The new iPad Pro is the new MacBook Air. Apple made a claim that it is more powerful than 92% of laptops out there, and it runs the full-blown versions of Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk, AutoCAD. it can also, be easily transformed into a laptop-like device with a keyboard or even a desktop with an external monitor. Let me take you on a review of the Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9.
Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 Review; Some Key Features
There is not much to really talk about, but let us start with the new screens. Having larger bezels, Apple fit in larger screen to the same body on the Apple iPad Pro 11, and the same screen to a smaller body on the iPad Pro 12.9. The two new tablets are available in 11-inch and 12.9-inch, in both cases with super-sharp Liquid Retina displays with rounded corners.
As the bezels are slimmed down, Apple dropped the Touch ID sensor in favor of Face ID. An additional benefit is that the Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 tablet now rotates their screen based on your face rather than relying on the sometimes unreliable accelerometer.
Talking about the Pencil, it now attaches to the tablet with magnets and instantly begins charging wirelessly. You do not have to plug it into the Lightning port. Actually, there is no Lightning port at all.
The Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 have a USB-C port, which functions the same way it does on any MacBook. You can now hook up an external monitor, a DSLR, or even your phone with a USB-C to Lighting cable, just like a MacBook.
The new tablets come with a new Apple A12X bionic chipset, which is a proper beast and can handle desktop tasks with ease. It still came with an octa-core processor (4 big, 4 small), but now all 8 cores can run at full throttle. The GPU has been upgraded to a 7-core design. Compared to previous iPad Pros, you get 35% faster single-core and 90% (!) faster multi-core performance.
The Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 was also demoed handling an insane 3GB PSD file with 170 layers and 12,000 x 12,000px resolution – big enough to print on a huge poster. But why print when Adobe’s Project Aero can turn it into an interactive AR presentation? Back to Photoshop, the UI may have been fully reimagined for touch (and Pencil control), but the engine is a port of the full desktop app. The Pencil now supports a double tap gesture that switches between tools in Photoshop and does whatever developers want it to in other apps.
That 3GB file takes up plenty of storage, but thanks to a new memory controller chip, the Pros can have up to 1TB of fast storage. The base models still start at 64GB, though and upgrades are not really cheap.
The other high-profile accessory for the new Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 is the Folio keyboard. It attaches via magnets again and can hold the tablet at two angles – one for your lap, and one for the desk.
In terms of audio, the new Apple iPad Pro tablets feature four speakers again, but this time they are tweeter/woofer pairs. And there are five microphones so those group FaceTime calls (new in iOS 12.1) will sound crystal clear.
Apple iPad Pro 11 Specification
NETWORK | |
| Technology | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE |
| 2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
| CDMA 800 / 1900 | |
| 3G bands | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 |
| CDMA2000 1xEV-DO | |
| 4G bands | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 11(1500), 12(700), 13(700), 14(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 21(1500), 25(1900), 26(850), 29(700), 30(2300), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500), 46, 66(1700/2100), 71(600) |
| Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (4CA) Cat16 1024/150 Mbps, EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps |
| GPRS | Yes |
| EDGE | Yes |
LAUNCH | |
| Announced | 2018, October |
| Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2018, November |
BODY | |
| Dimensions | 247.6 x 178.5 x 5.9 mm (9.75 x 7.03 x 0.23 in) |
| Weight | 468 g (1.03 lb) |
| SIM | Nano-SIM/ Electronic SIM card (Apple e-SIM) |
| – Stylus support (Bluetooth integration; magnetic) |
DISPLAY | |
| Type | LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Size | 11.0 inches, 366.5 cm2 (~82.9% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 1668 x 2388 pixels (~265 ppi density) |
| Multitouch | Yes |
| Protection | Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating |
| – Wide color gamut display – True-tone display – 120 Hz |
PLATFORM | |
| OS | iOS 12 |
| Chipset | Apple A12X Bionic (7 nm) |
| CPU | Octa-core (4x Vortex + 4x Tempest) |
| GPU | Apple GPU (7-core graphics) |
MEMORY | |
| Card slot | No |
| Internal | 64/256/512 GB or 1 TB |
MAIN CAMERA | |
| Single | 12 MP, f/1.8, 1/3″, PDAF |
| Features | Quad-LED dual-tone flash, HDR |
| Video | 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@240fps |
SELFIE CAMERA | |
