If Central’s (unnamed) sources are correct, the OS King is hooking the world up with a new, kitted-out Surface Pro 10 later this month, joined by a new Surface Laptop 6. Both devices are expected to be unveiled as Microsoft’s “first AI PCs,” sporting AI features that are supposedly heading to Windows 11 later this year. The rumoured date being thrown around is 21 March, but they’ll probably take a little longer to arrive in South Africa (if they arrive at all).

Surface-level artificial upgrades

What makes these artificially intelligent, then? That’ll be Intel’s new Core Ultra chips or Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite-based processors coupled with “next-gen NPUs” (neural processing units) — all aimed at making these far more powerful than their predecessors, especially in the realm of on-device AI. Windows Central reckons both devices will be sold in Intel and Arm variants.

In terms of efficiency and performance, Central’s sources believe these upgrades will put the Surface devices on the same level as Apple’s iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, far exceeding previous Surface iterations, though it didn’t mention specific models.

Read More: Microsoft Surface Pro 9 review – Making laptops ever more nervous

The Surface Pro 10 won’t be getting a makeover in the looks department, repping a mightily similar design to the Surface Pro 9. It will, however, receive a new OLED display, an ultrawide front-facing webcam, NFC reading capabilities, and AI Studio effects built-in.

The Surface Laptop 6, on the other hand, will see a larger design departure from the Surface Laptop 5. That means a selection of ports worthy of 2024 (2x USB-C and a singular USB-A), a new haptic touchpad, a Copilot key, along with slimmed-down bezels and rounder corners. We’re guessing Microsoft is aiming to pull a Samsung and make minor changes — with AI capabilities being the main selling point.

Microsoft’s Marco Polo

As for what’ll set Microsoft’s “AI PCs” apart, it’ll be the AI features that ship with it. Onboard Copilot, real-time caption, live translations, frame rate smoothing and videogame upscaling, improved Windows Studio effects and the real kicker — “AI Explorer”.

AI Explorer is described as an “advanced Copilot”. It will have access to your PC’s documents, web pages, images and chats so users can search through their files using “natural language.”

“For example, you could type, “Find me that list of restaurants Jenna said she liked,” and Windows can bring up the exact conversation you were having when Jenna mentioned those restaurants. Even vague prompts should work, like “Find me that thing about dinosaurs,” Windows will pull up every word, phrase, image, and related topic about dinosaurs that you’ve previously opened on your computer,” Windows Central says.

Microsoft is expected to unveil its new Surface devices on 21 March 2024, though both are only meant to begin shipping in April and June. Intel models should get an earlier release, while Arm variants will have to wait slightly longer.

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This might be a little difficult to believe, but Apple is foregoing the dramatics and plans to launch a slate of new products “in the next several weeks” via a regular old press release on its website, with no event on the horizon. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and his ‘Power On‘ newsletter, those products are the refreshed iPad Pros, 12.9in iPad Air, Apple Pencils and some Magic Keyboards for those iPads. And we haven’t even gotten to the Macs, yet.

As for those, we will see the new 13- and 15in MacBook Airs kitted with the M3 chip arrive at the same time as the iPad revamp. These might sound like run-of-the-mill ‘filler’ products unworthy of Apple’s attention, but we’d argue that isn’t the case for at least one of these — with the iPad Pro getting its first (major) upgrade since before Silksong was announced. Yikes.

But, as the old saying goes, good things come to those who wait. The 2024 iPad Pro will be outfitted with an OLED display and internally repping Apple’s M3 chipset. That alone would be enough for Apple to throw a party to give these badboys a boost. Apparently, nope. Gurman reckons Apple is going to announce the products on its website “with a series of online videos and marketing campaigns,” sometime in “March or April.”

The PC Master Race is bolstering its ego with a Ghost of Tsushima port

While Xbox might be okay with dolling out its exclusives like a dodgy dude handing out candy, Sony is a little more hesitant to give up those sweet, sweet IPs to other consoles (here’s what we thought of Returnal for PC, by the way). It spent the better part of two years porting over some of those games to PC (and only PC) and the latest fruit of its labour appears to be a Ghost of Tsushima port.

