Apple's new iPad Pro has the M1 chip, 5G, and 12.9in Liquid Retina XDR display
Apple has certainly been busy lately. At today’s 'Spring Forward' event the tech giant took the wraps off an updated Apple TV 4K, a super-thin iMac, Podcast Subscriptions, AirTag, its Tile-like item tracker, and a new purple finish for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini.
For many people though, these hardware events are mostly about the iPad, and Apple certainly didn’t disappoint here, revealing a new iPad Pro.
The addition of the Apple-designed 8-core M1 chip gives the iPad Pro a massive performance boost -- up to 50 percent greater CPU speeds, according to Apple, and the 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display promises extreme dynamic range. There are also cellular models with 5G.
iPad Pro includes support for Thunderbolt too and there's an all-new Ultra Wide front camera for Center Stage, a new video call feature that automatically keeps users perfectly framed.
"The revolutionary M1 chip has been a breakthrough for the Mac, and we’re incredibly excited to bring it to iPad Pro," said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "With M1’s huge jump in performance, a groundbreaking extreme dynamic range experience on the 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display, up to 2TB of high-speed storage, Thunderbolt expansion, a four-speaker audio system, pro cameras with LiDAR Scanner, blazing-fast 5G connectivity, an amazing video-calling experience with Center Stage -- combined with the advanced features of iPadOS and a powerful pro app ecosystem all in a device users can hold in one hand -- there’s nothing else like iPad Pro."
iPad Pro is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations and in silver and space gray finishes.
Pricing for the 11in iPad Pro starts at $799 for Wi-Fi only and $999 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The 12.9in iPad Pro costs from $1,099 for Wi-Fi only and $1,299 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
The new iPad Pro is available to order beginning Friday, April 30, and available to buy from the second half of May.