| Single | 7 MP, f/2.2, 32mm (standard) |
| Features | Face detection, HDR, panorama |
| Video | 1080p@30fps |
SOUND | |
| Alert types | Vibration; Ringtones |
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers (4 speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| – Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic |
COMMS | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE, EDR |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS (Wi‑Fi + Cellular model only) |
| Radio | No |
| USB | 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector; magnetic connector |
FEATURES | |
| Sensors | Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer |
| Messaging | iMessage, Email, Push Email, IM |
| Browser | HTML5 (Safari) |
| – Siri natural language commands and dictation – iCloud cloud service – MP3/WAV/AAX+/AIFF/Apple Lossless player – MP4/H.264 player – Audio/video/photo editor – Document editor – Power Bank/Reverse charging |
BATTERY | |
| Non-removable Li-Po battery (29.37 Wh) |
MISC | |
| Colors | Silver, Space Gray |
| Price | About 880 EUR |
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 Specifications
NETWORK | |
| Technology | GSM / CDMA / HSPA / EVDO / LTE |
| 2G bands | GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
| CDMA 800 / 1900 | |
| 3G bands | HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 |
| CDMA2000 1xEV-DO | |
| 4G bands | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 11(1500), 12(700), 13(700), 14(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 21(1500), 25(1900), 26(850), 29(700), 30(2300), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500), 46, 66(1700/2100), 71(600) |
| Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (4CA) Cat16 1024/150 Mbps, EV-DO Rev.A 3.1 Mbps |
| GPRS | Yes |
| EDGE | Yes |
LAUNCH | |
| Announced | 2018, October |
| Status | Coming soon. Exp. release 2018, November |
BODY | |
| Dimensions | 280.6 x 214.9 x 5.9 mm (11.05 x 8.46 x 0.23 in) |
| Weight | 631 g (Wi-Fi), 633 g (LTE) (1.39 lb) |
| SIM | Nano-SIM/ Electronic SIM card (Apple e-SIM) |
| – Stylus support (Bluetooth integration; magnetic) |
DISPLAY | |
| Type | LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Size | 12.9 inches, 515.3 cm2 (~85.4% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Resolution | 2048 x 2732 pixels, 4:3 ratio (~265 ppi density) |
| Multitouch | Yes |
| Protection | Scratch-resistant glass, oleophobic coating |
| – Wide color gamut display – True-tone display – 120 Hz |
| PLATFORM | |
| OS | iOS 12 |
| Chipset | Apple A12X Bionic (7 nm) |
| CPU | Octa-core (4x Vortex + 4x Tempest) |
| GPU | Apple GPU (7-core graphics) |
MEMORY | |
| Card slot | No |
| Internal | 64/256/512 GB or 1 TB |
MAIN CAMERA | |
| Single | 12 MP, f/1.8, 1/3″, PDAF |
| Features | Quad-LED dual-tone flash, HDR |
| Video | 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@240fps |
SELFIE CAMERA | |
| Single | 7 MP, f/2.2, 32mm (standard) |
| Features | Face detection, HDR, panorama |
| Video | 1080p@30fps |
SOUND | |
| Alert types | Vibration; Ringtones |
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers (4 speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No |
| – Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic |
COMMS | |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE, EDR |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, QZSS (Wi‑Fi + Cellular model only) |
| Radio | No |
| USB | 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector; magnetic connector |
FEATURES | |
| Sensors | Face ID, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, barometer |
| Messaging | iMessage, Email, Push Email, IM |
| Browser | HTML5 (Safari) |
| – Siri natural language commands and dictation – iCloud cloud service – MP3/WAV/AAX+/AIFF/Apple Lossless player – MP4/H.264 player – Audio/video/photo editor – Document editor – Power Bank/Reverse charging |
BATTERY | |
| Non-removable Li-Po battery (36.71 Wh) |
MISC | |
| Colors | Silver, Space Gray |
| Price | About 1100 EUR |
Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 Price and Availability
The Apple iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 are available for pre-order starting from today, and shipment starts from November 7, 2018. Versions available are Wi-Fi only and LTE (with nanoSIM and eSIM), Both come with a fast 18W charger inside the box.
The Apple iPad Pro 11 inch model price starts at $800 (which increases to $1,550 for 1TB storage). The 12.9 inch model price starts at $1.000 (and increases up to $1,750 for 1TB). You need to add an extra $150 to those prices if you want an LTE version.
The Apple iPad Pro European prices starts at €880 and €1,100 for the 11 inch and 12.9 inch models respectively. LTE is an extra €170. Note that storage choices are pretty granular: 64GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB.
The new Smart Folio case is $180/€200 for the 11 inch model and $200/€220 for the 12.9 inch one. The second generations Pencil will cost you extra $130/€135.
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