As expected, Apple today unveiled new iPad Pro models. The 9.7-inch model is no longer an option, but there’s a new 10.5-inch version to take its place. Here’s the word from Apple, followed by our insights into the iPad Pro announcements and a gallery of photos from the announcement:
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“San Jose, California — Apple today introduced an all-new 10.5-inch iPad Pro and a new 12.9-inch iPad Pro, featuring the world’s most advanced display with ProMotion technology and incredible performance with the new A10X Fusion chip. The new 10.5-inch model reduces the borders by nearly 40 percent to fit into an incredibly compact package that still weighs just one pound. Combined with powerful new iPad features in iOS 11 coming this fall, like the all-new Files app, customizable Dock, improved multitasking and deeper integration of Apple Pencil, iPad Pro gives users the ability to be even more productive and creative.“These are by far the most powerful iPads we’ve ever created with the world’s most advanced displays featuring ProMotion, the powerful new A10X Fusion chip and the advanced camera system of iPhone 7,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing. “Together with iOS 11 these new iPad Pro models will radically change what users can do with iPad.”
The stunning, redesigned Retina display in iPad Pro features ProMotion, a new technology that delivers refresh rates of up to 120Hz for fluid scrolling, greater responsiveness and smoother motion content. With ProMotion, Apple Pencil is even more responsive with an industry-best, 20-millisecond latency for even more fluid and natural drawing. ProMotion also improves display quality and reduces power consumption by automatically adjusting the display refresh rate to match the movement of the content.
The advanced Retina display is Apple’s brightest iPad display yet and features antireflective coating, making content easier to see indoors and out. True Tone dynamically adjusts the white balance of the display to match the light around you for a more natural and accurate viewing experience. A wide color gamut enables iPad Pro to deliver digital cinema-standard colors.
iPad Pro delivers groundbreaking performance, connectivity and versatility to tackle the most demanding tasks. The powerful new 64-bit A10X Fusion chip provides performance that is faster than most PC laptops shipping today, so tackling complex tasks like editing photos and 4K video, rendering 3D images or playing games feels effortless. A six-core CPU and 12-core GPU deliver up to 30 percent faster CPU performance and 40 percent faster graphics performance than the industry-leading A9X chip, while delivering all-day battery life.
iPad Pro is the perfect device to shoot, edit and share pro-quality photos and videos. It features the same advanced front- and back-facing cameras as iPhone 7, including a 12-megapixel camera with optical image stabilization, along with a 7-megapixel FaceTime HD camera. iPad Pro also features a four-speaker audio system, providing powerful, clear and rich stereo sound in any orientation. An embedded Apple SIM and support for 802.11ac Wi-Fi and LTE Advanced make it easier to stay connected when traveling in more than 180 countries and regions.
Touch ID on iPad Pro is more responsive and gives users a simple and secure way to unlock iPad, keep personal information private within apps and approve purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store and iBooks Store. With Apple Pay on iPad, paying for physical goods and services within apps or on websites in Safari has never been easier.
iOS 11, coming this fall, introduces powerful new features for iPad, including:
A new customizable Dock that provides quick access to frequently used apps and documents from any screen;
Improved multitasking, including a redesigned app switcher that brings Spaces to iOS, making it easier to move between apps or pairs of active apps, used in Split View and now Slide Over;
The new Files app that keeps everything in one place, whether files are stored locally, in iCloud Drive or across other providers like Box, Dropbox and more;
Multi-Touch Drag and Drop, which is available across the system to move text, photos and files from one app to another, anywhere on the screen;
A new document scanner in Notes, which lets users easily scan single or multi-page documents, removes shadows and uses powerful image filters to enhance readability; and
Deeper integration with Apple Pencil, with support for inline drawing to write along text in Notes and Mail, Instant Markup to easily sign documents, annotate PDFs or draw on screenshots, and a new Instant Notes feature, which opens Notes from the Lock Screen by simply tapping Apple Pencil on the display. New searchable handwriting makes it easy to search for handwritten text or characters.
Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard, available for purchase separately, bring breakthrough levels of precision and utility to iPad Pro. Advanced sensors in Apple Pencil measure both pressure and tilt for natural drawing, annotating and note-taking. A new full-sized Smart Keyboard has been custom designed for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro, offering a thin yet durable keyboard that never needs to be charged or paired over Bluetooth and is easily foldable into a protective Smart Cover.
Pricing and Availability
The 10.5-inch iPad Pro comes in silver, space gray, gold and rose gold and starts at $649 (US) for the 64GB with Wi-Fi model and $779 (US) for the 64GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is available in silver, space gray and gold and starts at $799 (US) for the 64GB Wi-Fi model and $929 (US) for the 64GB Wi-Fi + Cellular model. For more information, visit apple.com/ipad.
The new iPad Pro models are available to order beginning today from apple.com and will start delivering to customers next week. Both models will also be available next week in Apple Stores, through select carriers and Apple Authorized Resellers (prices may vary) in the US and 37 additional countries and regions, including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. India, Turkey, UAE and other countries and regions will follow later this month. Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and other countries and territories will follow in July.
Apple Pencil is available for $99 (US). The Smart Keyboard is available in charcoal gray for $159 (US) for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and $169 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro with layouts for over 30 languages, including simplified Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish.
A new Leather Sleeve is available for both the 10.5-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro in a range of colors for $129 (US) and $149 (US), respectively. A new Apple Pencil Case is available in a range of colors for $29 (US). iPad Pro Smart Covers are available in polyurethane and leather in a variety of colors for $49 (US) and $69 (US) for the 10.5-inch iPad Pro and for $59 (US) and $79 (US) for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro at apple.com and Apple Stores.
Every customer who buys iPad Pro from Apple will be offered free Personal Setup, in-store or online, to help them customize their iPad Pro by setting up email, showing them new apps from the App Store and more.
Anyone who wants to start with the basics or go further with their new iPad Pro can sign up for free sessions at apple.com/today. ”
So, our take on the iPad Pro? First, the 10.5-inch model is genius, providing 20% more screen real estate than the 9.7-inch model at the same weight of the older model. The addition of the more powerful camera and the A10X Fusion chip will make both the iPad Pros quite a bit more useful as well. But the big difference will come this fall with the special features for iPad that are built into iOS 11.
The new all-in-ones deliver powerful performance for 3D graphics, video editing and gaming, and, with the upcoming macOS High Sierra, are a great platform for virtual reality content creation, says John Ternus, Apple’s vice president of Hardware Engineering.
The updated iMac features faster Kaby Lake processors up to 4.2GHz with Turbo Boost up to 4.5GHz and supports up to twice the memory (32GB or 64GB in 21.5-inch and 27-inch models, respectively) as the previous generation. The Fusion Drive — which combines the large storage capacity of a hard drive with the high performance of flash — is now standard on all 27-inch configurations and the top-end 21.5-inch iMac. SSD storage options are now up to 50% faster, and iMac comes with Thunderbolt 3, the most powerful and versatile port ever.
Graphics on iMac are much more powerful across the line with the new Radeon Pro 500-series graphics with up to 8GB of vRAM. The 21.5-inch model delivers up to three times faster performance and the 27-inch model is up to 50% faster.
The new iMac’s display is 43% brighter at 500 nits and adds support for one billion colors.
Apple also today updated the MacBook and MacBook Pro with faster Kaby Lake processors, added faster SSDs to the 12-inch MacBook and introduced a new $1,299 13-inch MacBook Pro.
The MacBook now features Kaby Lake processors up to 1.3GHz Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz and up to 50% faster SSD, and supports up to twice the memory.
The updated 13-inch MacBook Pro features Kaby Lake processors up to 3.5GHz Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 4.0 GHz, and the 15-inch MacBook Pro goes up to 3.1GHz Core i7 with Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz. The 15-inch MacBook Pro now comes standard with more powerful discrete graphics with more video memory, and the 13-inch MacBook Pro adds a new $1,299 configuration.
Although I thought it would be discontinued, Apple also updated the 13-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8GHz processor.
The updated iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air are available to order today on Apple.com, and available to buy in Apple Stores starting on Wednesday, June 7. Additional technical specifications, configure-to-order options and accessories are available online at apple.com/mac.
