5 Pro
Everyone can use a “half” every now and again, and Google obliges with Gemini 1.5 Pro. This, Kyle Wiggers writes, is “Google’s most capable generative AI model,” and is now available in public preview on Vertex AI, Google’s enterprise-focused AI development platform. The new version of this LLM supports more tokens, making it more powerful, and has audio-processing capabilities.
We don’t know a lot about this one, however, here is what we do know: Google Cloud joins AWS and Azure in announcing its first custom-built Arm processor, dubbed Axion. Frederic Lardinois writes that “based on Arm’s Neoverse 2 designs, Google says its Axion instances offer 30% better performance than other Arm-based instances from competitors like AWS and Microsoft and up to 50% better performance and 60% better energy efficiency than comparable X86-based instances.”
There were more Google I/O announcements as well.
Microsoft Build
Copilot+ PCs are Microsoft’s vision of AI-first, flagship Windows hardware. All include dedicated chips called NPUs to power AI experiences like Recall. And they ship with 16GB of RAM minimum, paired with SSD storage. Copilot+ PCs start at $999.
Microsoft’s newly unveiled Surface devices, the Surface Laptop and Surface Pro, focus on performance and battery. The latest Surface Laptop — available with a 13.8- or 15-inch display — has been redesigned with “modern lines” and thinner screen bezels.
There were more Microsoft Build announcements as well.