That’s according to @Shpeshal_Nick on Twitter (sorry, X), who posted:

“I’m hearing that we might be getting something about the Ghost of Tsushima PC port pretty soon. Maybe around the 5th?”

Even if the tweet wasn’t coming from a reputable leaker such as Nick, we’d have believed it. As we’ve said, Sony’s been on a bit of a PC port roll, with only a couple of exclusive IPs left to go before Steam is on a similar playing field. But if you’re after proof of Nick’s sources being the real deal; just look at the last time he delved into Sony matters — correctly noting the games that would turn up at the then-next State of Play.

Fingers crossed for a reveal tomorrow, huh, Duncan?

Sony’s SRS-XV800 party speaker

If the idea of spending R10,000 on a Sony speaker didn’t at least make you giggle thanks to the absurdity, we’d recommend keeping on reading. Sony’s SRS-XV800 has come to South Africa and Sony’s got some shilling to do. Fortunately, the speaker’s good enough that we’ll do it for them, showing off the sort of features you can expect after spending four zeroes on a piece of audio equipment.

The first thing you’ll notice is that this thing is massive. The pair of wheels fixed to the speaker’s base should give you a good idea that this isn’t as quite portable as your friend’s JBL he’s always got with him. Sony’s made this thing portable enough to carry with you to a friend’s pool party, but for your sake, we hope you’re the friend with the pool.

It’s got all the usual features of a party speaker, namely; Bluetooth (and even HDMI). What it does differently is the speaker’s built-in Karaoke mode and the 25 hours of battery life that go with it. It’s even IPX4 splash-resistant, so it can enjoy the party from a safe distance. It’ll be loud enough that a safe distance won’t make much of a difference, fortunately. It’s even got a TV Sound Booster that’ll do a decent job of removing any buyer’s remorse you might have (and, uh, make your TV sound a bit better, too).

Doom on a… toothbrush

When Stuff’s own Toby Shapshak returned from MWC 2024 with news of Doom running on a lawnmower, we thought humanity had reached the pinnacle of technology. How wrong we were. Less than a week later, and someone’s managed to get the 1993 first-person shooter running on… an electric toothbrush.

That someone is Aaron Christophel, a YouTuber who took advantage of just about every piece of tech around him coming equipped with some sort of screen, including his toothbrush. That toothbrush is an Evowera Planck Mini — running with just about all the features required to get something like this done; colour display and Wi-Fi.

Christophel used the toothbrush’s OTA functionality and his own ESP32 development board to get the game running here. He even has Bluetooth mouse capabilities going, linking basic forward and backward movements, not being able to make use of the toothbrush’s own sensor data. If you’re left scratching your head wondering why someone would ever play Doom on an electric toothbrush… you’ll never get it.

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“Why are you typing on a smartphone?” I replied. It doesn’t have the screen for 10-finger typing, and it’s not the most efficient way to input data.

I have been using two more appropriate options for years. I use a swiping keyboard – either Apple’s own or my preferred option, Microsoft’s Swiftkey. I dictate a lot, too, using Swiftkey, which is superior to all the other options I have tried.

The dictation secret is to verbalise punctuation when you want a “comma” or a “full stop”. You also need to clean up the dictation because it’s often slightly incorrect. For instance, whenever I say “Ramaphosa”, it comes out as Rama Poser. Make of that what you will.

The second friend is a doctor who makes rounds every day in a large hospital and wants to upgrade his five-year-old hospital-issued iPad. Let’s call him Evan.

Appropriate options

They have very different needs – or use cases if you want the industry jargon – and they are both already in the Apple ecosystem. I always advise people to stick with what they know and have – especially if it’s one ecosystem because of how well it all works together.

Paul wants to view plans and PDFs that require a large screen. The obvious choice for him is a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The current 6th-generation model comes with an extremely speedy M2 processor.

Evan needs to look at patient records and interact with Google Drive, which is helpful for having access to an entire set of records and other data. I suggested he pick up the 10th-generation iPad, which is light and, well, cheap(ish).

