iPad Pro (6th Generation)
Apple (Hacker News):
Apple today announced the new iPad Pro with the M2 chip, delivering the ultimate combination of portability, versatility, and unbelievable performance. The new iPad Pro features a next-level Apple Pencil hover experience and superfast wireless connectivity, along with the world’s most advanced mobile display, pro cameras, Face ID, Thunderbolt, and a four-speaker audio system.
[…]
The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 (US) for the Wi-Fi model and $999 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model; the 12.9-inch iPad Pro starts at $1,099 (US) for the Wi-Fi model, and $1,299 (US) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model.
Apple Pencil (2nd generation), available for purchase separately, is compatible with the new iPad Pro for $129 (US).
With the M2 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to 15% faster CPU performance and up to 35% faster GPU performance compared to the previous iPad Pro with the M1 chip, according to Apple. The chip has a new media engine and image signal processor that enables ProRes video recording for the first time and up to 3x faster ProRes video transcoding.
The new M2 iPad Pro supports a new feature with the second-generation Apple Pencil that allows users to hover their Apple Pencil over their display to expand content, apps, widgets, and more.
The iPad software has been updated to support hover states when this occurs, causing the interface item that is being hovered to expand or otherwise change in preparation of an impending touch. The feature looks impressive in Apple’s announcement video, and I’m excited to see how it works in practice once people get their hands on these devices.
It’s becoming increasingly clear that Apple’s design philosophy is to put a bunch of features in a paper bag and draw them out at random to see which products get what. “WiFi 6E for M2 iPad Pro but not M2 MacBooks!” “Landscape camera for low end iPad but not iPad Pro!”
So let me get this straight:
The base model iPad gets a landscape camera (yes) and a brand new Magic Keyboard Folio (yes!) with a detachable keyboard, kickstand (yes!!), and function keys (yes!!!), but the iPad Pro gets...none of this?
In addition to not getting the landscape camera, the iPad Pro doesn’t get the new Magic Keyboard from the base iPad. The new keyboard has a function row and an updated design. The new entry iPad gets USB-C, but only supports the Apple Pencil with Lightning. Odd across the board.
I think it interesting Apple hasn’t been afraid to innovate on the consumer side or pro side, depending on timing.
They clearly aren’t thinking “Pro always has to be better than non-pro.” They are thinking, how do we serve these two distinct groups of people best?
Previously:
- iPad (10th Generation)
- Surface Pro 9
- Stage Manager in iOS 16.1 Beta 3
- EU Passes Law to Switch iPhone to USB-C
- MacBook Air 2022
- iPad Air (5th Generation)
- iPad Pro (5th Generation)
Update (2022-11-02): Federico Viticci:
If you’re an artist or a proficient visual note-taker who relies on Apple Pencil for your drawings and sketches, I think Apple Pencil Hover will be a big deal for you: in addition to previewing lines before drawing them, you’ll also be able to see what a mix of colors will look like before adding a new color to a drawing. Effectively, this preview-oriented aspect of Apple Pencil Hover should result in fewer ‘Undo’ operations and a more contextual, streamlined experience when drawing.
I’m here to tell you, however, that Apple Pencil Hover goes beyond enhancing the typical iPad drawing experience: it’s also a neat way to control the iPadOS UI, adding a new dimension to touch interactions. I was not expecting to use Apple Pencil Hover at all because I’m no artist; its native integration with interface elements across the system turned out to be one of my favorite additions to iPadOS this year – definitely more so than Stage Manager.
That makes the fourth revision for this design without any substantial exterior changes. It’s a good design, yes, but it’s a little frustrating that it’s been in stasis for four full years. The 10th-generation iPad’s repositioned FaceTime camera would be welcome on a new iPad Pro. A revised version of the Magic Keyboard introduced in April 2020 with that extra row of function keys like the Magic Keyboard Folio would also be nice.
We have rounded up both written and video reviews of the new iPad Pro below.
5 Comments RSS · Twitter
I'm a bit confused. Is this iPad going to ship with iPad OS 16 on the 26th?
I thought the consensus was that Stage Manager is still completely buggy in the latest seeds. And when I check the page for this iPad on Apple's website, Stage Manager is prominently featured even with external displays…
I’ve never heard anyone say there’s anything they wish they could do, if only there were an iPad that had "15% faster CPU performance and up to 35% faster GPU performance”. What’s the point? Just more flexing on CPU performance numbers?
100% of the wishes (and complaints) I’ve heard for iPads are about software, not hardware.
>The new M2 iPad Pro supports a new feature with the second-generation Apple Pencil that allows users to hover their Apple Pencil over their display to expand content, apps, widgets, and more.
This sounds great. Bummer that this approach doesn't work with fingers; one of the weird limitations of touch UI is that hover basically isn't a thing. So, no tooltips, etc.
>It’s becoming increasingly clear that Apple’s design philosophy is to put a bunch of features in a paper bag and draw them out at random to see which products get what. “WiFi 6E for M2 iPad Pro but not M2 MacBooks!” “Landscape camera for low end iPad but not iPad Pro!”
Part of this is perhaps just release schedules, part of it too much isolation between teams.
The most baffling one was introducing, at literally the same event, Center Stage on the M1 iPad Pro, then no Center Stage on the iMac. It really felt like this was the first time the iMac team had heard of the feature, where surely it makes a lot more sense. "Oh, we should be doing that!"
>The base model iPad gets a landscape camera (yes) and a brand new Magic Keyboard Folio (yes!) with a detachable keyboard, kickstand (yes!!), and function keys (yes!!!), but the iPad Pro gets...none of this?
I think this iPad Pro iteration, aside from the hover feature, is intended as a more minor upgrade. See also: the 11-inch still doesn't have mini-LED.
I suspect what's going to happen is the next iPad Pro (or the one after) goes from 11/13 to 13/15, and both of those get mini-LED. Then the 11 Pro gets replaced by the 11 Air, which also explains that weird distinction without much of a difference.
Right now, the iPad line-up is a mess. Nowhere near as bad as the Mac ca. 1997 (hey, did you get the Power Macintosh 6110CD? No, it's the Performance 6120CD, which is similar but not quite!), but it could be so much simpler.
At these prices, I really don’t understand why most people other than digital artists even think about the iPad Pro. Spending nearly the same amount of money on a MacBook Air gives so much more power and flexibility.
"I think it interesting Apple hasn’t been afraid to innovate on the consumer side or pro side, depending on timing." — Joe Cieplinski
More like they aren't afraid to add and subtract features to get to the price tier they need (between the iPads 9th gen and Air). And think they can get away with just a CPU bump, without the resigned some of these new features would need, for their most expensive iPad.