Yesterday, at its launch event, Apple announced the most powerful iPad Pro models yet. On top of featuring the Apple-designed M1 chip that delivers a massive leap in performance, one of the models comes will the all-new Micro LED display. Moreover, thanks to the new chipset, the camera specifications have been bumped up. Both tablets are hardcore performance-driven devices designed for enhancing productivity.
Design and Display
In terms of design, the new tablets don’t come with a massive overhaul. They still come with an iPhone-like camera bump and a minimalist paint job.
However, as far as the display is concerned, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is making heads turn with the new Liquid Retina XDR display that comes with Apple’s $5,000 Pro Display XDR-like display. It has been designed with mini-LED tech that uses over 10,000 LEDs across the back of the display.
The Liquid Retina XDR display features up to 1000 nits of full-screen brightness, 1600 nits of peak brightness, and a phenomenal 1 million-to-1 contrast ratio to enhance creative workflows
The 11-inch model, on the other hand, comes with last year’s Liquid Retina with 600 nits peak brightness. Both models come with support for 120 Hz refresh rate, ProMotion, True Tone, and P3 wide color support along with HDR and Dolby Vision content.
Internals and Storage
The highlight of the new iPad Pro models is the M1 chip that takes the performance of iPad Pro to an entirely new level. It is an 8-core CPU that can deliver up to 50 percent faster CPU performance than A12Z Bionic. It sports an 8-core GPU delivering up to 40 percent faster GPU performance.
According to Apple, this combination of CPU and graphics performance on iPad Pro makes it the most powerful tablet on the market.
Other features include a next-generation 16-core Apple Neural Engine, an advanced image signal processor (ISP), a unified, high-bandwidth memory architecture with up to 16 GB of memory, 2x faster storage, and up to 2 TB onboard storage.
Since the new chipset shares the same fundamental architecture as A-series chips, users will get iPad OS optimization options similar to previous iPad Pro models.
Moreover, even though the new tablets can rival some desktops in terms of performance, the iPad Pros are still mobile products and they now have optional 5G connectivity, a first for the series. They also come with support for Thunderbolt and USB 4. It supports 10Gbps Ethernet and opens up an ecosystem of high-performance accessories, like faster external storage and even higher resolution external displays, including the Pro Display XDR.
Cameras
At the back, the iPad Pro 12.9-inch and 11-inch models offer 12 MP main and 10 MP ultrawide modules along with a LiDAR scanner. The main improvements come from the faster ISP and NPU found inside the M1 chipset. They enable Smart HDR 3 and in low-light, the LiDAR helps with autofocus. The tablet can also insert digital imagery as a background to create impressive virtual environments.
On the front, they offer an updated TrueDepth camera with a 12MP sensor and an ultrawide-angle lens featuring a 122 degrees field of view. The camera enables Center Stage that uses the much larger field of view on the new front camera and the machine learning capabilities of M1 to recognize and keep users centered in the frame.
As users move around, Center Stage automatically pans to keep them in the shot. When others join in, the camera detects them too, and smoothly zooms out to fit everyone into the view and make sure they are part of the conversation.
Battery and Pricing
As usual, Apple has not unveiled the exact battery specifications of the device. However, the company claims that both iPad Pro models provide an all-day battery life.
The pricing details are as follows:
| Model | iPad Pro 12.9 | iPad Pro 11 |
| 128 GB | $1100 | $800 |
| 256 GB | $1200 | $900 |
| 512 GB | $1400 | $1100 |
| 1 TB | $1800 | $1500 |
| 2 TB | $2200 | $1900 |
| +5G | +$200 | +$200 |
Specifications
| Specifications | iPad Pro 12.9 | iPad Pro 11 |
| CPU | Octa-core | Octa-core |
| GPU | 8-Core GPU by Apple | 8-Core GPU by Apple |
| Chipset | Apple M1 | Apple M1 |
| OS | iPad OS 14.5 | iPad OS 14.5 |
| Networks | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G |
| Display | Mini-LED, 12.9 inches, 120 Hz, 1000 nits of full-screen brightness, 1600 nits of peak brightness, HDR, ProMotion, True Tone, and P3 wide color support | IPS LCD, 11 inches, 1080 x 2400 pixels resolution, 120 Hz, 600 nits of full-screen brightness, HDR, ProMotion, True Tone, and P3 wide color support |
| Memory | Upto 16 GB/ Up to 2 TB | Upto 16 GB/ Up to 2 TB |
| Camera | Primary: 12 MP + 10 MP + LiDAR | Primary: 12 MP + 10 MP + LiDAR |
| Selfie: 12 MP + Ultrawide | Selfie: 12 MP + Ultrawide | |
| Connectivity | LTE, USB Type-C, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt | LTE, USB Type-C, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Thunderbolt |
| Fingerprint scanner | Yes | Yes |
| Battery | All-day | All-day |
