Overnight, Apple revealed its new and improved iPad Pro with an OLED and an M4 chip.
This announcement didn’t come as a shock as many commentators and punters in the Apple rumour space had reported that this would be the case. Regardless, it is always good to see these rumours be true and get the product that has been hyped.
The new iPad Pro could be a laptop killer, in fact, in the presentation when SVP of hardware engineering, John Ternus was discussing the new Magic Keyboard, he said, “the entire experience feels just like using a MacBook”. And with the very MacBook-esq price, it most likely will be.
Here is everything you need to know about the Apple iPad Pro with OLED and M4 chip.
Apple iPad Pro: OLED Screen
The new iPad Pro has OLED! Apple has debuted the Ultra Retina XDR, which has tandem OLED technology. This means the iPad Pro uses two OLED panels and combines the light from both to provide full-screen brightness. Our U.S. counterparts were lucky enough to take a look at the screen.
The new iPad Pro supports 1000 nits of full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR content, and 1600 nits peak for HDR. With all this screen jargon, Apple has promised its stans that the screen will be brighter and more colourful than ever.
There is also an option for a nano-texture glass option which helps reduce glare, Apple has said it made this with its “pro users” in mind.
Apple iPad Pro: M4 Chip
Apple used this launch to reveal the M4 chip in an iPad, weird but we’ll take it. But the M4 has been built with AI use in mind but AI was only mentioned a bit, which again, is odd. The M4 is built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology. The new CPU offers up to four performance cores and now six efficiency cores, with next-generation machine learning (ML) accelerators, to deliver up to what Apple says is 1.5x faster CPU performance over M2 in the previous-generation iPad Pro.
M4 builds on the GPU architecture of M3 — the 10-core GPU includes features like dynamic caching, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, which come to iPad for the first time. Coupled with higher unified memory bandwidth, Apple said pro rendering apps like Octane will see up to 4x faster performance than M2.
Apple said that compared to the M2, the M4 can deliver the same performance using just half the power, and compared to the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop (hello PC shade). The M4 can deliver the same performance using just a quarter of the power. A new advanced Media Engine includes support for AV1 decode, providing more power-efficient playback of high-resolution video experiences from streaming services.
AI and M4
In terms of AI capabilities, the M4 is reportedly capable of 38 trillion operations per second, which is 60x faster than Apple’s first Neural Engine in the A11 Bionic chip. Apple called it the iPad Pro “an outrageously powerful device for AI”. With iPad Pro with M4, Apple said users can perform AI-enabled task faster and once again threw some shade at PC capabilities.
iPadOS also has advanced frameworks like Core ML that make it easy for developers to tap into the Neural Engine to deliver phenomenal AI features locally, including running powerful diffusion and generative AI models, with great performance on the device. iPad Pro also supports cloud-based solutions, enabling users to run powerful productivity and creative apps that tap into the power of AI, such as Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Adobe Firefly.
If you got lost in all that technical jargon, the M4 is very powerful and supports AI functionality.
Apple iPad Pro: The thinnest iPad yet
Let’s move on to the look of the iPad Pro, Apple said this is the thinnest Apple product yet, thinner than the iPod Nano, which is kinda cool.
The 11-inch model is just 5.3 mm thin, and the 13-inch model is even thinner at a 5.1 mm, with Apple saying both models are just as strong as the previous design.
The 11-inch model weighs less than 500 grams, and the 13-inch model is more than 100 grams lighter than its predecessor. The new iPad Pro is available in silver and space black both with 100 percent recycled aluminium enclosures. So nothing new on the colour front.
Apple iPad Pro: Cameras
The Apple iPad Pro has a 12MP back camera and now features a new adaptive True Tone flash that enhances document scanning on the new iPad Pro. Out of all the features that was announced this morning, this was the most impressive to me for some reason. Using AI, the new iPad Pro automatically identifies documents right in the Camera app, and if a shadow is in the way, it instantly takes multiple photos with the new adaptive flash, stitching the scan together for a dramatically better scan.
On the front, the TrueDepth camera system moves to the landscape location on the new iPad Pro, it has an ultra-wide 12MP camera.
Apple iPad Pro: Other bits and pieces
iPad Pro includes a high-performance USB-C connector with support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4. The iPad Pro supports Wi-Fi 6E for super-fast Wi-Fi connections for pro workflows on the go. There is the usual Wi-Fi + cellular models with 5G. The cellular models of the new iPad Pro are activated with eSIM.
Apple iPad Pro: Accessories
Along with the iPad Pro the new Apple Pencil Pro and updated Magic Keyboard were revealed too.
Apple Pencil Pro has a new sensor in the barrel that can sense a user’s squeeze, bringing up a tool palette to quickly switch tools, line weights, and colours. It has a custom haptic engine that provides feedback to users.
It has a built-in gyroscope where rotating the barrel changes the orientation of the shaped pen and brush tools, just like pen and paper. Apple Pencil hover helps users visualise the orientation of a tool before making a mark.
The Magic Keyboard is thinner and lighter than before and has two colours that match the iPad Pro models. It comes with a new function row to mirror a MacBook Air or Pro. It comes with an aluminium palm rest and responsive trackpad.
Apple iPad Pro: Pricing and Availability
The new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro will be available in silver and space black finishes in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations. These models can be pre ordered now.
The 11-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi model: $1,699.
The 11-inch iPro Pro Wi-Fi and cellular model: $2,049.
The 13-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi model: $2,199
The 13-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi and cellular model: $2,549.
Image: Apple