It still uses an older A14 Bionic processor, and not the new M-range of Apple silicon, but I am rigorous in only advising people to buy what they need – or can afford.

I suggest that people don’t go with the cellular option because you can very easily use your phone’s hotspot. The extra expense and secondary SIM card are another level of complication. I ended up with a cellular version of the iPad Pro 11, because there wasn’t stock of the WiFi-only option, but I have an extra data SIM as part of my Vodacom Red contract. (Yes, I’m still on contract.) But I very seldom use it.

Storage

When I was upgrading my iPhone and my wife’s iPad Pro a few years ago, I calculated the best storage option for a smartphone or tablet is 256GB. The entry-level 64GB or 128GB are too small for our cloud-based way of working or streaming. The same goes for the opposite end of the spectrum. Those larger storage options are unnecessarily expensive. You really don’t need to download that many Netflix or Showmax series at the same time.

Do you need a pencil?

I thought the idea of an Apple Pencil was wonderful, but I found I rarely used it. The difference is that I don’t mark up documents like a lawyer does, nor annotate plans like Paul will. The second-generation pencil is the one you’d want as it magnetically clips to the side of the tablet and charges that way too.

But I do use a keyboard regularly. There are two main keyboard options, which are called the Magic Keyboard and Smart Keyboard Folio. Each now has a slightly cheaper version. I ended up with the Magic Keyboard, and I’m very happy with the more sophisticated option. It has a clever hinge that holds the screen up and at the right angle. It has a trackpad similar to the MacBook’s and has proved very handy. I use my 11-inch Pro as a substitute laptop for conferences and meetings. But it ain’t cheap. And it ain’t light – which is why I often take my iPad to events where you’ll often find me taking notes or recording podcasts.

Read More: (Admittedly minor) iPad adventures at a conference

I have a USB-C mic that I plug into the iPad and another Sennheiser model that works with my iPhone’s Lightning port. This saves me carrying a much heavier (but only by 300 grams or so) MacBook Pro and a Zoom recorder, plus microphones – which is what I used to use.

Retrospectively, I would have chosen the Smart Keyboard Folio, even though it’s missing a trackpad. It’s what I suggested to both Paul and Evan.

Following on from the company’s flagship launch earlier this year, Huawei has just unveiled a refreshed Matebook D 16, its largest tablet yet the MatePad Pro 13.2in, a new MatePad Air with the company’s PaperMatte display technology, and an interesting-looking set of ‘earbuds’ called the FreeClip.

Huawei doing tonight?

We’ve all seen laptops and tablets before, the FreeClips and their ball-and-chain-looking “open-ear design” have managed to stand out. Whether that translates into passable audio and the durability to withstand multiple trips to and from ears, remains to be seen. However, Huawei says they’ve undergone “over 25,000 reliability tests” so that ought to mean something.

Instead of living inside your ear like other in-ear headphones, the FreeClip hangs around, quite literally, on the outside of your ear. They’re trying to pull a similar move to Sony’s Linkbuds in that they aren’t meant to isolate you and your tunes from the outside world but will allow you to bop along while nodding attentively at your colleague.

Technical details were a little light at the launch but we do know that the buds come with an IP54 rating and can provide eight hours of playback or up to 36 hours with the case with a 10-minute charge giving you three more hours of music. Stay tuned for the local price and availability date.

Coming to your hands soon

If your hands are begging to hold something new and 13 inches big, Huawei’s new MatePad Pro 13.2in is the company’s latest flagship tablet and marks another step in the company’s journey to tablet market dominance. That’s probably the vision, anyway. The tablet’s new display tech, called ‘X-True Display’, along with the ability to hit 144Hz and an impressive 94% screen-to-body ratio go a long way to help that cause.

Doodlers will be happy to know that the 3rd generation M-Pencil is launching alongside the flagship tablet that boasts improved latency and 10,000 levels of pressure sensitivity. When words are required, it supports Huawei’s smart magnetic keyboard. If this sounds appealing, we’ll keep you posted for the local price and availability date.

