Apple iPad Pro 2023 Models Announced Today

Apple unveiled the new 2023 models iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 today, which will be released on October 26th: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BJLF2BRM

It's been 1 1/2 years since the predecessors were launched. So how do you upgrade a pair of tablets that already have one of the highest specs on the market?

Apple's correct answer is to start with an improved processor. When Apple introduced their M1 chipsets on the iPad Pros last year, the made them so powerful, that it would be impossible to make a similar leap every 18 months. But Apple have upgraded to the 15% faster new octa-core M2 chipset all the same, which also has an improved GPU, now featuring more cores as a 10-core graphics processor which is 35% faster than the predecessor.

And while RAM capacity is still 8GB RAM for the 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models and 16GB RAM for the 1TB and 2TB models, the RAM works faster on the new motherboard. So all in all Apple has improved upon the performance at a level that is fitting to the iPad Pros, and the improved performance continues to keeps them ahead of most other tablets on the market.

Apple touts the increased processing speeds and complex 3D handling features for the graphics, including introducing the ability to capture ProRes video from now on due to the M2 chipset.

Which makes sense since the iPad Pro 12.9 in particular is used by a lot of people working with both graphics studios as well as 3D engineering. Apple knows that too, so appealing to these and similar professions isn't just for show. Many professionals use all the capacity that an iPad Pro has to offer.

Apple also added a hovering feature to the Apple Pencil. The concept isn't new, but Apple has introduced the feature where the digitizer pen is detected from 12mm above the display already, which can then be used to activate and kickstart various pen apps, features, and settings which makes the digitizer experience a lot more fluent and intuitive. So that's another useful upgrade.

And while the iPad Pro already had Wi-Fi 6, Apple upgraded it to the latest and fastest dual-band Wi-Fi 6E with the new 2023 models. They also upgraded the Bluetooth to the 5.3 standard.

For the cellular 5G model, Apple also added some new bands which are n14, n26, n29, n30, and n258.

The screens are the same 11-inch LED Liquid Retina displays and 12.9-inch mini-LED Liquid Retina XDR screens as before with the same 2388 x 1688 resolution and 2732 x 2048 resolution.

Some people have wanted the 11-inch iPad Pro to transition over to the same mini-LED display that the largest iPad Pro got last year, but the reasons behind Apple's decision to stay with the LED display is complex and have been discussed extensively already.

The exterior has remained the same too, with a weight of 466 grams and 682 grams respectively, and a thickness of 5.9mm and 6.4mm, as well as Space Grey and Silver color options.

It also continues with its camera setup with True Tone flash, a 12MP f/1.8 wide angle camera in combination with a 10MP f/2.4 ultra wide angle camera on the back with 2x optical zoom that supports 4K video recording at 60fps, audio zoom, and time-lapse videos with stabilization. There's also a LiDAR scanner there.

Then a 12MP ultra wide front camera which works with features such as the increasingly popular Center Stage feature that puts users in the center of the frame during video calls.

And of course it has quad speakers and even the most amount of mics on any tablet with 5 studio-quality mics for both video chats, video recording, and sound recordings.

The port is the same as before, which is a Thunderbolt 3 / USB 4 on the right side of the tablet, and we are still given a 10 hour battery life on the Wi-Fi models. The batteries are 28.65Whr and 40.88Whr batteries which are charged by the included 20W charger.

New features are also coming with the launch of the iPadOS 16.1 which launches with these new iPads on October 26th.

The prices continues to start from $799 for the iPad Pro 11, and from $1099 for the iPad Pro 12.9.

So we got natural performance upgrades for the new models which will continue to make the iPad Pros as relevant as ever. Some would have preferred a mini-LED display on the smallest iPad Pro. But apart from not upgrading to Thunderbolt 4, these iPads have otherwise improved where the relevant tablet technologies have moved forward.

– Tom Bowen