It starts at $1,099 for a 128GB version, but increased storage and accessories like a keyboard or the Apple Pencil can shoot the price up fairly quickly. The benefit of OLED is that the black pixels are not lit at all, meaning you get superb contrast, but they are relatively expensive and don’t get as bright. Mini LED, the technology powering the 12.9-inch iPad Pro display, is designed to bring the LCD panel as close as possible to OLED’s contrast and black levels. (“Liquid Retina,” as far as Apple has ever told us, refers to the Apple-specific method of making round corners on an LCD.) The funny thing about the 12.9-inch iPad is that it is very easy to miss the benefits of Mini LED in normal day-to-day use. When you do that, the iPad Pro kicks into a different HDR mode (or in Apple’s parlance, XDR, for “Extreme Dynamic Range”) that really is stunning.
The joke I’ve been telling people is that the display is so good that Tenet actually makes sense when you watch it on this iPad Pro. I am not a display quality enthusiast, but this screen is functionally equivalent to a high-end OLED TV to my eyes, especially in a dark room.
It just does a better job showing fine detail in situations where dark and light elements get mixed together, like with hair or a building reflecting sunlight. Putting either the Kindle app or Apple Books into dark mode and viewing them in a near-pitch black room, I noticed a strange gray haze around all of the text blocks. For me, the quality of the display when watching video on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is impressive, but it’s also not at the top of my list of priorities when picking a computer. Both iPad Pro models have great cameras plus a LiDAR sensor Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
Both the RAM and the M1 processor are specs that won’t make an appreciable difference to the vast majority of iPad users. They’re specs that will matter to certain “pro” users who have found specific apps and workflows that push the limit of what an iPad can do. I also tested out some admittedly old LaCie Thunderbolt 2 drives with an adapter and couldn’t get them to show up in the Files app. On the Mac, I can easily change settings to let my computer know to play audio out of its own speakers since I don’t have anything hooked up to the dock for sound.
Seemingly every new iPad Pro inspires an admittedly exhausting but also necessary discussion about whether or not iPadOS is actually capable enough to justify the price of the hardware that runs it. To me, the biggest difference between the Mac and the iPad at this point isn’t the touchscreen, it’s Apple’s approach to the operating system.
That’s noble, but it means the company has committed itself to reinventing a lot of wheels in computing: files, peripheral support, multi-window interfaces, and all the rest have to be re-thought and re-done. The iPad’s “windowing” system takes some getting used to and has its limitations, but it can be a joy to use and makes organizing your digital stuff a bit easier. It works in any video conferencing app without the need for setup and it performs very well, better than similar features on smart displays like the Echo Show or Facebook Portal. I’d love it even more if the front-facing cameras on the iPad Pro weren’t still in the wrong spot when attached to a keyboard — off to the side instead of centered on top.
One more note: Apple has said that the original 12.9-inch Magic Keyboard “may not precisely fit when closed” as the new iPad Pro is slightly thicker. The company clearly intends this to be a single-user device, despite the fact that it would theoretically make for an even more compelling family computer than the pastel-colored iMacs that share the same processor.
But to give Apple the benefit of the doubt here, if you’re looking strictly at the iPad Pro as a work machine, you’re probably missing the point. It’s easy to take for granted, but the hardware in this tablet really is amazing: Face ID, dual rear cameras that are quite good and paired with LiDAR, quad speakers with superb sound and decent volume, excellent microphones, support for the Apple Pencil, the best screen you can get on a portable device, and on and on. Except for a slim minority of people, the justification for getting an iPad Pro isn’t its feature set, it’s the experience of using a well-made, high-end object.
Apple iPad Pro (2021, M1) Review: Overburdened With Power
This might change soon, as the company is set to debut a new version of iPadOS in a few weeks at its Worldwide Developer Conference. Whereas previous iPad Pros had 72 LEDs behind the screen to illuminate the display, the latest model bumps that number to more than 10,000.
To put it to the test, I watched several scenes of Zack Snyder’s Justice League on the 2020 iPad Pro and the 2021 version with Mini LEDs.
The significantly improved contrast on the newer machine makes the film look cleaner and sharper too. This display impresses whether you’re gaming—it still maintains the 120-Hz refresh rate for smooth and responsive gameplay—sketching with the Apple Pencil, or editing photos in Lightroom. Its benchmark scores resembled the MacBook Air’s results while beating the 2020 iPad Pro by a wide margin.