Not much of a doodler? Then you’ll probably be more interested in the refreshed MatePad Air which, for the first time, features Huawei’s PaperMatte display technology. It uses a “nano-level anti-glare etching technology” to combat reflections and glare in the name of reducing eye strain.

Prepare your laps (and desks)

The laptop receiving attention this trip is the Matebook D 16. As you might surmise from the name, it’s a 16-incher from the Matebook D range — which falls somewhere between the budget-focused Matebook E and the upper-mid non-lettered Matebook. Huawei haven’t taken any risks with the design so if you’ve seen an earlier Matebook D you’ll know what to expect.

Apart from the slightly larger 16in 16:10 display, the excitement here is the promise of serious power. We’ll have to wait until January 2024 to explore the other technical details in depth but we do know that it’ll come packing an Intel Core i9-13900H processor. We’ll also learn how much it’ll cost and when you can get your hands on one next month.

In a world filled with Steam Decks, ROG Allys, and Logitech G Clouds, it’s only a matter of time before one of those handhelds gets a 2 affixed to their name. It looks like Valve, which kicked off the mini-PC hype back in 2022, will be the first to mark the occasion sometime in 2025 according to Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais. That doesn’t mean we won’t be seeing a refreshed Steam Deck before then. This is apparently the plan at Valve HQ.

The first hint of a new Steam Deck came when a mystery device by the name of “Valve 1030” passed through South Korea’s National Radio Research Agency for certification, and later passed an FCC certification in August without anyone noticing. So how do we know about it now?

Steam snoops @SadlyItsBradley and @TVKilledMi noticed that Valve had filed the new Deck under a company called Quectel, and not Valve. This isn’t the first time it’s done this, originally hiding the first Deck under the company’s boring facade. This time, Quectel filed for a Class 2 Permission Change to allow its WiFi 6E and Bluetooth chip to retroactively work in the new Deck.

That doesn’t mean a refreshed Deck would only be rocking an upgraded Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip. Heck, it might not even have one inside, if the device’s National Radio Research Agency certification is any indication. There’s unfortunately no other information in the offing, with release dates, specs and prices still being locked down tight at Valve.

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Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2

Samsung is officially giving its line-up of Galaxy SmartTags a makeover in the form of the SmartTag 2. It’ll hit shelves on 10 October and carry the same (international) price tag as the company’s first tracker. It’s ditching the old look for an entirely new ring-shaped device that’ll probably jive with your key’s ergonomics better.

It’s not just a cosmetic overhaul. Samsung boasts more than double the battery of its last tracker, promising up to 500 days of charge on normal usage, and 700 days when confined to power-saving mode. It’s also got some new features – ones that’ll make returning the device it’s connected to easier. For example, users can add their contact information to the tag in Lost Mode, allowing the finder to scan the tag and make the necessary arrangements.

A big addition is the combination of Bluetooth and ultra-wideband (UWB) in one tracker. Previously, Samsung kept the two apart and sold them separately, making the use of UWB’s handy in-home finding abilities a hassle. The biggest change is the addition of an IP67 rating, allowing it to withstand tougher challenges when it’s lost in the great outdoors.

Samsung has yet to announce local pricing and availability.

X Premium Plus?

If you thought paying for X’s Premium service and still receiving ads was a rip-off, the service formerly known as Twitter is looking to double down on your misery and charge you more to remove ads entirely. That’ll be known as Premium Plus (no, really) and joined by two other tiers, dubbed Premium Standard and Premium Basic, each controlling the number of ads paying users would see.

That’s according to code found within the app by @aaronp613, which lists Premium Basic as having “full ads” in the For You feed, while Premium Basic only has “half ads” (a current perk of Premium) and Premium Plus, which will remove ads entirely. The “No Ads in For You” bit is notable because it means that ads found in replies will be sticking around. Since that’s how Elon’s creator payment program works, it makes sense.

At the time of writing, X has yet to confirm or deny the existence of three new Premium tiers, with the current and only Premium model costing R145/month or R1,520/year.

