"The biggest news in iPad since the iPad!" With those words at Apple's special event in San Francisco today, Apple CEO Tim Cook finally confirmed the iPad Pro, before handing over to Phil Schiller to talk about Apple's new tablet.
Schiller revealed that the iPad Pro has a 12.9-inch, 2,732 x 2,048-pixel display, with Schiller showing how the iPad Pro is exactly as wide as the iPad Air is tall. The screen will have the same 4:3 aspect ratio, and exactly the same pixel density as the iPad Air.
It really brings it home to you just how big the iPad Pro is when you see that the tablet’s on-screen keyboard is full laptop size.
The next part of the presentation showed how the larger iPad is ideally suited for multitasking apps side-by-side with the new multitasking features of iOS 9.
The new iPad Pro is powered by Apple’s new A9X system on a chip, which boasts double the memory bandwidth and graphics performance of the iPad Air 2’s A8X chip. According to Apple, this new chip is faster than 80% of portable PCs that have been sold in the last year. But despite this incredible leap in processing power, Apple says that the iPad Pro will be able to run for 10 hours without charging.
As far as vital statistics are concerned, the Pro is just 6.9mm thin, and weighs just 1.57 pounds.
Aside from all the innovation of the new tablet, there are also many familiar iPad features, including a front-facing FaceTime camera and an 8-megapixel iSight camera on the back, as well as a home button with Touch ID built in.
The iPad Pro will be available in silver, gold, and space grey. As far as price is concerned, the entry-level 32GB Wi-Fi-only version will cost $799, the 128GB Wi-Fi-only version will cost $949, and the LTE 128GB model will set you back $1079.
Because the iPad Pro is very much aimed at the professional user, Apple also announced two key accessories to go with the new tablet, the Apple Pencil stylus and Smart Keyboard.
The Apple Pencil stylus has pressure sensitivity, so if you press down harder on it, it will respond with a thicker or darker stroke. And in order to record your strokes as accurately as possible, the iPad Pro display will refresh at double the speed as normal. You can also use the Apple Pencil simultaneously with your finger, giving you even more control and finesse. The Apple Pencil has a Lightning connector so that you can charge it via the iPad Pro while you work.
The Smart Keyboard connects to the iPad Pro via the new Smart Connector port on the side of the tablet, which provides power as well as data to the keyboard. The keyboard has a full QWERTY keys layout, with each key using the same butterfly technology as the 12-inch Macbook.
The Apple Pencil stylus and Smart Keyboard will both launch in November, with the Smart Keyboard costing $169 and the Pencil $99.
Source: Apple, Engadget | Technology news, advice and features
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