Apple brings M2 to iPad Pro alongside Wi-Fi 6E

AppleInsider

Apple has launched its refresh of the iPad Pro lineup, with the upgrade to the M2 chip adding Wi-Fi 6E support but not mini LED for the 11-inch model.

12.9-inch iPad Pro with Magic Keyboards" />
11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro with Magic Keyboards

Announced as part of Apple's October special event, the updated iPad Pro range is largely an internal spec bump, with the chief change to the premium tablets being the shift over from using the M1 chip to the M2.

The chip that has already been released in the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro was an expected addition to the iPad Pro models. Along with the 8-core CPU and 10-core GPU, the chip brings with it the Media Engine, accelerating video encoding and decoding tasks.

The models still include either 8GB or 16GB of memory, depending on storage capacity. Storage continues to start from 128GB and rises through 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB to a maximum of 2TB.

One missing change is an update to the 11-inch iPad Pro display. While the 12.9-inch iPad Pro continues to use the Liquid Retina XDR Display with mini-LED backlighting, the change hasn't introduced it to the smaller model.

The 12.9-inch iPad Pro and the 11-inch iPad Pro for 2022.

The screens have 2,388 by 1,668 and 2,732 by 2,048-pixel resolutions respectively, and have support for ProMotion, Wide Color (P3), and True Tone. The second-generation Apple Pencil 2 is still supported by both tablets, but Apple now boasts the ability to detect the stylus tip up to 12mm away from the display.

Around the back, the camera system consists of two sensors, with a 12MP Wide accompanied by a 10MP Ultra Wide version. A 2x optical zoom out with a 5x digital zoom is offered, along with a True Tone flash, and LiDAR for depth mapping applications.

The front TrueDepth camera sports a 12-megapixel Ultra Wide camera, along with its usual depth mapping capabilities that it uses for Face ID, Animoji and Memoji, and Portrait mode shots.

The rear cameras can capture 4K footage at 60fps, complete with cinematic video stabilization, and a 240fps 1080p slo-mo mode. The TrueDepth camera can manage 1080p 60fps video with cinematic video stabilization.

For connectivity, Apple has upgraded the Wi-Fi to now support Wi-Fi 6E, enabling more bandwidth on networks supporting the standard. It has also been updated from Bluetooth 5.0 to Bluetooth 5.3, with continued options to upgrade to a Cellular model with 5G support in both sub-6GHz and mmWave varieties.

While the iPhone 14 is moving away from physical SIM cards, they're sticking around for a while on the iPad Pro. The cellular model in the U.S. has both eSIM and nano-SIM support.

The 11-inch iPad Pro starts from $799 for the Wi-Fi model, $999 for Wi-Fi + Cellular, while the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is priced from $1,099 and $1,299 respectively.

Pre-orders open today, with availability from October 26.

Read on AppleInsider

FrankS

Too bad. I have a M1, 11”. I was kinda hoping for mini-LED and MagSafe. This will be the first Pro I won’t be updating 

dstrauss

What a disappointing mish-mash today Tim. Pro's get M2 and WiFi 6e (do they even make those routers yet?) However, the new iPad Gen 10 get's landscape camera and the awesome new Magic Keyboard Folio, but it only gets Apple Pencil 1 support. Must have a lot of those lying around the warehouse gathering dust, heh Apple.

melgross

dstrauss said:

What a disappointing mish-mash today Tim. Pro's get M2 and WiFi 6e (do they even make those routers yet?) However, the new iPad Gen 10 get's landscape camera and the awesome new Magic Keyboard Folio, but it only gets Apple Pencil 1 support. Must have a lot of those lying around the warehouse gathering dust, heh Apple.

It seems as though the Pro also gets the side camera. Apple doesn’t say anything about it, but when talking about the cameras, you can see the tiny green light there in the center of the long side. On my 5th gen model, the light is on the right side of the app when held horizontal. So that could mean they shifted the cameras. The only question I was wondering about previously about them doing this was what they would do with the magnetic charging strip there, but it seems to have not been affected, if they did indeed move the FaceTime array there. I hope they did - finally!

