At its Let Loose virtual event this morning, Apple unveiled its long-awaited iPad Pro updates. The new 13-inch and 11-inch tablets feature a fresh design, more powerful internals and a thinner profile than ever before, and feature a major display upgrade. Apple is rumored to have switched to OLED screens on both sizes, giving its flagship iPads perfect blacks, richer color saturation and improved contrast. Oh, and the front-facing camera is now in the correct position (landscape) for video calls.
The iPad Pros use a tandem OLED structure that allows the display to reach a peak brightness of 1,000 nits and 1,600 nits for HDR content. The 13-inch model is just 5.1 millimeters thick, making it the thinnest device ever, according to Apple. (The 11-inch model is 5.3 millimeters thick.) For those who prefer a matte display surface, these iPad Pros will feature a nanotexture coating for the first time.
According to rumors, Apple is completely ditching the M3 chip and equipping the iPad Pro with its very latest silicon, the M4 chip. Apple says the CPU is 50 percent faster than the M2 chip in the previous generation iPad Pro. As far as efficiency plays go, Apple claims the M4 can deliver the same performance as the M2 with just half the power. Thermal performance has also improved by 20 percent.
Apple’s decision to switch from LCD to OLED brings with it numerous benefits. The iPad Pro will now have much greater contrast, allowing for perfect black levels and greater immersion when watching videos. And creative professionals/artists no longer have to deal with blooming – when bright content fades into surrounding dark areas on the screen – because OLED offers per-pixel brightness precision.
The move to OLED also means that both sizes of the iPad Pro will now offer the same display quality. As of 2021, the larger 12.9-inch model featured a mini-LED display, surpassing the smaller iPad Pro and its more traditional screen in many ways. This disproportion continued with the M2 revision.
But now you’ll have a similar experience, even if you prefer the less cumbersome tablet experience. In my experience, the large iPad Pro combined with a keyboard often feels like a laptop replacement, while the smaller size always retains its tablet origins and can be more comfortable when reading. It’s just more comfortable to hold for longer periods of time – but you have less screen space to work with. I’ve gotten used to the larger size and would probably still be between the two.