iPad Pro (2021): 5 standout features that make the best tablet even better

The first major update to the iPad Pro in three years does not disappoint.

- JASON CROSS

Apple released a new iPad Pro in 2020—a year and a half after the prior update—but it wasn’t much of a change. A new camera module that included LiDAR and an Ultra-Wide lens were fine features, but the iPad isn’t really the thing people reach for when they want to take great photos. The processor was updated to the A12Z, which was just the same as the A12X but with a single GPU core, disabled on the A12X, reenabled. The iPad had more storage, but that’s just a function of the inevitable march of time.

So the iPad Pro was overdue for a more significant update, and with the new 5th-generation iPad Pro, we finally have it. Here are the highlights that make this year’s iPad Pro special.

THE M1 PROCESSOR MAKES IT FAST AS ALL GET-OUT

We were impressed by the M1 in the new Apple silicon Macs (fave.co/3sYA3Da), and now the same chip is in the iPad Pro. The M1 is basically what we would have expected from an A14X—it’s like an A14 with double the high-performance cores (4 instead of 2), double the GPU cores (8 instead of 4), and double the memory bus width (128-bit instead of 64-bit).

In addition to the much faster CPU and graphics, storage access is twice as fast as in the previous iPad Pro and the new model is available with up to 2TB of storage (though it’ll cost you an extra $400). On models with less than 1TB of storage, the new iPad Pro models come with 8GB of RAM. On models with 1TB or 2TB of storage, they come with 16GB of RAM. That’s the first time we haven’t relied on a teardown to get the RAM specs, which is a notable change.

THE 12.9-INCH MODEL HAS A LIQUID RETINA XDR DISPLAY