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Apple's new iPad Pro gets M4 power, advanced Tandem OLED screens

iPad Pro with tandem OLED and M4

Last updated

Apple's refresh of the iPad Pro lines makes a major and long-awaited change to the tablet, with OLED, M4, and a thinner case.

The rumored revamp of the iPad Pro has arrived, with Apple introducing the updated iPad Pro range after over a year without changes. A new display, landscape selfie camera, M4 processor, and thinner case design.

They have 11-inch and 13-inch displays, and the iPad Pro has been refined to make the cases slightly thinner than the previous generation. The size change also results in a small weight loss for both models.

The new iPad Pros are 5.3mm and 5.1mm thin, which is thinner than Apple's iPod nano. Apple says it is the thinnest device the company has ever shipped.

Partly driving the change is an overhaul in display technology Apple uses. While previously relying on LED and mini-LED backlighting, Apple has finally made the switch over to OLED, but in two layers with tandem OLED for better brightness.

OLED is a self-illuminating display technology that doesn't require backlighting, helping reduce the thickness of the tablets. It also offers higher levels of contrast, brighter pictures, and more accurate colors compared to traditional TFT LED screens.

New iPad Pro has 1,000 nits of brightness for SDR and HDR content. It has 1,600 nit peak brightness for HDR content.

A nano texture option is also available.

Making the leap to M4

Apple also included the M4 processor for a leap in performance. It has 4 performance and 6 effeciency cores.

Apple M4 processor Apple M4 processor

The M4 has a 10-core GPU with hardware accelerated ray tracing and mesh mapping. It enables more powerful pro apps and high-end game rendering.

The new neural engine can perform 38 trillion operations per second, 60x faster than first in A11.

Apple introduced Final Cut Pro 2 and Logic Pro 2 alongside the new iPads. Final Cut Pro 2 gets 4x more streams than M1 models, and Logic Pro 2 gets AI instruments.

Other changes

Around the back is Apple's Wide Camera at 12MP. Once again, Apple packs a LiDAR sensor into the camera bump.

Two photographers look at an iPad Pro with a model in the background New pro app updates and camera features for iPad Pro

The Ultra Wide Camera has been removed.

The TrueDepth camera at the front uses a 12MP Ultra Wide camera with a 122-degree field of view and depth mapping capabilities. It has been moved to the landscape side of the iPad, though this doesn't interfere with Apple Pencil charging.

Magic Keyboard now has a function row. Apple also introduced the Apple Pencil Pro, built with new iPad Pro in mind.

Pricing and availability

Both the 11-inch iPad Pro and 13-inch iPad Pro are available in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations. Nano texture glass adds $100 to the total.

The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $999, and the 13-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,299. Add $200 for the cellular modem option.

The Apple Pencil Pro is $129. The Magic Keyboard is $279 for the 11-inch model and $349 for the 13-inch model.

Pre-orders started May 7 and initial shipments will arrive on May 15.



73 Comments

Kierkegaarden 244 comments · 1 Year

That’s a lot of power — I can’t help think that something else with be unveiled at WWDC to take advantage of this.  Maybe I’m completely off, 

dominoes 4 comments · 4 Years

Pretty sure that the new iPad Pro no longer has an UW 10mp camera on the back. Is it just a covered hole now?

discountopinion 108 comments · 9 Years

Woah.. NPU in M4 seems to be 2x of TOPS than M3... Memory bandwidth is also up 20%. GenAI here we go.

Can't wait to see an Ultra or Extreme version of this baby.

ndornquast 17 comments · 7 Years

Some info to be aware of:

  • 10 core processor only available on TB versions, 256 & 512MB versions get 9 cores (3e & 6p).
  • 1TB option is $600 (60%) more than base option, $400 more than 512GB version.
  • Textured nano glass requires TB option.
  • Wide angle camera is dropped.. only one camera on rear.
  • GPS still requires cellular version, which is $200 upgrade.
I am extremely disappointed Apple continues to bundle options.  Why should I have to buy storage I do not need to get the processor I want??

To get better processor and GPS, with AppleCare and tax is now $2,070.. and that doesn’t include any accessories.. and that’s the 11” version.

saarek 1586 comments · 16 Years

M4, that’s an interesting move. Especially considering the M3 isn’t even fully out yet with the Ultra chips (and hopefully the Extreme variant which the Mac Pro desperately needs to justify its existence).
Wonder why they’ve jumped so far forwards, it will simply put people off buying M3 Apple Macs, no one wants to buy last years tech at this years pricing.