About the old Pencil, that would require the new charging method which costs more than the port it uses now, which is there anyway. That’s the main reason, as Apple is trying to keep costs down for those models.

tht

This transition to landscape default is going to be rough. There is going to be a USBC male to Lightning female adaptor for the Pencil 1st gen so that users can stick the 1st gen Pencil into the new iPad for charging. Designing and producing the adaptor was deemed ok over just including the Pencil 2 magnetic charger.

The Magic Keyboard Folio looks awesome! I've been wanting just the back half ever since the 2018 model. Hopefully some case makers will just make the back half for the iPad Pro models.

Oh, the continuous fight between product marketers, finance and engineers must be vicious. There is now 3 11" iPads: iPad 10th gen, iPad Air 5th gen and iPad Pro 4th gen. It's a rather fine line of segmentation between the 3. Display size is far and away the easiest way to segment. The iPad Pros need to increase in display size, like 12" and 14" to differentiate them again.

My money is earmarked for a iPP12.9 2TB 5G. My iPP10.5 is getting long in the tooth. There is a weird yellowing along the sides of the display now. Touch ID button is hitchy. It's been one of my favorite purchases.

melgross

tht said:

This transition to landscape default is going to be rough. There is going to be a USBC male to Lightning female adaptor for the Pencil 1st gen so that users can stick the 1st gen Pencil into the new iPad for charging. Designing and producing the adaptor was deemed ok over just including the Pencil 2 magnetic charger.

The Magic Keyboard Folio looks awesome! I've been wanting just the back half ever since the 2018 model. Hopefully some case makers will just make the back half for the iPad Pro models.

Oh, the continuous fight between product marketers, finance and engineers must be vicious. There is now 3 11" iPads: iPad 10th gen, iPad Air 5th gen and iPad Pro 4th gen. It's a rather fine line of segmentation between the 3. Display size is far and away the easiest way to segment. The iPad Pros need to increase in display size, like 12" and 14" to differentiate them again.

My money is earmarked for a iPP12.9 2TB 5G. My iPP10.5 is getting long in the tooth. There is a weird yellowing along the sides of the display now. Touch ID button is hitchy. It's been one of my favorite purchases.

My wife and I just ordered the new 12.9” models. There’s been rumors, as you likely know, about 14” iPads sometime next year. I would have waited, but they’re just rumors, so they may not come out.

tht

melgross said:

tht said:

This transition to landscape default is going to be rough. There is going to be a USBC male to Lightning female adaptor for the Pencil 1st gen so that users can stick the 1st gen Pencil into the new iPad for charging. Designing and producing the adaptor was deemed ok over just including the Pencil 2 magnetic charger.

The Magic Keyboard Folio looks awesome! I've been wanting just the back half ever since the 2018 model. Hopefully some case makers will just make the back half for the iPad Pro models.

Oh, the continuous fight between product marketers, finance and engineers must be vicious. There is now 3 11" iPads: iPad 10th gen, iPad Air 5th gen and iPad Pro 4th gen. It's a rather fine line of segmentation between the 3. Display size is far and away the easiest way to segment. The iPad Pros need to increase in display size, like 12" and 14" to differentiate them again.

My money is earmarked for a iPP12.9 2TB 5G. My iPP10.5 is getting long in the tooth. There is a weird yellowing along the sides of the display now. Touch ID button is hitchy. It's been one of my favorite purchases.

My wife and I just ordered the new 12.9” models. There’s been rumors, as you likely know, about 14” iPads sometime next year. I would have waited, but they’re just rumors, so they may not come out.

You have to buy sometime.  I don't think I can use my iPP10.5 for another 18 months.

