First look: New 9.7-inch iPad Pro is Apple's most advanced tablet
Apple on Monday expanded its iPad Pro lineup with a 9.7-inch model with A9X SoC, Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support, all-new True Tone screen features and more. AppleInsider was on the scene and offers a hands-on look at the new tablet.
Those familiar with Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro will feel right at home with the 9.7-inch version. The smaller slate comes with all the trappings enjoyed by its larger-screened sibling, including built-in support for Apple Pencil and an all-new Smart Keyboard designed specifically for the full-size form factor.
In addition to elements introduced with last year's iPad Pro, the new 9.7-inch model comes with a slew of features not seen on any other Apple device. When SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller presented the device onstage, he touted the innovative True Tone screen system, which samples light from a user's surrounding environment and automatically adjusts screen brightness and color to mimic a "paper-white" viewing experience. The screen itself sports a wider color gamut that reproduces vivid blues and greens without over saturation.
For the first time ever, Apple is including a flash for iPad's rear-facing iSight camera. A True Tone module, the flash is positioned below the protruding lens element, itself a vestige from the iPhone 6.
Everything zips along nicely with Apple's A9X chip, providing ample power for image and video editing, drawing, data crunching, Web browsing and more.
Preorders for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro start on Thursday, with the 32-gigabyte model going for $599, 128-gigabyte model for $699 and a new 256-gigabyte configuration selling for $799. Additionally, Apple is introducing a rose gold color to go along with the usual space grey, gold and silver options.
Those familiar with Apple's 12.9-inch iPad Pro will feel right at home with the 9.7-inch version. The smaller slate comes with all the trappings enjoyed by its larger-screened sibling, including built-in support for Apple Pencil and an all-new Smart Keyboard designed specifically for the full-size form factor.
In addition to elements introduced with last year's iPad Pro, the new 9.7-inch model comes with a slew of features not seen on any other Apple device. When SVP of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller presented the device onstage, he touted the innovative True Tone screen system, which samples light from a user's surrounding environment and automatically adjusts screen brightness and color to mimic a "paper-white" viewing experience. The screen itself sports a wider color gamut that reproduces vivid blues and greens without over saturation.
For the first time ever, Apple is including a flash for iPad's rear-facing iSight camera. A True Tone module, the flash is positioned below the protruding lens element, itself a vestige from the iPhone 6.
Everything zips along nicely with Apple's A9X chip, providing ample power for image and video editing, drawing, data crunching, Web browsing and more.
Preorders for the 9.7-inch iPad Pro start on Thursday, with the 32-gigabyte model going for $599, 128-gigabyte model for $699 and a new 256-gigabyte configuration selling for $799. Additionally, Apple is introducing a rose gold color to go along with the usual space grey, gold and silver options.
Comments
Compared to last 9.7" version and also compared to iPad Pro 12"? I know it'll be shorter than the bigger unit, but by how much?
I don't want a case. I don't want a smart keyboard. It is too much to ask for a drawing tablet to lay flat on a table and not wiggle? This is a huge error. Betcha we see a Surface ad shortly highlighting this.
This is blatant case-ism.
Here's the real problem though . Something Wall Street has noticed. Wall Street has been banging on about Apple's iPhone dependency for some time now. That might not be fair, but that is how it is. So what does Apple do about it to change that perception?
It delivers a great iPhone at an attractive price. It will sell tonnes of them. At the same time, Apple delivers an incremental upgrade to the ipad air 2. It slaps a 'pro' moniker on it, and then increases price 20 per cent.
A 20 per cent price increase! 20 per cent will solve the problem of declining iPad sales and iPad revenue!
This says a lot about Apple today. I suspect Apple is quite comfortable with iPhone dependency, and this approach to iPad signals its intentions, not only about not worrying about iPhone dependency, but the future of iPad. It is prepared to take a continued drop in sales in its flagship models, hopefully because in return they expect higher margins, although if I was to be negative about it, it could be they don't care about iPad sales that much and just want to milk it while they can. Good luck with that.
Meanwhile, where are the new updated with already widely adopted current technology laptops?
There you go using common sense again. You're obviously not considering the implications of the tremendous pressure exerted by the Apple Pencil while drawing a diagonal line all the way across the screen when laying on a flat surface that will cause the iPad to come crashing down a fraction of a millimeter! Design fail! /s