Both handled all my usual tasks with ease, whether it was sketching, writing, editing with several Safari tabs open, or even playing long sessions of Civilization VI. Most people aren’t going to tap into that extra power the M1 offers, especially because full-on desktop versions of apps are lacking.
Of course, there will be folks that can harness this new power, like if you’re the type to edit multiple streams of 4K video or render complex CAD models. I also spent several days purely working off the iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard, and once or twice, I had to switch back to my desktop. It’s because the content management system we use here at WIRED acts up sometimes on the iPad and doesn’t allow me to tap certain buttons on the screen (it works fine on my PC).
iPad Pro (2021, M1) Review
The 2021 iPad Pro is powered by the same M1 chip as the 2020 MacBook Air and other recently released Macs, which is big news. I wrote articles, worked on this very review, edited photos, and only found myself absolutely needing to return to my Windows PC or iMac to play games that aren’t available on iPad OS. The model I tested features a massive 12.9-inch display that dominates the front of the unit, surrounded by a uniformly chunky bezel. Although it’s only nominally fingerprint-resistant, the oleophobic (oil-repellent) display feels nice and smooth whether operated by touch or Apple Pencil.
The camera array is in the upper left corner, and the familiar three dots of a Smart Connector are near the bottom edge. There is no thumbprint sensor, but the 2021 iPad Pro supports Face ID, which I found to work flawlessly regardless of glasses and messy hair in the morning.
The bigger version of the 2021 iPad Pro comes equipped with what Apple refers to as a Liquid Retina XDR display. Aside from the M1 chip, which I’ll get to in a moment, the display is one of the most compelling reasons to upgrade if you already have an older iPad Pro. The sheer number of LEDs packed into the display allows for better contrast control, including absolutely abyssal blacks, right next to bright whites, and everything in between.
The smaller iPad Pro features the same True Tone display, wide color gamut, and great pixel density as the larger one, but it’s nowhere near as bright.
Eager to see exactly what an M1 iPad is capable of, I immediately installed and ran benchmark apps after I finished unboxing. After successfully pairing an Xbox controller, I found the gameplay in Genshin to be every bit as buttery-smooth as I’m used to on my actual gaming rig.
I ran through my Genshin dailies in no time at all and even killed my weekly world bosses, which is something I’ve never really enjoyed doing on mobile devices. Unfortunately, despite the impressively powerful M1 chip, there’s no way the iPad Pro is going to take over as my main mobile gaming rig. While the iPad Pro feels a little clunky as a tablet with its big 12.9-inch display, I found it surprisingly competent as a laptop replacement. The iPad Pro leaves a bit to be desired in a few areas, like file management, which makes me shy away from using it as a work machine full time.
I still prefer macOS or Windows for many tasks, but the iPad Pro makes a strong case for itself when paired with a Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil. The speakers are loud, clear, and more than high enough quality to stream music, play games, and watch TV and movies without plugging in a headset.
It features 802.11ax Wi-Fi 6 with simultaneous dual-band, HT80 with MIMO, and Bluetooth 5.0, and the version I tested also supports 5G, LTE, and a handful of other wireless data standards. I’ll stick with my LTE Google Fi SIM for now since the network is stronger where I am, but the 5G compatibility will likely come in handy down the line.
Since the iPad Pro has a 12MP front camera with a 122-degree depth of field, it’s able to grab just the relevant part of the shot without losing detail.
Snapping photos and taking videos with a 12.9-inch tablet is a little awkward, but the results come out great in a variety of lighting conditions, with excellent color and clarity. Even with the powerful M1 chip and massive Retina Display to feed, the battery can still keep the iPad Pro running all day. During heavier use, editing images, and other resource-intensive tasks, I still squeezed an entire eight-hour workday out of the iPad Pro battery.