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Apple’s got a bunch of new iPads on the way

It’s been a minute since Apple got around to releasing some new iPads. It’s been too preoccupied with the recent release of the iPhone 15 and… that’s about it. That’s set to change with a slew of new tablets on the way, and set to launch over the coming months. Those include the new Mini, two new Airs, 11th-gen, and the long-awaited M3-kitted iPad Pro, which’ll get a release across two display sizes, as usual.

There aren’t any official release dates pencilled in yet, though we know they’ll be launching alongside iPadOS17 – meaning they’ll be released before September 2024, which is when iPadOS18 goes out to the world. There’s not much to go on, but it’s something. We’ve also got a rough idea of what to expect from the new models.

The iPad Mini 7 for instance is a shell of its former self (literally) and will instead see some new internal upgrades. There’ll be two new iPad Airs on the way – one of which might have a ‘Plus’ display – or with an improved skillset over the stock Air, though neither will be getting an updated design from the current iPad Air. As for the 11th-gen iPad, it’s getting an upgraded chipset and… not much else.

Apple has seemingly reserved its budget for the two new M3-powered iPad Pros, which don’t have any other details currently attributed to them. We’ll likely start receiving more news from Apple directly closer to or at next year’s WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference).

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What’s most remarkable about the announcement is the lack of fanfare. Samsung typically makes some sort of noise but this reveal was confined to a press release published on its own website and a brief YouTube overview of the Galaxy FE versions of the S23, Tab 9, and the new Buds FE.

Explore the Galaxy FE

Even product images for the three new devices are thin on the ground, but we do know exactly what goes into all of Samsung’s Fan Edition products for 2023. Most of the rumoured details for the Galaxy S23 FE were accurate, with a 6.4in OLED panel, Exynos 2200 (the States is getting the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1), 8GB of RAM, 128GB/256GB of storage, and a 4,500mAh battery are in the offing. A 10MP camera lives up front, while the rear camera lineup is a 50MP/12MP (ultrawide)/8MP (telephoto) effort that you’ll also find on the full Galaxy S23.

There are two models of the Galaxy Tab S9 FE coming — a stock and a Plus edition. The Tab S9 FE features a 10.9in LCD display, an 8,000mAh battery, either 6GB/128GB or 8GB/256GB of RAM/storage, and 8MP rear and 12MP front cameras. The Tab S9 FE Plus features the same camera loadout but scales up to a 12.4in LCD display, 10,090mAh battery, and 8GB/128GB  and 12GP/256GB RAM/storage options.

Then, the Galaxy FE version of Samsung’s popular Buds have arrived. Based on American pricing ($100) these should land here at about R2,000 but that’s still a guess at this point. The buds themselves will offer up to six hours on a charge, with up to 21 hours via the 479mAh charging case, but this number can be extended by turning off active noise cancellation. What seems to be missing from these Galaxy FE buds is any kind of IP rating, making them candidates for ignoring the folks in the office rather than blocking out noisy gym bros.

The only thing we don’t know is local pricing and availability but we’re waiting on that information now. Stuff was given vague hints about the Galaxy Buds FE turning up but pricing and availability were kept a secret at the time. Given how understated Samsung is being, don’t be surprised if you enter a retail store one day and they’re just… there.

It’s also perhaps not all that surprising. Samsung has made Fan Edition (or FE) versions of its headline devices for some time now. These tend to be more affordable takes on the more premium products on the block, with smartphones and tablets both being previously represented. The earbuds, though? Those are new.

Fan Edition buds

The leak via Samsung in Argentina was little more than the image above, which also identified the products in the images as the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE, and then the Galaxy Buds FE. None of these products has been officially announced yet, so when the above image was dropped online, it may have moved up announcement timelines. Just a bit.

Actual device details are still murky, though some speculation suggests that the S23 FE will feature a 6.4in display, a 4,500mAh battery, and a 50MP main camera sensor. An Exynos 2200 chipset would be in the device for South Africa (and everywhere outside of the States) and users can also expect 8GB of RAM and an IP68 rating. Otherwise, we’ve just got the photograph to go on for specific information regarding the other devices.

