What to expect when Apple debuts its new iPads, Macs

Apple Inc. is about to give two product lines much needed upgrades after the gadgets slipped into the towering shadow of the iPhone.

On Tuesday, the Cupertino, California-based technology giant will take the stage in Brooklyn, New York, to unveil new Mac computers and iPad tablets. The theme of the event is “making,” and it will take place at the Brooklyn Academy of Music – both clues to how Apple plans to reignite sales of the products.

Macs and iPads have larger screens and keyboards, more versatile software and typically faster processing speeds than iPhones. Those features are particularly useful for people who create graphics, build websites, edit movies, write music, and in the case of Macs, develop their own software. While the iPhone won over consumers, and the Watch is on a growing number of wrists, Apple is pushing content creation for its other major devices.

The main news on Tuesday will be revamped iPad Pros with Face ID and a new charging port, a new laptop destined to replace the aging MacBook Air, and a new Mac mini geared toward professional users, according to people familiar with the plans. They asked not to be identified discussing unannounced products. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

The update to the iPad Pro will be the most significant in the product’s history. The device was originally launched in 2015 in part as a counter-measure to Microsoft Corp.’s Surface Pro, which gained a following with business users seeking large tablets with support for attachable keyboards and styluses. The iPad Pro models, which have larger screens, better cameras, and faster processors, are more expensive, which has sustained revenue growth.

Here’s what Apple is planning for the new iPad Pro, according to people familiar with the plans:

• Nearly edge-to-edge screens with slimmer, symmetrical bezels like the latest iPhones.

• A USB-C connector for charging and syncing data, the first time Apple is bringing this charging standard to its iOS devices. This will leave the iPhone as Apple’s only major product to use the Lightning connector. It will also be the first time Apple has changed the charging port on iOS devices since 2012.

• Face ID will be used for unlocking the new iPad, and the Home button and fingerprint scanner will be removed. Unlike with iPhones, Face ID will work in both portrait and landscape orientations.

• Face ID will enable Animojis (and the personalized variety known as Memojis) on iPads for the first time.

• The screens will be less expensive LCD panels, rather than the OLED screens on the iPhone XS.

• The iPad’s external look will be redesigned as well. It will include more squared-off sides like the iPhone 5, 5S, and SE from a few years ago.

• A faster processor that’s a variant of the A12 Bionic chip recently added to the iPhone XS and iPhone XR.

• A custom Apple graphics chip, the first time this would be included in an iPad.

• An updated Apple Pencil, succeeding the original version launched in 2015.

The iPad Pro update comes at an important time for the device, which hasn’t been refreshed since mid-2017. While the tablet market is contracting overall, the iPad has been slowly regaining momentum thanks to new software and lower-priced models.