During heavier use, editing images and other resource-intensive tasks, I still squeezed a full eight-hour workday out of the iPad Pro battery. Features that showed up a year earlier in iOS, like the App Drawer and Smart Widgets, are finally available, along with a number of other welcome changes and additions. You can access the menu by tapping an ellipses icon located at the top of compatible apps, and it’s pretty intuitive. While iPadOS still has a ways to go before I’d be comfortable using the iPad Pro as a full-time laptop replacement, the multitasking improvements in this latest iteration bring it closer than ever before. While iPadOS still has a ways to go before I’d be comfortable using the iPad Pro as a full-time laptop replacement, the multitasking improvements in this latest iteration bring it closer than ever before. The elephant in the room here is that even though iPadOS 15 brings a lot to the table and helps showcase what the new iPad Pro is truly capable of, it still isn’t macOS.
So while each new version of iPadOS brings welcome improvements, you’ll still need to break out an actual laptop for any task that requires an app that’s only available on macOS. It isn’t future-proof in the same way as the M1 iPad Pro, but it’s still a good deal if you don’t need a bigger display or the extra power.
iPad Pro 12.9 (M1, 2021) review: Overkill for most students, but impressive none the less
Why you can trust Live Science Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best ones for you. It’s got the same processor as the iPad Pro (the M1 found in Apple’s laptop lineup), but at the base end it costs $500 less. There is an iPad Pro 11-inch, which, apart from the obvious size difference and a slightly dimmer screen, is identical in terms of tech specs.
Part of that is down to just how huge the screen feels, with thinner bezels than seemed possible back when the first iPad Pro debuted.
On one side you’ll find a volume rocker and a spot to magnetically attach an Apple Pencil (more on accessories shortly), but the only port to be found here is a USB-C one at the ‘bottom’ (again, speaking in portrait terms). Whether you’re playing games on it, running multiple apps in multitasking, or getting creative with the Apple Pencil, the iPad Pro 12.9-inch simply won’t break a sweat – and the 10-11 hours of battery life on a device this svelte is pretty incredible and also a testament to the M1’s power efficiency.
If you’re looking for something just for web browsing, writing up notes, or sending emails, it’s likely to be overkill, but Apple has yet to fully embrace the iPad Pro as a professional machine. It’s a big step, and combined with the Magic Keyboard the iPad Pro is now closer than ever to being a laptop replacement – although there’s still some way to go. Digital artists will no doubt love the freedom of being able to create masterpieces on the go, while note-takers will be able to enjoy scribbling things down when the mood strikes. That’s as much to highlight the alternatives as it is to point out what a high cost it is, with prices for the iPad Pro 12.9 starting at $1,099 with 128 GB of storage.
Considering an iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard can cost around $1,500, you could pick up the all-new MacBook Air M2 for around $300 less and arguably get a more capable machine because of macOS’ flexibility. That gets you a smaller, less dazzling display and no FaceID (and a basic 64 GB of storage), but it’s tough to point to any one feature on the iPad Pro 12.9-inch that feels like you’d pay half a grand for.
Amazon reviewers are particularly pleased with the iPad Pro M1, with particular praise for the display and the responsiveness of the touch screen. It’s an incredible piece of hardware, sure, but if you don’t take advantage of all that it offers it’d be like buying a Ferrari without having a driver’s license. As we’ve mentioned a few times, it’s hard to count out the iPad Air for the significantly lower price, even with some minor corners cut.
iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) review
It isn’t for everyone though, on account of its large size and high price tag, and you may be better served by another more portable and affordable tablet, but make no mistake: this is the best of the best. The biggest caveats are that it’s incredibly expensive, and that it’s an overwhelmingly large device for those who don’t need a screen this big. This is slightly smaller and costs less than the 12.9-inch model, with a screen that measures just 11-inches across, but in terms of specs it’s an identical tablet. For those who can handle both the physical size and the price tag, though, the iPad Pro 2021 is an outstanding offering that boasts next-gen power, a fantastic display experience, and everything else we’ve come to love from Apple’s very best tablets.
The new Liquid Retina XDR Mini LED display is gorgeous, with max brightness levels unseen on other tablets – this slate can compete with the likes of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 Plus, which felt like a major upgrade for tablet screens just last year. Then there’s the power – much has been made of Apple’s M1 chipset, and this is the first time the company has included its new, own-brand silicon in an iPad.
Probably not, but if you want some truly impressive power that blows every other tablet out of the water, again the latest iPad Pro is a great choice. You likely won’t appreciate having this much power on tap unless you’re intensively gaming, using power-hungry apps, or pushing the tablet to its multi-tasking limits.
