The iPad Pro is undoubtedly the best tablet in the market right now. The iPad Pro has always been the king in tablet world and this year Apple has not disappointed. Their biggest competitor, Samsung, has not released the Galaxy Tab S8 series as they normally do on their August events which pushes the iPad miles ahead.
One of the main reasons other tablets fail to keep up with the Ipad, is the simple fact that the Ipad has more than enough developers to optimize their apps to work on that gigantic screen. Apps such as Adobe Photoshop are quite crucial in creative workflows yet most of them are not optimized for Android tablets. This makes the Ipad compete in a league of its own.
The iPad Pro 12” 2021 has some new features, subtle but definitely crucial. By far the feature that people were most hyped about is the M1 Chip which Apple decided to incorporate into the iPad. But sadly, the iPadOS is not yet fully developed to take advantage of one of the most powerful and efficient Chips yet.
Apart from that, Apple also bumped up the RAM from a maximum of 6GB in the 2020 version to 16GB which is definitely handy especially in creative apps such as Adobe Premier Rush. In this article, we are going to discuss the specs of the Ipad Pro 12.9 inch 2021, it’s new features and I will give you my final thoughts at the end of this article.
Specs
- Apple Pencil support.
- 12.9 inch Liquid Retina XDR mini LED display.
- 120 Hz refresh rate.
- Apple M1 chipset.
- 128GB/256GB/512GB Storage with 8GB RAM.
- 1TB/2TB Storage with 16GB RAM.
- 12MP Wide camera.
- 10MP Ultrawide camera.
- TOF 3D LIDAR scanner for depth.
- 12MP Ultrawide Selfie Camera.
- Quad speakers.
- Bluetooth 5.0.
- USB Type C with Thunderbolt 4.
- Face ID sensor.
- 18W fast charging.
- Comes in Silver and Space gray.
- Starts from $1200
Design Language
The iPad pro continues to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing tablets on the market right now. The use of an Aluminum frame and back makes it a pleasure to hold.The iPad also has a quad speaker arrangement. Two on the top and two at the bottom providing decent sound quality more so during media consumption. At the back you get a triple camera setup. It is worth noting that the LIDAR scanner is part of the triple camera system. The LIDAR scanner serves partly as a depth sensor and mostly for augmented reality.
The other cameras include a 12MP wide camera and a 10MP ultrawide camera. The camera quality is decent enough than most midrange phones and you can be definitely sure it will get the job done. At the front, Apple upgraded the display from an IPS LCD panel to a liquid Retina XDR mini LED display. What this means is better contrast ratios and of course better image quality.
Mini LED technology utilizes many LEDS, 10,000 to be exact in the Ipad pro 12.9’, with 2500 local dimming zones in order to get deep and richer black levels. Although it is not as perfect as OLED, it is miles better than an ordinary LED panel. This year, Apple has also enhanced the selfie camera to a 12MP ultrawide. Alongside the improved camera system, they also introduced a new feature known as Ultrawide center stage which will be elaborated better later in the article.
New features
The M1 Chip
The M1 chip got everyone excited when it was released in the Macbook Air and the Macbook Pro 13. The performance portrayed was unlike anything in the market. The M1-enabled Macbooks crushed benchmarks, beating most RISC dedicated processors.
The sad bit of it all, is that the Ipad is not yet ready to take full advantage of all that power. This is mostly because of the IpadOS which is somehow limiting. For those who are still confused about the whole M1 thing here is a simple to understand explanation.
The M1 features one chip that integrates major components of a PC which would otherwise be scattered all over the motherboard. The M1 chip is comprised of the RAM ( also unified memory), an 8 core CPU, up to an 8 core CPU, 16 core neural engine, 16 billion transistors (35% more than the A14) , media encode and decode engines, Thunderbolt / USB 4 controller all in a 5nm process.
This simply means that efficiency is greatly improved since most of the components needed are on the chip rather than on different parts of the motherboard making communication among devices better and faster.
New Mini LED display
It is exciting to finally see Apple take their display a notch higher. Mini LED technology utilizes many tiny LED with numerous local dimming zones to mimic the OLED experience. If you are a tech enthusiast, then you probably know that OLED is the gold standard of all displays.
The deeper and richer blacks is what most displays aim for and the mini LED just hit the sweet spot. It’s not perfect but it definitely checks most boxes for the ultimate viewing experience. The Ipad has 10,000 mini LEDS with 2500 local dimming zones which is capable of outputting a maximum of 1600 nits of brightness in full HDR. It is also worth noting that this feature is limited to the 12.9’ version and not the smaller 11’ one.
The 12MP Ultrawide camera with center stage
Apple bumped up the selfie camera from 7MP to a 12MP ultrawide with center stage feature. Center stage simply means that that the camera will keep track of your movement so that you are always at the center. For example, if you move slightly to either side of the device, the camera will try to keep you at the center by tracking your movement.
This feature is handy especially in meetings and most of the conferencing apps have already integrated this feature. The one thing that I would request Apple to change on the selfie camera is its position. I think it would be best if they put the camera at the top rather than on the side which is really annoying especially during zoom meetings or Facetime.
Final thoughts
The iPad Pro is definitely a go to tablet, but should you get it over the MacBook? Below is a list of Pros and Cons about the iPad Pro and you can use it to gauge if it will be of benefit to you.
| Pros | Cons |
| Awesome Mini LED touchscreen display. | Very pricey especially when you add the magic keyboard and the apple pencil. |
| The Apple pencil is an added advantage. | Lack of enough apps to make it a ‘laptop’ |
| Great Speaker Quality. | |
| Great camera quality. | |
| Magic keyboard for added functionality. |
If you are willing to sacrifice the app support available in MacOS and money is no object, then the Ipad Pro might just be right device for you.
The integration of key PC components into a single chip is a remarkable feature of the M1. This consolidation enhances performance and efficiency, making the M1 a standout in chip technology. Great insight.