Apple announced the 2024 iPad Pro alongside the updated iPad Air and Apple Pencil Pro during its “Let Loose” event today.
This isn’t a minor refresh; it’s a significant leap forward. The new iPad Pro boasts a powerhouse M4 chip, a revolutionary Ultra Retina XDR display, and a sleek, redesigned form factor that’s both thinner and lighter than ever before. It promises to supercharge your workflow, unleash your creativity, and redefine the mobile experience.
Thinner, lighter and faster 2024 iPad Pro announced at “Let Loose”
“iPad Pro empowers a broad set of pros and is perfect for anyone who wants the ultimate iPad experience — with its combination of the world’s best displays, extraordinary performance of our latest M-series chips, and advanced accessories — all in a portable design. Today, we’re taking it even further with the new, stunningly thin and light iPad Pro, our biggest update ever to iPad Pro,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “With the breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display, the next-level performance of M4, incredible AI capabilities, and support for the all-new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard, there’s no device like the new iPad Pro.”
Design and colors
The iPad Pro, Apple’s most advanced and premium tablet, comes in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes. Apple boasts that the new models are its thinnest yet, measuring just 5.1mm thick. The enclosure is made from 100% recycled aluminum, making it not only thinner but also lighter.
The 2024 iPad Pro models are available in Silver and Space Black colorways.
Display
The new iPad Pro introduces the Ultra Retina XDR, a revolutionary display technology that delivers an unmatched viewing experience. It utilizes two OLED panels working together (tandem OLED) to achieve phenomenal brightness across the entire screen. This translates to an incredible 1,000 nits for both standard (SDR) and HDR content, with peak brightness reaching a staggering 1,600 nits for HDR. This level of extreme dynamic range surpasses any other tablet on the market.
Beyond brightness, the Ultra Retina XDR offers unparalleled precision. Thanks to tandem OLED technology, each pixel’s color and luminance can be controlled in a fraction of a millisecond. This translates to sharper, more lifelike images with incredibly detailed shadows and bright highlights. Whether you’re editing photos or watching videos, the display delivers exceptional responsiveness for a smoother experience.
For professionals working in demanding environments or requiring precise color accuracy, the new iPad Pro offers a first-of-its-kind nano-texture glass option. This innovative technology uses a microscopic etching process to maintain image quality and contrast while significantly reducing glare from ambient light.
Performance
The new iPad Pro takes a massive leap in performance thanks to the all-new M4 chip. Apple claims it delivers up to 50% faster CPU performance compared to the previous M2 chip. This translates to smoother multitasking, faster app launches, and quicker processing of demanding tasks.
Beyond raw speed, the M4 chip boasts significant improvements in graphics performance. It introduces hardware ray tracing and mesh shading, enabling up to 4x faster rendering for graphics-intensive applications. This is ideal for tasks like 3D modeling, video editing with complex effects, and high-end gaming.
The M4 chip also features a powerful 16-core Neural Engine, offering a significant boost to AI capabilities. This translates to improved performance in tasks like object recognition, image processing, and machine learning.
The M4 chip architecture includes a new CPU with up to 10 cores. This configuration combines up to four high-performance cores for demanding tasks and six efficiency cores for everyday use, resulting in a balance between power and battery life. Additionally, both performance and efficiency cores benefit from next-generation Machine Learning (ML) accelerators for faster AI processing.
Camera
Using AI, the new iPad Pro automatically identifies documents right in the Camera app. 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.
Additionally, the new iPad Pro features a 12-megapixel front-facing camera with Adaptive True Tone flash for better video calls and document scanning. The front-facing camera has been moved to the side of the device, making it more convenient for video calls and conferencing.
Connectivity
The new iPad Pro supports the latest connectivity standards, including Wi-Fi 6 and 5G. This ensures faster download and upload speeds, as well as improved network performance, whether you’re at home or on the go.
The iPad Pro is also equipped with a high-performance USB-C connector that supports Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4, providing fast wired connectivity of up to 40Gb/s. Thunderbolt technology enables compatibility with a wide range of high-performance accessories, such as external displays like the Pro Display XDR, operating at its full 6K resolution, and external storage devices. All these accessories can be connected using high-performance cables and docks.
Accessories
The new iPad Pro is compatible with a range of accessories, including the Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil Pro. The Magic Keyboard features retro-illuminated keys and function keys, while the Apple Pencil Pro offers new gesture controls and Find My capabilities.
Cost and availability
The new iPad Pro is available in 11-inch and 13-inch sizes, with prices starting at $799. It will be available for purchase starting next week.
