Latest News

The current iPad lineup is a cluttered and confusing mess. There are two sizes of iPad Pro, a single iPad Air, two generations of the regular iPad and the iPad Mini that’s still alive and kicking. It’s hit or miss with which Apple Pencil works with which iPad, and only one iPad has the camera on the side for landscape FaceTime calls.

Not only are the current iPad offerings confounding, but they are also getting state. Apple didn’t release any iPads last year, making it the first calendar year without a new iPad since Apple’s tablet was first released in 2010. If the rumors are true, the long wait for new iPads is almost over. New iPad Pro and Air models are expected in early May, according to the latest report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Apple needs to do something with the iPad to keep consumers interested in its device that’s neither iPhone nor MacBook. The iPad has always occupied the middle ground between the company’s phones and laptops, and now it has company in this in-between zone with the arrival of the Vision Pro. CNET’s Scott Stein said the Vision Pro feels like “an iPad exploded into space.” The Vision Pro is far too expensive right now to cannibalize iPad sales, but as its price comes down in the years to come, it will compete with the iPad for our third-screen needs and dollars.

We will soon get confirmation to which direction Apple is taking its tablets. Here’s what the rumored updates will look like for each iPad line.

OLED coming to iPad Pro

OLED is the big news with Apple’s top-end iPad Pro. The new models will reportedly ditch mini-LED screens for OLED displays that will deliver more vibrant colors, true black levels and superior contrast. The OLED panels could also support a wider range of refresh rates. The newer iPhone Pro models feature always-on OLED displays that can operate as slow as 1Hz to extend battery life.

The updated iPad Pros will come in 11- and 13-inch sizes, with the latter being slightly larger than the current big Pro at 12.9 inches. The new Pros are also expected to upgrade from Apple’s M2 chip of the current models to the M3 chip. Other rumored changes include USB-C and MagSafe wireless charging along with an updated Magic Keyboard with an aluminum cover and larger trackpad.

iPad Air expanding to 12.9 inches

A larger iPad Air is expected to be added to the line this spring. The current, fifth-gen iPad Air is based on a 10.9-inch display and an M1 chip. The new lineup will be based on M2 chips and available in both 10.9-inch and 12.9-inch models. A 12.9-inch Air would give tablet buyers the ability to get a larger screen without needing to pay the premium for a Pro model.

The new iPad Airs are not expected to move to mini-LED or OLED displays and will keep their LED-based liquid retina panels. The rear camera, according to 9to5Mac, is expected to be housed in a new camera bump that includes a flash, a feature not offered on the current Air. The new models are also expected to work with the current Magic Keyboard and not the keyboard update that will be exclusive to the new Pro models.

iPad and iPad Mini updates later this year

The rumors are foggier for the entry-level iPad and iPad Mini. Each could get a processor bump, with the 11th-gen iPad moving to the A15 chip and the seventh-gen iPad Mini getting the A16 chip. With the arrival of the 11th-gen iPad, Apple will likely keep the 10th-gen iPad as its budget offering and phase out the ninth-gen model, which is the last remaining model with the home button. These updates are expected not this spring but later in the year.

And by the end of the year, perhaps we will finally see the long-rumored foldable iPad.

With the total solar eclipse just over a week away, time is running out on finding both eye protection and camera lens protection. But there’s a device-app combo that could solve that problem in one fell swoop.

Solar Snap is designed to help you both protect your eyes when viewing a solar eclipse, as well as take photos of the eclipse while it’s happening. The bundle comes with a Solar Snap camera filter that attaches to the back of an iPhone or Android phone, along with solar eclipse glasses for protecting your eyesight during the event.

After you attach the filter to your phone, you can use the free Solar Snap Eclipse app to zoom in on the eclipse, adjust exposure and other camera settings, and ultimately capture photos of an eclipse.

Solar Snap was founded by Douglas Duncan, a former Hubble Space Telescope astronomer, who wanted to take better pictures of a solar eclipse using only a phone’s camera. However, when Duncan, who currently serves as an emeritus faculty member at the University of Colorado and was the former director of the university’s Fiske Planetarium, sought a solution, he couldn’t find one.

