Apple today announced its new iPad Pro, which features the A12Z Bionic chip, which Apple says makes the iPad Pro faster and more powerful than most Windows PC laptops.
The new iPad Pro also adds a new Ultra Wide camera, studio-quality mics, and a new LiDAR Scanner that Apple says delivers cutting-edge depth-sensing capabilities, opening up more pro workflows and supporting pro photo and video apps.
With the release of iPadOS 13.4, Apple brings trackpad support to iPad, giving customers an all-new way to interact with their iPad. The trackpad experience from macOS hasn’t simply been copied for the iPad Pro but has been completely reimagined for iPad. As users move their finger across the trackpad, the pointer transforms to highlight user interface elements. Multi-Touch gestures on the trackpad make it fast and easy to navigate the entire system without users ever lifting their hand.
A new Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro is also available, offering a floating design with smooth angle adjustment, a backlit keyboard and trackpad. Apple claims the Magic Keyboard delivers the best typing experience ever on iPad. The Magic Keyboard features USB-C pass-through charging, keeping the USB-C port on iPad Pro free for accessories including external drives and displays. The Magic Keyboard will be available for purchase in May.
“The new iPad Pro introduces advanced technologies never before available in mobile computing,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Combining the most advanced mobile display with powerful performance, pro cameras, pro audio, the breakthrough LiDAR Scanner and new Magic Keyboard with Trackpad, this is another huge leap forward for iPad. There’s no other device in the world like the new iPad Pro and we think our customers are going to love it.”
“We’re making iPad even more capable and versatile by bringing trackpad support to iPadOS,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “We carefully considered the best way to integrate trackpad use into a touch-first environment while retaining everything our customers know and love about iPad. We’re thrilled to bring this new way of interacting with iPad to the millions of people using iPadOS today.”
iPad Pro gets another performance boost with the new A12Z Bionic chip. The eight-core GPU in the A12Z Bionic, along with an enhanced thermal architecture and tuned performance controllers, gives iPad Pro the highest performance ever in an iPad. It is combined with the eight-core CPU and the powerful Neural Engine, which enables next-generation apps.
Other improvements include battery life that lasts up to 10 hours, faster Wi-Fi connectivity, and gigabit-class LTE that’s 60% faster with support for more LTE bands than any other tablet.
The new iPad Pro’s edge-to-edge Liquid Retina display — in both 11-inch and 12.9-inch sizes — featuring P3 wide color support. ProMotion technology automatically adjusts the display refresh rate up to 120 Hz for ultra-smooth scrolling and responsiveness.
The Pro camera system on iPad Pro features a 12MP Wide camera for capturing stunning photos and 4K video, and now includes a 10MP Ultra Wide camera that zooms out two times to capture a much wider field of view.
iPad Pro now features five studio-quality microphones for capturing super clean audio and the quietest details and delivers an immersive sound experience with four-speaker audio that automatically adjusts to any orientation, no matter how it is held.
The iPad Pro’s new LiDAR Scanner enables capabilities never before possible on any mobile device. The LiDAR Scanner measures the distance to surrounding objects up to 5 meters away, works both indoors and outdoors, and operates at the photon level at nano-second speeds.
Pricing and Availability
- The new iPad Pro is available to order starting today on apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 30 countries and regions, including the US. iPad Pro will be available in stores starting next week.
- The new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro will be available in silver and space gray finishes. A starting configuration of 128GB offers pro customers more room for their apps and content, along with 256GB, 512GB and 1TB configurations.
- The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $949 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model, and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $999 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $1,149 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model from apple.com.
- Education pricing is available to current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff and homeschool teachers of all grade levels. The new 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $749 (US) and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $899 (US). The second-generation Apple Pencil is available for $119 (US) and the new Smart Keyboard Folio for the new iPad Pro is available for $159 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $179 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro for college students. The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro will be available for college students at $279 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $329 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. For more information visit: apple.com/us-hed/shop.
- iPadOS 13.4 with trackpad support will be available on March 24 as a free software update for all iPad Pro models, iPad Air 2 and later, iPad 5th generation and later, and iPad mini 4 and later.
- Trackpad support will be available on any iPad running iPadOS 13.4, and work with Apple’s Magic Mouse 2, Magic Trackpad 2 and the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro. Third-party mice connected over Bluetooth or USB are also supported.
- The Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro will be available for purchase in May for $299 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $349 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with layouts for over 30 languages, including simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.
- The second-generation Apple Pencil for iPad Pro is available for $129 (US). The new Smart Keyboard Folio for the new iPad Pro is available in space gray for $179 (US) for the 11-inch iPad Pro and $199 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with layouts for over 30 languages, including simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.
- Customers in the US can trade in their eligible device for an Apple Store Gift Card or credit toward their purchase. If the device isn’t eligible for credit, Apple will recycle it for free.
- When customers buy online from Apple, they can make their iPad and Apple Pencil (2nd generation) their own with free engraving.
- Customers get 3 percent Daily Cash when they buy iPad from Apple with Apple Card.
- Customers can extend their limited warranty with AppleCare+ and get 24/7 priority access to technical support.
- Every customer who buys iPad from Apple can enjoy free Personal Setup in-store or online, and receive guidance on how to customize their iPad, set up email, find apps from the App Store and more.