The same goes for a launch announcement. It’s possible that Samsung has a reveal planned for next week, on 4 October, but that’s based on a date seen on one of the leaked images of the S23 FE handset. Hardly scientific. And since, unlike its headline devices and the Unpacked timetable, Samsung’s Fan Edition gear tends to be announced when it’s announced, it’s almost impossible to make an educated guess as to when these products will become official.

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Fire Max? What did he do?

That’s because Amazon intends to launch eye-based navigation on the latest slate in its roster. The feature is called Eye Gaze and is designed to help those with mobility or speech issues navigate the tablet more effectively. As the name suggests, it’ll do this by using the front camera to track the user’s eyes.

Don’t go thinking that you’ll be able to co-opt the feature to become the fastest sniper in Fortnite, however. The list of functions is predetermined and includes making and accepting calls, controlling smart home functions, and navigating media. So you should be able to select a new series to binge on Prime Video, things like that.

Amazon fully expects that there will be some teething issues, saying that it is “still day one for this technology”. The company added that “we’re very excited about its potential”. They should be but it would probably be a decent idea for the rest of us to manage expectations. Just for a while. Eye Gaze will launch on Amazon Fire Max 11 tablets later this year as a software update.

Found in translation

Another update-based accessibility feature is headed to the company’s Echo Show range of devices in the near future. Unlike Eye Gaze, we’re fairly sure this one won’t work here at home. Echo Show devices and the Alexa app are getting the ability to transcribe calls, displaying captions on the screen.

These conversations can also be translated into one of ten languages but they’re the usual suspects. English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese are the main candidates but the list of launch countries will give you an idea of the rest of them. The feature launches later this year in Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the US, while Europe will get the call captions feature without the benefit of translation.

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Not only is the whole tablet in the doldrums, but the iPad lineup is a confusing mess. I spent a few hours earlier this year trying to make sense of the convoluted options. I always buy Apple gear from Incredible, by the way, because it offers a three-year warranty.

There is the iPad Pro (12.9 and 11in), the iPad Air (10.9in), two options for the iPad (10.9-in 10th generation and 10.2 9th-gen), and the iPad Mini (8.3in). Shew.

The whole fruit basket

The Pro models have the latest M2 processor, the Air has the M1, and the Mini has the newer A15 Bionic, which is faster than the 10th-gen iPad’s A14 and the 9th-gen’s A13. Navigating these incomparable options (it’s more like comparing pears to naartjies, if you excuse the belaboured pun) is strangely very un-Apple – which has always prided itself on simplicity.

Gurman also notes that the lineup is “confusing”. He looks at the similarly sized 11in iPad Pro and 10.9in iPad Air. “Because the Pro has ProMotion, LiDAR, an M2 chip and a second camera, it costs $200 more. But those features probably aren’t compelling enough to sway most consumers. The 10th-generation iPad, meanwhile, should probably already have replaced the $329  iPad, a holdover that still has a home button.”

I’ve left his dollar prices because they are similar in Rands I found.

Additionally, there was not much more in last year’s M2 iPad Pro update than the previous M1 model update. A list of specs is available on request if you really want to know, but I landed on the M1 model because the price difference for the M2 wasn’t worth it.

As Gurman points out, “iPad updates have been especially minor as of late”.
I agree with him that “most compelling new model in years was the low-end, 10th-generation iPad” launched last October.

Meanwhile, Pro models haven’t “seen a breakthrough update since the current design launched in 2018, and the iPad mini hasn’t been refreshed in two years”.

Part of this is Apple’s own fault, as it were. “Apple also is competing with itself, thanks to improvements in the Mac lineup. Following the company’s move to in-house chips, Macs have become more durable and cost-effective. They last longer and are speedier, eliminating the need for iPads in some cases”.