There’s a higher-capacity storage variant than ever before at 2TB, a new Center Stage camera feature that keeps you in the frame on video calls, and Thunderbolt 4 support in the USB-C slot. Battery life is solid – in our testing we found that the tablet would last for around 10 hours on a full charge. The iPad Pro 2021 is a phenomenal machine that’s a must-have if you’re an Apple evangelist, or if money is no object when you’re buying your next tablet. For a few weeks after launch, the iPad was pretty hard to buy due to supply shortages, but that’s long cleared up now.
The price for Apple’s top-specced 12.9-inch slate is remarkably high, and as we’ve mentioned, you’ll only want this tablet if you want the absolute best iPad on the market. The tablet has an aluminum rear and frame, and the front is glass with a scratch-resistant coating – but you’ll want to buy a case if you want to maximize protection against knocks and scrapes. Both look attractive, but at a time when the company is expanding its color choices for the new iMac with some striking tones, it’s a shame it isn’t giving us the option of a pastel pink or purple iPad Pro. The iPad Pro 2021 12.9-inch measures 280.6 x 214.9 x 6.4mm, which means it’s a touch thicker than the last-gen tablet, although it isn’t a difference we particularly noticed in everyday use.
Don’t expect a dramatically different looking iPad Pro here from Apple; instead the company has focused on improving the internals, along with the display. The display is one area where Apple has noticeably upped its game for the new iPad Pro 2021, with a top-end 12.9-inch screen.
If you’d prefer a smaller premium tablet you can buy the 2021 iPad Pro 11-inch, but the screen tech isn’t as impressive on that device. The 12.9-inch Pro’s display features new Mini LED technology that offers a crisp image as well as improved brightness. The company calls this a Liquid Retina XDR screen, and we’ve found it to provide a great viewing experience. It’s especially effective when you’re scrolling through social media feeds, or playing an intense game and need the image on the screen to keep pace with the action. The resolution is 2048 x 2732, which works out to 265 pixels per inch, which is similar to the quality you’d expect on a top Android tablet like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. This is one of the best visual experiences we’ve had on a tablet, and if display quality is an important factor in your choice of slate, the iPad Pro 2021 won’t disappoint.
If you’re a more typical iPad user, you may not notice this power jump in everyday tasks, but the new silicon is designed to make the iPad Pro a powerhouse device for those who need it, such as those who want to make music on their tablet, edit video, draw, or perform other power-intensive tasks. That’s a huge gap between the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus – which TechRadar currently ranks as the best Android tablet – that scored 2,846. 2TB of storage is the most we’ve ever seen on an iPad, and that’s impressively high if you want to be filling your slate full of video clips, audio and other files that take up a lot of space. 128GB does seem a touch limited if you’ll be filling your tablet with lots of apps, and media on top, so it’s something to be aware of before you make your purchase.
There’s 5G connectivity on this tablet for the first time, which means you can make the most of next-gen internet speeds if you opt for a more expensive cellular version of the iPad Pro. It isn’t going to stun you with what it’s capable of doing, but it’s good enough for everyday tasks and we found it useful in a variety of apps.
There’s also a time of flight sensor on the rear of the tablet, which is used to depth sensing for portrait mode Optional accessories are available for the iPad Pro, and the two main highlights are the existing Apple Pencil 2 as well as a new version of the company’s Magic Keyboard.
We found that the iPad Pro was capable of lasting the full 10 hours that Apple claims, with us performing a variety of tasks including web browsing, streaming video, writing in a word processor, gaming, and bouncing around a variety of apps. Unlike with Apple’s iPhone 12 series of smartphones, you do get a charger included in the box with the new iPad Pro 2021. Fast-charging isn’t that remarkable on the iPad Pro 2021, which means it takes a little longer to charge than some Android tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus. If you’re looking for solid battery life that will last you a whole working day plus a bit extra, the iPad Pro 12.9-inch should suit you just fine.
Your older tablet’s screen is looking tired One of the true highlights of the iPad Pro 12.9-inch is its gorgeous display. If you just need a tablet that’s great for browsing the web, and can run a variety of apps and play most games, you probably won’t need the new iPad Pro. If this iPad Pro 12.9 (2021) review hasn’t helped you decide on which tablet to buy, perhaps these three alternatives might pique your interest. Samsung’s Ultra-tab is a potent rival to the iPad Pro – it’s not quite as powerful but it has a bigger, better-looking screen and a stylus that you don’t have to buy separately.
