This morning’s Apple event saw the introduction of the bigger iPad Pro that’s been swirling around in the rumour mill for a while now. This new iPad has a much larger 12.9” Retina display but has bezels which are just as small as the rest. The tablet also comes with a brand new A9X chip and is said to be the fastest iOS device in Apple’s stable at the moment. The tablet is priced at US$799 (~RM 3,445) for the 32 GB Wi-Fi model, US$ 949 (~RM 4,092) for the 128 GB with Wi-Fi, and US$ 1079 (~RM 4,653) for the 128 GB WiFi+Cellular model.
iPad Pro truly has a lot more to offer in terms of its screen size alone. To give you an idea on how much bigger it is, the width of the iPad Pro’s display is the same as of the iPad Air 2’s height. The display measures 2048 x 2732 pixels, which pushes out nearly 5.6 million pixels. It’s not much when you consider that it works out to only about 265 ppi but that’s more than that of the Retina display equipped MacBook Pro. In delivering improved contrast via photo alignment technology, brightness via oxide TFT, and energy efficiency via the variable refresh technology, Apple claims to have produced the most advanced and the highest resolution display ever on an iOS device.
Taking a look at the input technology, not only does the iPad Pro has a newly redesigned Multi-Touch display, Apple has also introduced its brand new stylus called Apple Pencil that has been designed specifically for the tablet. The Multi-Touch technology works to reduce the touch latency on the display, while the sensors in the Pencil are able to measure pressure, tilt, and stroke. The two go hand-in-hand to furnish users with the ability to draw and sketch with unprecedented accuracy and fluidity. Additionally, the tablet will allow for the use of both touch and Pencil inputs at the same time.
To put the Pencil and iPad Pro through its paces, presenters/representatives from Microsoft, Adobe, and 3D4Medical showed off how the devices will work with Microsoft Office, Adobe Comp, Adobe Photoshop Fix, Adobe Sketch, and Essential Anatomy. Pencil will also work with Mail, Notes, Procreate, and Office 365 for iPad to offer new ways to engage and to be productive. The Pencil comes with its own built-in battery that can be recharged via its lightning connecter at the top: meaning the input tool can be plugged into an iPad to get charged.
Apple also introduced, for the first time ever, a new keyboard to go along with the iPad Pro. The Smart Keyboard offers a full-sized keyboard which doubles-up as a thin and durable Smart Cover for the tablet. The entire keyboard is covered in custom woven fabric, with keys that provide the accurate and comfortable feel of standard keyboards. Apple has also made sure that typing is faster and easier with the new QuickType features of iOS 9 when used in conjunction with the Smart Keyboard. The keyboard attaches to the iPad Pro via the Smart Connector port (which looks like 3 metal dots on the tablet and is tastefully done), thus eliminating the need for a separate battery, an on/off switch, and a Bluetooth chip for pairing to be built into the keyboard.
As a media consumption device, iPad Pro is said to deliver the best. It comes with 4 individual speakers, and the enclosures for these have been carved into the body of the iPad Pro itself. The new four-speaker design is said to provide up to 3x the volume of iPad Air 2, and to also deliver a clearer and richer stereo sound. The tablet can even balance the audio reproduction according to the way the iPad is being held, to give users an optimal experience.
As with its stable-mates, the iPad Pro has an anodised aluminium unibody enclosure, and has a sturdy yet lightweight design. It is powered by the 3rd-gen, 64-bit A9X chip that provides 2x the memory bandwidth of the A8X and is twice as fast in terms of storage performance. The new iPad Pro is claimed to be 1.8x faster than the iPad Air 2, and is miles ahead in performance when compared to the original iPad (22x faster CPU and 360x faster GPU). In fact, Apple says that the iPad Pro’s CPU is faster than 80% of PCs that were sold in the last year, and its GPU even more at 90%. Even with the increase in performance and size, iPad Pro will still manage a 10-hour uptime, is only slightly thicker at 6.9 mm (compared to 6.1 mm of iPad Air 2), and a tad heavier at 1.57 lbs or around 712 g (compared to 1.54 lbs or around 698 g, again for the iPad Air 2). Key specifications include iOS 9, 8 MP iSight rear camera, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band Wi-Fi, Touch ID, and Cat 4 4G LTE connections on the LTE model.
The tablet comes in Silver, Gold, and Space Gray metallic finishes and will be available in the US this November. The Pencil and Smart Keyboard accessories will also arrive then and are priced at US$ 99 (~RM 427) and US$ 169 (~RM 729) respectively.
At the event, Apple also made a quick announcement about a new iPad mini 4 joining the lineup. It’s yet another minor update with a dual-core Apple A8 chip running at 1.5 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 16/64/128 GB of storage, and an 8 MP rear camera.
In the US, the iPad mini 4 gets priced at US$ 399, while other older tablets get a price reduction. In Malaysia however, the revised prices of the iPad mini 2, iPad Air, and iPad Air 2 start at RM 1,049, RM 1,599, and RM 1,999 respectively; which is far more than it was even 6 months ago due to the Ringgit’s depreciation in recent times.
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