How to Watch Apple’s ‘Let Loose’ Event on May 7

Apple will be holding its first big event of 2024 tomorrow, where it’s expected to unveil an exciting new lineup of iPad models. As usual, the event will be held virtually as a pre-recorded event, allowing everyone to get a taste of what Apple will be showing off without the need to fly to Cupertino.

Tomorrow’s Let Loose gala is kicking off unusually early for an Apple event, starting at 7 a.m. Pacific Time rather than the more typical 10 a.m. downbeat. That puts it at 10 a.m. for those on the East Coast and, perhaps more significantly, 3 p.m. in London, UK, where Apple is scheduling press briefings to coincide with the event, according to The Independent.

That could explain the earlier start time, but it’s also possible Apple is just being whimsical in some way. While earlier events are unusual, they’re not unheard of, especially when Apple hosts them somewhere other than Cupertino. For example, Apple held a March education event in Chicago in 2018 that started at 10 a.m. local time (CT), putting it at 8 a.m. in Cupertino.

However, it went in a different direction last fall with Scary Fast, which ran at 5:00 p.m. PT / 8:00 p.m. ET. While some speculated that this was being done to align the schedule with Japan time for a tie-in with a Japanese game developer, nothing of that sort ever materialized, and it ultimately just seemed that Apple was having fun with a Halloween theme.

Either way, it will be an early morning for those who want to watch from the West Coast, and according to Mark Gurman, it’s going to be a pretty short event, lasting only 35 minutes — about as long as Scary Fast did last fall. That means you’ll want to be prepared so you don’t miss it. Here’s how you can tune in.

Apple TV App

The best way to watch Apple Events is usually the company’s own TV app, which is available on the iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Mac, and Vision Pro. Apple once had a dedicated Apple Events app, but it folded that into the TV app just before its first virtual Worldwide Developer’s Conference in June 2020.

As of this writing, Let Loose has yet to appear in the Apple TV app, but it will likely appear later today. For now, you can search “Apple Events” to find a list of previous special events. However, the TV app is the best way to watch Apple events as you don’t usually have to do any searching; they’re prominently featured in the home section of the app, and Let Loose should show up there by tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow’s event should also be available in the Apple TV app on other platforms, such as smart TVs, game consoles, and streaming boxes.

YouTube

You can also find Apple events live-streamed on its official YouTube channel, and, as usual, there’s already a placeholder for tomorrow’s event.

Since the YouTube app is available on nearly every platform and in almost every modern browser, this is probably the most accessible way to watch Let Loose. You can even visit the page right now and click “Notify Me” to set a reminder so you won’t miss it.

Apple Events Site

For those who aren’t really into YouTube, Apple also live-streams its events directly from its Apple Events website, where it can be viewed in nearly any modern browser. This includes Safari on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac, as well as Chrome, Firefox, or Edge on a Mac or PC.

It’s easy enough to remember since you only need to go to apple.com to get there. Bookmark it now or visit it tomorrow morning, and you’ll be ready to go. You can also go there now and click the “Add to your calendar” link to add an appointment to your calendar app automatically.

As usual, there’s no official word from Apple on what the company will announce tomorrow. However, this time around, it’s given us plenty of hints, even aside from what the rumor mill has to say.

Chief among these is Tim Cook’s “Pencil us in” tweet, which includes the same logo and animation used to promote the event since the invites went out.

That makes it pretty obvious we’re talking about an Apple Pencil, and with an Apple Pencil comes Apple tablets. Reports have been swirling for months of new iPads, and even without those, it would be pretty obvious that we’re overdue for some.

Apple last refreshed its iPad lineup in late 2022, when it released the 10th-generation iPad and an iPad Pro duo that was little more than a spec bump to put the latest M2 chip inside. After that, 2023 became the first year in iPad history that we saw and heard nothing from Apple about any of its tablets.

By all reports, the drought will end tomorrow when Apple unveils significant upgrades to the iPad Pro lineup that will feature OLED screens for the first time, plus an even thinner design. There are also rumors that Apple could unveil the M4 chip in the iPad Pro even before it comes to its first MacBooks later this year. Take that one with a grain of salt, but there is evidence to suggest that the iPad Pro could be getting a more powerful chip, perhaps something like an “M3X.”

The iPad Air is also expected to get a big brother in the form of a 12.9-inch model. Other than that additional model and a new landscape camera placement, Apple’s mid-tier tablet won’t likely be more than a spec bump.

The new iPads will be accompanied by a new Apple Pencil that’s expected to be redesigned to accommodate charging in a different spot (since the camera will be on the longer edge) and add new gestures such as a “squeeze” motion and possibly even an eraser.

We’re also expecting a new Magic Keyboard design that will move to aluminum and adopt a more durable, laptop-like design. There’s a good chance this may be exclusive to the iPad Pro, as Gurman suggests that Apple is planning a full-court press to turn the iPad Pro into a “true laptop replacement,” which is why he believes Apple will debut its next-generation M4 silicon on the iPad Pro while leaving its entire Mac lineup behind on the M3.

With that new chip, Apple is also expected to tout some new generative AI features for the iPad Pro. However, these will likely be mostly teasers as much will depend on iPadOS 18, which won’t be unveiled until next month’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

Lastly, expect Apple to announce the release dates for iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5, if not at the event, in a newsroom announcement shortly after. The new iPads will almost certainly ship with iPadOS 17.5, and if Apple sticks to its usual playbook, the public releases of those will come a day or two before the new iPad models go on sale.