2020 iPad Pro lacks Apple's U1 chip, report says
After weeks of speculation and claims to the contrary, a report on Monday supposedly confirms Apple did not integrate its U1 Ultra Wideband chip in the 2020 iPad Pro.
Citing a "little birdie," Daring Fireball's John Gruber confirmed "there is no U1 chip in the new iPad Pro." The reported validation from a reputable insider seemingly snuffs weeks of back and forth on the subject.
Introduced with iPhone 11 last year, the U1 enables UWB features like directional AirDrop and was expected to see integration in subsequent Apple devices. Indeed, 9to5Mac in March claimed to have discovered evidence of an iPad Pro with U1 chip in a then-current iOS 13.4 beta release.
Apple itself did not mention the U1 in iPad Pro's press release or subsequent marketing materials, including a webpage detailing the tablet's technical specifications. As Gruber writes, "[I]f there were one, Apple would have told us so."
An initial hardware teardown conducted by iFixit found no trace of the UWB silicon, and a final de-shielding of the iPad Pro's logic board last week appeared to confirm the chip's absence. The repair specialist told AppleInsider it concluded work on the device and would not investigate further.
In its own testing, AppleInsider confirmed both 2020 iPad Pro iterations, running the latest iOS 13.4 software, are incompatible with iPhone 11's directional AirDrop feature.
There are a number of reasons why Apple decided not to include the U1 in the latest iPad Pro variant, from supply chain availability to incompatibility with the A12 processor family. That said, the UWB hardware should show up in a future , as it is expected to play an important role in the support of upcoming products and services like AirTags.
While mere speculation, the U1 could surface in a forthcoming iPad Pro model with mini LED backlighting rumored to see release later this year.
Citing a "little birdie," Daring Fireball's John Gruber confirmed "there is no U1 chip in the new iPad Pro." The reported validation from a reputable insider seemingly snuffs weeks of back and forth on the subject.
Introduced with iPhone 11 last year, the U1 enables UWB features like directional AirDrop and was expected to see integration in subsequent Apple devices. Indeed, 9to5Mac in March claimed to have discovered evidence of an iPad Pro with U1 chip in a then-current iOS 13.4 beta release.
Apple itself did not mention the U1 in iPad Pro's press release or subsequent marketing materials, including a webpage detailing the tablet's technical specifications. As Gruber writes, "[I]f there were one, Apple would have told us so."
An initial hardware teardown conducted by iFixit found no trace of the UWB silicon, and a final de-shielding of the iPad Pro's logic board last week appeared to confirm the chip's absence. The repair specialist told AppleInsider it concluded work on the device and would not investigate further.
In its own testing, AppleInsider confirmed both 2020 iPad Pro iterations, running the latest iOS 13.4 software, are incompatible with iPhone 11's directional AirDrop feature.
There are a number of reasons why Apple decided not to include the U1 in the latest iPad Pro variant, from supply chain availability to incompatibility with the A12 processor family. That said, the UWB hardware should show up in a future , as it is expected to play an important role in the support of upcoming products and services like AirTags.
While mere speculation, the U1 could surface in a forthcoming iPad Pro model with mini LED backlighting rumored to see release later this year.
Comments
The iPad Pro saw no update last year, so I understand that Apple was anxious to release an update.
What I don't understand is why they would release one now, if they plan to release another later this year with the UWB chip, mini-LED backlighting and an A13/ A14 variant processor.
If AirTags rely on the UWB for more accuracy, it seems strange to release a new iPad Pro without it. I could understand if this was just an iPad Air or iPad, but it is not.
I really wonder what the rush was to get it out of the door.
As for SD...that’s a consumer memory card format. My high-end cameras use CF, but you don’t see me whining about it. It’s really not a big deal.
And are you honestly still crying into your cups about no expandable storage? 10 years later? Geeeze, man....
Purchasing lots of stuff over again? Like a compatible Pencil and/or keyboard or case? Big deal, sell the old ones and get the new ones. Getting an SD card reader is not an issue, there's never been an SD card reader in the iPad and no need for one now. One USB-C port? Get the new Magic Keyboard case for an extra one. There's never been upgradeable storage on iPhones or iPads. ... oh wait now you're bitching about laptops. Why is it these driveby complainers can't ever stick to one topic at a time?
So instead of buyers getting the 2018 model over the next 7 to 12 months, they can get a 2020 model with 6 GB of RAM instead of 4 GB (for the non 1 TB storage buyers), cheaper storage prices, +10% GPU performance, and a 2-cam back camera system. Most buyers don't time their purchases like a lot people do on fan forums, so this is a net plus for iPad Pro buyers overall. It's a good thing.
If you don't like the 2020 model, don't buy it. I'm waiting for miniLED and 8 GB RAM myself.
Regarding the U1, it seems 9to5mac's code diving and their interpolations of it as well as their other sources are not that reliable. They got the 6 GB RAM right, but the U1 wrong. Then, the iPhone SE release rumor from them was "as soon as" last Friday. Nothing yet. Maybe next week. If it is this soon, pallets of iPhone SE boxes would be on their way to Apple retail stores right now.