News
Apple Just Announced Two New iPad Pro Devices
The Cupertino company has also updated the Apple TV and added new functionality to the Apple Pencil.
In a surprise product announcement yesterday, Apple revealed two new iPad Pro models. The 12.9 and 11-inch tablets have been updated with the company’s latest M2 chip, with support for new Apple Pencil functionality, plus other minor updates.
The announcement was much more low-key than the highly publicized iPhone launches, with CEO Tim Cook teasing the new products before the official press release was made public. The launch’s subtlety likely reflects that these new products are more refreshes than radical redesigns.
M2 iPad Pro
The two new iPad Pro models feature Apple’s M2 processors, which the company claims will make the tablets 15% faster overall, with a 35% improvement in graphics performance. Overall, the new iPad Pros have only minor updates over the older models, with USB-C ports replacing lightning connectivity and Wi-Fi 6E making an appearance.
One notable update comes in the form of updated Apple Pencil behavior. A new hover mode allows the stylus to be detected when it’s around a half inch (12mm) away from the screen. Hover mode is aimed at artists, as it allows the pencil to be used as a finely-tuned brush, with the iPad showing a dot where the tip will touch down, allowing artists to achieve new levels of precision.
Pricing & Availability
If you’re an owner of the outgoing iPad Pro, these updates probably aren’t going to be big enough to tempt you to upgrade. However, for anyone looking to pick up a new tablet, the 12.9 and 11-inch iPad Pros are available to preorder right now, with delivery and general release in stores happening on October 26th. Prices for the 11-inch model start at $799, with the bigger 12.9-inch device coming in at $1,099.
Apple TV
As for the new Apple TV, fans of the premium streaming device will be able to pick between two models on the November 4th release date: One with a Wi-Fi connection ($129) and another with Ethernet ($149). The Wi-Fi version comes with 64GB of storage, while the Ethernet model bumps this to 128GB. Both models offer 4K visuals and Dolby sound and use Apple’s A15 chip.
News
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
Foreign visitors will be the first users to benefit, but whether Syria’s own banks and cardholders follow is still an open question.
Visa is returning to Syria. Its first live international card transaction in the country was a test rather than a launch, and the milestone event ran through a Lebanese bank.
The acquirer (the bank on the merchant’s side of a card payment) was Fransabank Lebanon, with Paymera as the other named partner. Nadim Moujaes, who heads a Fransabank Group subsidiary, describes the test as both the culmination of “longstanding efforts to link Syria back to international payment networks” and “the first step in a larger path”.
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa makes the first electronic payment in Syria using a @Visa card at a store in Damascus, following the lifting of US sanctions on Syria. pic.twitter.com/lpAN7nQ6Fc
— Tech Magazine (@TechMGZN) August 27, 2026
“We are excited to have successfully tested live transactions today as we plan to enable international visitors to use their Visa cards while in Syria,” says Leila Serhan, Visa’s senior vice president and group country manager for the North Africa, Levant and Pakistan region. Although a significant first step, that plan doesn’t come with a hard date for when a visitor’s card will work normally.
Mohammed Safwat Raslan, governor of the Central Bank of Syria, says the test paves the way for international card acceptance in Syria and that maintaining strong compliance, risk management and operational controls will remain essential. Serhan likewise stresses that Visa has worked within applicable legal, regulatory and compliance requirements. For a test transaction, it seems there was a great deal of attention paid to the rules, with the entire operation being carefully managed.
Also Read: Lebanon’s 5G Era Begins With 150 Stations And A $1M Budget
The test is the latest step in a sequence that began in December 2025, when Visa announced a strategic roadmap to support Syria’s integration into the global digital economy. In February 2026 it hosted its first industry gathering of banks, ecosystem partners and policymakers in Damascus and, the same month, signed an agreement with Syria’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in San Francisco.
Michel Kattouah, Paymera’s CEO, called the test “the return of international card acceptance,” but while that’s positive news, there’s no word yet on when a Syrian bank will issue a Visa card to a Syrian customer.
Visa’s Return To Syria Starts With A Test And A Bank In Lebanon
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