I have been trying to see if an iPad Pro 11in could be a laptop replacement for (the much-less-frequent) overseas trips to conferences. For the most part, it’s a good alternative for schlepping around cavernous conference halls and taking notes during keynotes. It has better battery life than my MacBook Pro M1 13in and is about 300g lighter as Apple’s Magic Keyboard brings the weight up to nearly 1kg. It’s also smaller and more compact.
But it is still like using a big iPhone. In most apps, you can only have one document open at a time, and the alt-tabbing between them is not as slick as a laptop.

iPad’s way forward

Gurman’s right that the “approach to iPad software continues to be perplexing. Stage Manager, which is meant to make it easier to multitask, can still be difficult to use. And Apple has been reluctant to bring more Mac-like functionality to the platform”.

But, as much as the tablet market is sluggish, Apple is still doing okay.

“Apple is still in better shape than most of the competition. It remains far and away the market leader in tablets, with 37% of shipments last quarter,” he writes. “And even though its sales are declining, most rivals are falling even faster. Xiaomi was the only major manufacturer to grow last quarter, with a 42% shipment increase, according to IDC. But that brings it to a total of just 1-million units, compared with Apple’s nearly 11-million.”

While big changes aren’t expected this year, let’s see what Apple can reveal next year.

Samsung isn’t known for making drastic changes lately unless absolutely required which is why this year’s range of tablets closely resemble those launched last year. Except for the number on the end getting bigger, obviously.

Meet the Galaxy Tab S9, Galaxy Tab S9+, and the Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra.

0% caffeine, 100% tab

This year you’re getting more or less the same deal between the three tabs, with the display size being the main difference. The flagship Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra features a 14.6in AMOLED X2 display with an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz, support for HDR10+ content, and something called Vision Booster for increased brightness. The S9+ and base S9 get all the same display features and trinkets as the S9 Ultra, only in smaller packages – 12.4in and 11in respectively.

Internal specs are also copy-pasted across the range. All three come packing the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 ‘for Galaxy’ chipset that Samsung debuted in its Galaxy S23 devices. It’s the same chipset born from Samsung’s partnership with Qualcomm and is supposed to be better than the regular SD 8 Gen 2 chipsets the chipmaker sold to everyone else. It’s an incredibly capable chip in the S23 Ultra so we’d imagine the same to be true in these tablets.

While they’ll be manufactured with a few RAM and storage options, Samsung will only bring one of them to South Africa. All three tablets sold in SA will pack 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That means we won’t be laying our hands on those 16GB RAM/1TB Galaxy Tab S9 models that other countries will have access to. 

Damn.

Nothing new means no new mistakes

One conspicuous change we did notice was that the dual rear cameras on the S9+ and S9 Ultra look like those on Samsung’s S23 smartphones. The same is true for the base S9, but it only gets one rear camera this year. Although, if losing a rear sensor is the trade-off for a better display, we’ll take it.

If a tablet is your primary device for taking photos, the photography authorities have your letter of admonishment and would like a word. If you really have no other option, and you can’t be happy just remembering the moment, you’ll have to make do with the 13MP (+8MP ultra-wide) on the tablets’ backs, with the front showing off a 12MP and 12MP ultra-wide on the S9 Ultra and S9+. The base S9 just has the 13MP shooter heading up the device’s rear, while the front is sporting a 12MP ultra-wide.

As with last year’s Galaxy Tabs, all three S9 Tabs will juice up with 45W of wired charging and an advertised 82 minutes for 0-100%. Looks like we’ll have to wait for next year to see if Samsung can catch up in the charging department.

If you’re not wanting anything too fancy, you’ll have to make do with the base S9’s 8,000mAh battery. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, you’ll have to make do with the S9+’s 10,090mAh battery. And finally, the cream of the crop, the S9 Ultra, housing an 11,200mAh battery inside.

Galaxy Tab S9 price and availability

Prospective Galaxy Tab S9 buyers must wait a little longer than the smartphone and watch buyers before they’re able to pick up their new toy. Samsung reckons the new Tabs should be arriving at some point in September this year. At least that gives you time to adjust your finances and find a buyer for your kidney. When they do eventually land, the Galaxy Tab S9 series will cost R25,000 for the base model, R28,000 for the S9+, and R33,000 for the S9 Ultra.