Either way, the iPad 10th gen heralds a change in industrial design for the iPad Pro models in what, Spring of 2024? Cameras go on the long side. The Pencil magnetic charging will need to be moved or they have to cram both the front cams and the induction charger in basically the same space. I like them to round the bottom edges like the new Macbook's are. Oh, and make optional camera modules that are flush with the surface. I don't need a higher end back cam. Just something good enough to take pictures of forms, checks and stuff.

Hopefully they will open the spigots on the software. The larger the display size, the more that they have to open up the software. The operating system work moves slower than the hardware. It may be 5 years for apps to adjust for Stage Manager, for Apple to incrementally improve iPadOS UI features, so on and so forth. I don't think people will be missing much if they buy now.

If they are, there is always the sell/trade-in and buy cycle.

entropys

I really need to update my 10.5 IPP. It’s my main machine, but the battery is dying, and a have a lovely stagelight about three inches above the home button. 

But I really wanted a fully equivalent featured 11 inch IPP to the 12.9. I was waiting for this update, but it seems to fall short and the product cycle may be shorter as a result. Maybe I will get an Air and save a bit of money.

mariowinco

Have you tried new glasses?

PatchyThePirateV.3 said:

I wish Apple would make an iPad mini pro, without the current, shoddy, shrunken down UI they currently use for the mini, which has smaller font and app icon sizes than my iPhone 13 mini ffs. 

I just want an amazing, casual use experience. The iPhones are too small for this, the mini has a terrible UI, and the other iPads are too big for this. 

The iPad pro’s functionality is amazing, but casual use probably makes up %99.9 of all iPad usage time; I wish Apple would optimize the iPad mini for this. 

tht

PatchyThePirateV.3 said:

I wish Apple would make an iPad mini pro, without the current, shoddy, shrunken down UI they currently use for the mini, which has smaller font and app icon sizes than my iPhone 13 mini ffs. 

Have you tried Settings -> Accessibility -> Zoom?

fastasleep

melgross said:

dstrauss said:

What a disappointing mish-mash today Tim. Pro's get M2 and WiFi 6e (do they even make those routers yet?) However, the new iPad Gen 10 get's landscape camera and the awesome new Magic Keyboard Folio, but it only gets Apple Pencil 1 support. Must have a lot of those lying around the warehouse gathering dust, heh Apple.

It seems as though the Pro also gets the side camera. Apple doesn’t say anything about it, but when talking about the cameras, you can see the tiny green light there in the center of the long side. On my 5th gen model, the light is on the right side of the app when held horizontal. So that could mean they shifted the cameras. The only question I was wondering about previously about them doing this was what they would do with the magnetic charging strip there, but it seems to have not been affected, if they did indeed move the FaceTime array there. I hope they did - finally!

Nope. The camera is in the same place as it was on the previous model. Very clear from the product page images. 

tht

PatchyThePirateV.3 said:

tht said:

PatchyThePirateV.3 said:

I wish Apple would make an iPad mini pro, without the current, shoddy, shrunken down UI they currently use for the mini, which has smaller font and app icon sizes than my iPhone 13 mini ffs. 

Have you tried Settings -> Accessibility -> Zoom?

Doesn’t work, still leaves lots of UI issues and problems with non-system apps. 

Yes, I can see that. 3rd party apps can be an anchor on making forward progress. Part of the reason Split View and Slide Over aren’t used a lot is that 3rd party apps won’t support it. I have one app that has an iPhone version, an iPad version, has been updated multiple times, but they won’t support Split View. There are several apps on my iPad like this. 

I was thinking Apple would have to force it by just building it into UIKit and forcing it. Or perhaps faking out the app by saying they are on an iPad mini or iPhone. 

For iPadOS to get better, there is going to be a reckoning with 3rd party app developers. Apple will have to implement multiple audio and video streams, and do other things like building in Stage Manager support right into UIKit first. After that, there’s going to be reckoning to get app developers to support it. 

