After more than 18 months, Apple has finally released a new iPad Pro.
It’s the longest the company has ever gone between generations, but it might well have been worth the wait.
There are still two sizes, with the existing 11-inch model joined by a slightly larger 13-inch variant, though both benefit from the eye-catching performance upgrade.
Here’s everything you need to know about Apple’s new generation of premium tablets – including how to buy one.
When was the new iPad Pro released?
Apple officially announced the new iPad Pro alongside the iPad Air, Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro at the company’s ‘Let Loose’ event on 7 May 2024.
It’s available to buy now, having been released on 15 May 2024.
If you don’t want to go direct, the device is also available from the likes of Amazon and Currys in the UK and Amazon and Best Buy in the US.
How much does the new iPad Pro cost?
As high-end tablets with cutting-edge chipsets, neither of the new iPad Pro models come cheap. Here’s how much you’ll have to pay at launch:
- 11-inch, 256GB storage – £999/$999
- 11-inch, 512GB storage – £1,199/$1,199
- 11-inch, 1TB storage – £1,599/$1,599
- 11-inch, 2TB storage – £1,999/$1,999
- 13-inch, 256GB storage – £1,299/$1,299
- 13-inch, 512GB storage – £1,499/$1,499
- 13-inch, 1TB storage – £1,899/$1,899
- 13-inch, 2TB storage – £2,299/$2,299
For context, the starting price of 11-inch model is £100/$200 more than the equivalent 2022 model, while the 13-inch version is £50/$200 more than the 12.9-inch model from 2022.
Apple
What specs and features does the new iPad Pro have?
At the start of its presentation on the iPad Pro, Apple categorised upgrades into four key areas: design, display, performance and accessories. It’s worth looking at each in more detail.
Design
Despite a big performance upgrade, Apple has made both new iPad Pro models thinner and lighter than before.
The 11-inch version is 5.3mm thick and 0.44kg, while the 13-inch model is even thinner at 5.1mm and only slightly lighter at 0.58kg.
This makes them the thinnest device Apple has ever made, though the company wants to emphasis that both models are “just as strong as before”.
The aluminium chassis is available in two colours – Silver and Space Black – and uses 100% recycled materials in the enclosures.
Display
Apple
Apple is calling its iPad Pro display ‘Ultra Retina HDR’, but the big thing you need to know here is that it’s moved to OLED.
This is the first iPad to ever use an OLED panel, which brings the usual benefits of bright highlights and deep blacks.
But the version on the iPad Pro is compromises of two OLED screens placed on top of one another, which Apple says enables even higher brightness. The company claims you can expect up to 1000 nits of full screen brightness for both SDR and HDR content, with a peak HDR brightness of 1600 nits.
In terms of refresh rate, the iPad Pro sticks with an adaptive 120Hz.
Performance
The iPad Pro is the first Apple device to get the new M4 chip that launched alongside it.
This is surprising on a couple of levels. First, it means the Mac range that Apple Silicon has traditionally been designed for will have to wait, and that the iPad Pro is technically the most advanced Apple device you can buy.
Second, it means the iPad Pro has skipped the M3 range entirely, given the 2022 model was powered by M2.
Moving to 3nm technology is one of the reasons Apple has been able to make the iPad Pro models so thin, while still delivering improvements to performance and power efficiency.
Compared to the M2, Apple says you can get up to 1.5x faster CPU performance while using half the power, which should benefit battery life. The latter was a weakness of the previous 12.9-inch model, so this is welcome.
Apple
Accessories
Alongside the iPad Pro and iPad Air, Apple launched two new accessories: a Magic Keyboard (exclusive to the Pro) and Apple Pencil Pro (compatible with both).
The keyboard gets a new row of function keys and haptic feedback, which Apple says makes it feel like you’re using a MacBook.
Compared to a regular Apple Pencil, the Pro also adds haptic feedback, plus a new hover mode and the ability to roll or squeeze the stylus for customisable (available to app developers) options. It also now supports Apple’s Find My network, allowing you to locate it if you’ve lost it.
Apple briefly mentioned iPadOS at the event, but we’re almost certain to hear more about it at WWDC 2024 in June. The new iPad Pro and iPad Air are likely to rank among the best iPads, but will they be some of the best tablets you can buy? Time will tell.