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (M1, 2021) review
Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. The iPad is utterly dominant in the mainstream tablet market as well as the more specialist pro end, and yet the company isn’t resting on its laurels.
With this new iPad Pro (M1), it unveils two big leaps forward to give it an even bigger lead in a race that it has long since won.
The mini-LED backlight enables a clear improvement in vibrancy when compared to the previous model, but it’s not just the 1,600 nits of peak brightness and 1,000 nits of fullscreen brightness that stand out – the better control of local dimming means that darker areas have much more nuance and depth to them, with clear and precise shadow that houses detail, rather then the just the dim cloak of darkness that edge-lit LCD screens can suffer from.
For general use, the new iPad Pro (M1) sticks to the same 600-nit brightness as the model before, which helps to protect battery life. In SDR video, for example, darker areas of the screen still benefit from the better control of contrast, even without HDR’s information boost.
Because of the extra precision in the backlight, the white is able to be brighter and cleaner than the previous model, and the darkness can be deeper, with truer black tones. Apple fits a truly impressive speaker array in the iPad Pro (M1), with drivers in all four corners, which adjust their output depending on which way up you hold it, to be the best balance and produce a solid stereo effect.
Obviously, most video or audio pros will have their choice of headphones, but it’s nice to know that if you want to show off your work to anyone else quickly, they’ll hear it in good quality.
The multi-core is just a little lower than the M1 scored for us in the iMac 24-inch, which may be due to the thermal constraints of the fanless iPad compared to the cooled desktop. There’s no question that there’s a ridiculous amount of power here, but for most iPad tasks, the M1 doesn’t actually add anything more that’s perceptible. What the M1 provides is headroom for the iPad to get more and more ambitious… but this means that right now, the number of people who’ll really take advantage of it is low, and it may not be for lack of trying by users.
The M1 won’t be pushed by Apple’s own flagship music app on iPad, no matter how complex a user would be willing to get. The timing here clearly isn’t linked directly to processing power – other hardware acceleration is likely involved. Perhaps we’ll see iPad versions of Logic and Final Cut that arrive with iPadOS 15, ready to take the limiter off the M1, and really show what’s possible. And don’t even get us started on things like an image downloading, editing and uploading workflow… simple and easy on desktop, but painfully fiddly on iPad. The actual apps on iPad are better than you find on any other platform, and despite this issues, the interface overall is better for touchscreens than Windows tablets… but it still feels caught between trying to maintain the simplicity of its roots as a phone system, and the complexity if its ambitions to be a pro machine. As for battery life, Apple still aims for around 10 hours of standard light web use, and that fits with our experience. Testing the HDR video, we saw a drop of 25% over two hours, which suggests that the extra brightness definitely takes a toll, further explaining Apple’s 600-nit limitation most of the time. Basically, the front camera is an ultra-wide-angle 12MP affair, and when you enable Centre Stage in a video calling app, the software finds the person in shot, and crops the image just on them.
The dual rear cameras have had a couple of small boosts – there’s better image processing thanks to the M1, and the LiDAR sensor can now be used for faster autofocus, which makes a big difference in low light. This pairs nicely with the faster internal storage and M1’s speed for connecting with extremely high-speed accessories – photographers and videographers will probably be the biggest beneficiaries. That’s all great, but only having one port can be a bit awkward for charging the iPad while connecting to an accessory, depending on whether you’re going through a hub or not. Apple Pencil 2 remains unchanged, and works excellently here, and the 120Hz screen helps to keep responsiveness as good as you could want.
Our only real gripe is something unchanged from the previous model – the feel of the Pencil tip when it hits the glass is very hard, and isn’t an especially pleasant thing, compared to the softer plastics you tend to get on drawing tablets. As a keyboard, it’s excellent, and having the trackpad option is truly useful for a variety of apps, not the least of which is simply text editing, which we all have to get stuck into regularly, so it’s a good quality-of-life improvement. The power of the M1 means that it’s an incredibly future-proofed tool – whatever possibilities will exist on iPad in the future, this Pro will be able to handle them. Even if you don’t work in pro video, regular travellers will love having such a strong screen to watch.
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