In a rather surprising turn of events, the 2021 iPad Pro had a change of heart at Apple’s ‘Spring Loaded’ event. Tim Cook jumped and broke through windows, stole the M1 chip from a secret Apple lab, and experimented with the iPad Pro to see the end results. And guess what? It worked. The next-generation iPad Pro takes a giant leap with a better display, better CPU, GPU, camera, and more. Let’s take a look at all the best iPad Pro features.
Best 2021 iPad Pro Features
Let’s start the list with the biggest head-turning feature of the new iPad Pro.
1. New M1 Chip
We all have experienced the capabilities of the M1 chip on the Macbook Air and Macbook Pro. Apple is bringing the same M1 CPU to the iPad lineup starting with the iPad Pro. iPad Pro already had the industry-leading performance thanks to the A-series CPU and with M1 architecture, it’s only going to get better and widen the gap with rivals. Let’s talk about some eye-popping numbers.
The 8-core CPU design features the fastest CPU cores in low-power silicon — delivering up to 50 percent faster CPU performance than A12Z Bionic. Expect to see a 40% performance gain in the GPU department as well.
2. Liquid Retina XDR Display
Apple borrowed the display tech from the Pro Display XDR for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. The new Liquid Retina XDR display brings the stunning screen of the Pro Display XDR to the 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
The new mini-LED display panel uses over 10,000 LEDs across the entire back of the display resulting in 1,000 nits of full-screen brightness, 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and an impressive million-to-one contrast ratio.
The usual goodies such as ProMotion, True Tone, and P3 wide color support with HDR and Dolby Vision remain as before. Do remember that the Liquid display is only available on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro model and not on the 11-inch one.
3. 5G Support
iPad Pro offers the broadest 5G coverage worldwide. iPad Pro models in the US support millimeter wave, the higher frequency version of 5G, allowing it to reach speeds up to 4Gbps. iPad Pro also features support for eSIM, making it easy to find a network and sign up for a 5G data plan on the spot.
Read: 24-inch M1 iMac: Top 10 Features to Know
4. Thunderbolt Support
iPad Pro finally take a much-needed leap with Thunderbolt support. Support for Thunderbolt and USB 4 makes the USB-C port on iPad Pro the fastest, most versatile port ever on an iPad, with 4x more bandwidth for wired connections than the previous iPad Pro — up to 40Gbps.
Thunderbolt supports 10Gbps Ethernet and opens up a massive ecosystem of high-performance accessories, like faster external storage and even higher resolution external displays, including the Pro Display XDR at full 6K resolution.
5. Improved Cameras
The TrueDepth camera system on iPad Pro features an all-new 12MP Ultra Wide front camera designed specifically for iPad, enabling Center Stage, a new experience for video calls.
Center Stage 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.
The ISP and Neural Engine in M1 unlock even more capability from the pro camera system, bringing support for Smart HDR 3 for the first time to iPad Pro. And in low-light conditions, the ISP and LiDAR Scanner quickly and accurately focus images and videos to capture incredible details from almost no light at all.
6. Higher Storage Variant
The iPad Pro now supports up to 2TB of storage space and 16GB of unified memory, perfectly suitable for professional and power users out there.
7. Magic Keyboard in White
The Magic keyboard now comes in a new white color. The keyboard offers a better typing experience with backlit keys and a floating design.
2021 iPad Pro Price and Availability
The new 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro will be available in silver and space gray finishes. iPad Pro is available in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations.
The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $999 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model, and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,099 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $1,299 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
You can pre-order the new iPad Pro from April 30 and it will be available to purchase from the second half of May.
