It’s been a while since Apple updated the iPad Pro. Six months ago, there was a leak that showed the new camera setup a la iPhone 11 Pro — and now it’s finally confirmed as Apple quietly announced the new iPad Pro for 2020.

Pro performance and trackpad support

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The new iPad Pro features a newer A12Z Bionic Chipset. Built to meet your needs, it can handle tasks like 4K video editing or even 3D modeling. It’s currently the highest performing iPad in the market. Apple even claims that it performs faster than most Windows laptops.

With its incredible performance, the power-efficient eight-core chipset also saves battery life by up to 10 hours of usage. Although it doesn’t support 5G yet, it promises faster Wi-Fi connectivity and LTE speed is 60 percent faster with more LTE band support.

With the newer iPadOS 13.4, it now has a trackpad support. It’s responsible for making the user’s typing experience more natural, while text selection is more precise. The cursor displays as a circle which highlights UI elements, text fields, and even apps on both the home screen and dock. It also lets you enjoy web scrolling, photo viewing, organizing mails, text editing, presentations, spreadsheets, and more.

Pro audiovisual experience

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Just like its predecessor, the new iPad Pro features an edge-to-edge Liquid Retina Display that comes in two sizes — 11-inch and a bigger 12.9-inch. TrueTone still exists to automatically adjust screen tint. Thanks to ProMotion technology, you’ll still enjoy fluid animations with 120Hz refresh rate. It also supports P3 wide color display gamut with vivid colors and better contrast which makes it the world’s “most advanced mobile display”.

As the new iPad Pro are made for professionals and content creators, the audio experience is also upgraded. You get five studio-quality microphones for a cleaner and more dynamic audio. Other than that, you also get a four-speaker setup which brings an immersive audio experience right in front of you.

Pro cameras

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Even though the new iPad Pro has an iPhone 11 Pro-like camera bump, don’t be mistaken as it only features a dual camera setup instead of three. Nonetheless, it’s still an upgrade from last year’s iPad Pro. There’s a 12-megapixel wide camera for your regular shots, combined with a 10-megapixel ultra-wide camera for a wider shot perspective. It improves not just photo capabilities, but also video shooting meant for the creative pros.

The third sensor you’ll find on the square cutout is the LiDAR Scanner — a breakthrough feature of the new iPad Pro. The scanner is responsible for measuring distance of objects around you of up to 5 meters away. Whether indoors or outdoors, you’ll have a great AR experience with Apple’s new tablet.

It also improves your usage with the Measure app. The scanner can automatically calculate someone’s height while measuring the width and length of objects is faster and more accurate. The app now comes with Ruler View that displays precise measurements and allows the user to save everything through screenshots for future use.

Pro accessories

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The new iPad Pro comes with new accessories including the second-generation Apple Pencil and an updated Smart Keyboard Folio. Other than those accessories, the new Magic Keyboard now features a floating design with cantilevered hinges that allow smooth adjustments of viewing angles up to 130 degrees. The keyboard design relies on scissor mechanism that delivers 1mm travel and has backlit support.

The new keyboard also features USB-C pass-through charging which keeps the USB-C port on the new iPad Pro free for accessories like external drives and displays. There’s also the click-anywhere trackpad for easy navigation and precise touch experience and adjustments.

Pricing and availability

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You can order the new iPad Pro on Apple’s website right now. Starting with the 11-inch new iPad Pro, the base model (128GB + Wi-Fi only) starts at US$ 799 while the Wi-Fi + Cellular model with base storage has a retail price of US$ 949. Meanwhile, the base configuration of the bigger 12.9-inch new iPad Pro starts at US$ 999 and the Wi-Fi + cellular model retails at US$ 1,149.

New iPad Pro “virtual” hands-on! #iPadPro2020 #AR pic.twitter.com/AQxGql0wdV

— Michael Josh (@michaeljosh) March 18, 2020

Other than the 128GB storage option, you also get to choose between 256GB, 512GB, and even a 1TB configuration. Color options are limited to silver and space gray only.

For the accessories, the new Magic Keyboard will be available starting in May for US$ 299 (11-inch model) and US$ 349 (12.9-inch). Meanwhile the new Smart Keyboard Folio is being sold for US$ 179 and US$ 199 respectively. Lastly, the second-generation Apple Pencil retails at US$ 129.