“At recent eclipses, I saw lots of people trying to take souvenir photos with their phones, but failing,” Duncan told me. “Something needed to be done! I spent the pandemic inventing and testing Solar Snap.”

Here’s what you need to know about the app about it, as well as some general tips for photographing the eclipse.

Solar Snap app

Since Solar Snap has a very specific purpose, it isn’t necessarily useful day to day. However, it should be especially useful on April 8, when the moon passes between Earth and the sun and causes a total solar eclipse over North America. The Great American Eclipse, as it’s become known, will reach the Mexican Pacific coast at 2:07 p.m. ET on April 8 and then traverse from Texas to Maine until it moves off the Eastern coast of North America at 3:35 p.m. ET.

As exciting (and rare — the next total solar eclipse over North America won’t occur until 2044) as that may be, solar eclipses carry their fair share of risks. During the eclipse, and especially just before and after totality, or when the moon completely shrouds the sun, looking at the eclipse without protective eye gear can cause severe eye damage. You can similarly suffer significant eye damage if you look at the eclipse through binoculars, telescopes or, yes, the lens on a camera or smartphone without a filter.

Solar Snap aims at solving that problem by providing filters for both the camera and eyes, making it possible to look at the eclipse and take photos of it without worrying about eye safety. And with its app settings designed to optimize image quality, it promises to deliver nice-looking views of the eclipse for you to enjoy long after it’s over.

“I built automation into Solar Snap,” Duncan said. “If you put your phone on a tripod, at the start of totality, you can take the filter off (don’t bump the phone!), push the ‘totality’ button, and it will take photos all during totality, while you watch the eclipse.”

The $19 Solar Snap kit is available now. The kit comes with two pairs each of the phone filter and protective eyewear, along with two Velcro sets for attaching the filter to a phone. Solar Snap’s app is available in both Apple’s App Store and in Android app marketplaces like Google Play.

General eclipse-photography tips

Space.com reports that over 44 million people will experience totality during the April 8 eclipse, and it’s likely that most of them will try to capture a photo or two. Here are a few tips.

• Whether you’re digging out the fancy camera gear or keeping it simple, practice your setup before eclipse day. If anything goes wrong, or you forget an accessory you needed, you don’t want to learn that once the eclipse has already begun. Depending where you’re watching from, it’s only 3 to 5 minutes long. NASA suggests practicing by photographing the moon.
• You likely want to get yourself a certified solar filter to attach to your camera. It’ll protect your eyes and let you take photos while viewing the eclipse through your lens.
• The best photos will be taken with DSLR cameras, or what we old-timers used to just call “cameras.” But let’s be real: Many of us are just going to do the best we can with our phone cameras. NASA suggests you don’t count on your phone’s autofocus — you’ll have to do it manually, by tapping the screen, holding your finger on the moon to lock the focus, and then dragging your finger up and down to adjust the exposure.
• You also may want to buy an inexpensive zoom lens that clips on directly to your smart phone camera. “Digital zoom will not work to create a magnified, clear image,” NASA warns.
• Remember, however, that you don’t want to get too busy taking eclipse photos that you forget to enjoy the experience itself. After all, there won’t be another chance until 2044.

CNET’s Gael Cooper contributed to this article.

Online disinformation operations bent on disrupting US elections aren’t a new thing. Hillary Clinton had to deal with Russia’s internet-based attempts to attack and discredit her when she ran for president back in 2016.

But a lot has changed in the years since. Foreign adversaries, including Russia, are still targeting American candidates, as well as the US system of democracy as a whole, but now they have the power of artificial intelligence to make their campaigns bigger, more sophisticated and more convincing than ever before.

The advancement of artificial intelligence over the past several years has made it easier for people to generate convincing phishing emails and deepfakes. As AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Microsoft’s Copilot compete for market share, they’re continually developing new capabilities, all of which come with the risk of abuse.