StrangeDays

dstrauss said:

What a disappointing mish-mash today Tim. Pro's get M2 and WiFi 6e (do they even make those routers yet?) However, the new iPad Gen 10 get's landscape camera and the awesome new Magic Keyboard Folio, but it only gets Apple Pencil 1 support. Must have a lot of those lying around the warehouse gathering dust, heh Apple.

They do, I just installed one yesterday. 

melgross

tht said:

melgross said:

tht said:

This transition to landscape default is going to be rough. There is going to be a USBC male to Lightning female adaptor for the Pencil 1st gen so that users can stick the 1st gen Pencil into the new iPad for charging. Designing and producing the adaptor was deemed ok over just including the Pencil 2 magnetic charger.

The Magic Keyboard Folio looks awesome! I've been wanting just the back half ever since the 2018 model. Hopefully some case makers will just make the back half for the iPad Pro models.

Oh, the continuous fight between product marketers, finance and engineers must be vicious. There is now 3 11" iPads: iPad 10th gen, iPad Air 5th gen and iPad Pro 4th gen. It's a rather fine line of segmentation between the 3. Display size is far and away the easiest way to segment. The iPad Pros need to increase in display size, like 12" and 14" to differentiate them again.

My money is earmarked for a iPP12.9 2TB 5G. My iPP10.5 is getting long in the tooth. There is a weird yellowing along the sides of the display now. Touch ID button is hitchy. It's been one of my favorite purchases.

My wife and I just ordered the new 12.9” models. There’s been rumors, as you likely know, about 14” iPads sometime next year. I would have waited, but they’re just rumors, so they may not come out.

You have to buy sometime.  I don't think I can use my iPP10.5 for another 18 months.

Either way, the iPad 10th gen heralds a change in industrial design for the iPad Pro models in what, Spring of 2024? Cameras go on the long side. The Pencil magnetic charging will need to be moved or they have to cram both the front cams and the induction charger in basically the same space. I like them to round the bottom edges like the new Macbook's are. Oh, and make optional camera modules that are flush with the surface. I don't need a higher end back cam. Just something good enough to take pictures of forms, checks and stuff.

Hopefully they will open the spigots on the software. The larger the display size, the more that they have to open up the software. The operating system work moves slower than the hardware. It may be 5 years for apps to adjust for Stage Manager, for Apple to incrementally improve iPadOS UI features, so on and so forth. I don't think people will be missing much if they buy now.

If they are, there is always the sell/trade-in and buy cycle.

Of course. Trade-in’s are good too, though we just give our iPads away. I just traded my iPhone 13 Pro Max in to Apple and they gave me $782. Oddly enough, they don’t count storage capacity in trades, so my wife, with 256GB got the same trade-in as mine with 512GB. I’m wondering if I made a mistake and should have gotten 1TB. The 48MP main with ProRaw is good enough so that most of the photos I’m taking with it are in that format.

melgross

fastasleep said:

melgross said:

dstrauss said:

What a disappointing mish-mash today Tim. Pro's get M2 and WiFi 6e (do they even make those routers yet?) However, the new iPad Gen 10 get's landscape camera and the awesome new Magic Keyboard Folio, but it only gets Apple Pencil 1 support. Must have a lot of those lying around the warehouse gathering dust, heh Apple.

It seems as though the Pro also gets the side camera. Apple doesn’t say anything about it, but when talking about the cameras, you can see the tiny green light there in the center of the long side. On my 5th gen model, the light is on the right side of the app when held horizontal. So that could mean they shifted the cameras. The only question I was wondering about previously about them doing this was what they would do with the magnetic charging strip there, but it seems to have not been affected, if they did indeed move the FaceTime array there. I hope they did - finally!

Nope. The camera is in the same place as it was on the previous model. Very clear from the product page images. 

It’s not clear from the images I saw, but at this point, yeah, unfortunately it does look as though they didn’t move it. Too bad.