“I think that anybody who’s not worried is not paying attention,” said Clinton, who served as secretary of state and a US senator before her presidential run.

Clinton made the comments during a panel at an event looking at AI’s impact on 2024 global elections held Thursday at Columbia University in New York City. It was jointly sponsored by the Institute of Global Politics at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs and Aspen Digital.

During the event, Clinton and other panelists spoke about the need for government and tech companies, especially those in social media, to work together to combat the spread of disinformation and misinfomation.

Election security has been a major topic for the past two presidential elections. Much was made during the 2016 election about the possibility that a foreign government, such as Russia’s, could “hack” the election, either changing results and winners without anyone knowing or changing them to be so obviously improbable that it would destroy trust in the system.

But little evidence of meddling was found, and over the next four years many states that had been using the kinds of voting technology that experts were worried about replaced it and shored up their systems.

There were worries about a potential hacking ahead of the 2020 election, but officials found no evidence of any kind of widespread election fraud. Chris Krebs, then the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the federal agency charged with protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure from cyberthreats, declared the 2020 vote the “most secure election” in American history.

The worry expressed by the panel is that AI could substantially ramp up those threats. And it’s already happening. Ahead of New Hampshire’s January presidential primary, some voters in that state received apparent robocalls that used AI technology to mimic the voice of President Joe Biden and told them not to come to the poils.

While it remains to be seen just how much damage AI-powered disinformation could do ahead of this year’s general election, “there’s more than enough reason to be worried about what we’ve already seen,” Clinton said.

Nothing could be more dangerous than an effort to discredit the American election system that’s boosted by AI-powered deepfakes and leaves American voters not knowing what’s real and what’s not, said Former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff.

“It would be like pouring gasoline on a fire,” he said.

Apple makes some of the best tablets and laptops we’ve tested and its 24-inch iMac and Mac mini machines are a great option for people who don’t need to take their computer on the road with them. But nobody ever accused Apple gear of being cheap, so picking one up isn’t always affordable. That all changes today though, with Woot offering some huge discounts on Apple laptops, tablets and computers. You can save up to 43% off new machines, while there are plenty off refurbished options included in this sale as well.

There are so many deals available that we can’t possibly begin to list them all, but there are still some that are worth pointing out. One example is the Apple Magic Keyboard for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, an accessory that would normally sell for around $350 but is now yours for just $200. The smaller 11-inch version is also available as part of this deal with the price brought down to just $190.

In terms of computers, the huge 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M1 Max chip, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage is just $2,100 while those looking to spend as little as possible may be interested in the refurbished 2015 13-inch MacBook Air, yours today for just $200. All of these deals are available now but they’re unlikely to stick around for long. Stocks appear to be limited and Woot says that the remaining deals will come to a close on April 6.

Looking for something you don’t see here? Check out our list of the best MacBook deals to save money on Apple’s latest and greatest laptops.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro is a brilliant laptop thanks to a great combination of portability and power, especially when you need more than even the impressive MacBook Air can muster. That extra power and slightly bigger display does mean paying more, but if you take advantage of this special B&H Photo deal, you’ll save a cool $400 on an M2 Pro model. It’d normally cost almost $2,000, but if you order today, you’ll pay just $1,599. Just note that this deal is only available on the silver version. While we’re big fans of the space gray, we would happily make do if it meant saving this much cash.

Apple makes some of the best laptops around and has been doing so since the introduction of its own chips a few years ago. This model comes with the speedy M2 Pro chip inside and sports a 16-core GPU and 10-core CPU married to 16GB of RAM. Storage is taken care of with a superfast 512GB SSD to round out the core specs.

Other notable features include a large 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display as well as support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. You’ll of course get a great keyboard with a Touch ID sensor for payments and authentication, while the huge Force Touch trackpad handles cursor control. And all in a gorgeous metal body.

This is a pretty sweet laptop, but we do know it won’t be for everyone. If that includes you, be sure to check out our collection of the very best laptop deals before you buy anything.