Apple's new 12.9-inch iPad Pro: liquid XDR mini-LED display + 5G

Apple has finally announced its new 2021 iPad Pro which packs a next-gen mini-LED display, 5G connectivity, and up to 2TB of storage.

3

The new 2021 iPad Pro is available in two sizes with the 11-inch and 12.9-inch while being new 2021 iPad Pro models in the same family, are very different underneath. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro packs the new mini-LED display, while the smaller 11-inch iPad Pro does NOT have a mini-LED display -- that's a very big difference. If you want the best, you'll need the larger 12.9-inch iPad Pro and you'll pay a premium for it.

The 11-inch Liquid Retina display is an LED-backlit display with IPS technology, a native resolution of 2388 x 1668 with 264 PPI. The bigger and meaner 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display is the star of the show here, with a mini-LED-backlit display with a native resolution of 2732 x 2048 with 264 PPI.

3

Apple says the 11-inch iPad Pro has up to 600 nits of brightness, while the mini-LED-backlit 12.9-inch iPad Pro hits the same 600 nits of brightness, but then has full-screen brightness of up to 1000 nits and up to 1600 nits of peak brightness with HDR content. Wowzers.

• Read more: Apple's new 2021 iPad Pro with Mini LED display should launch in April
• Read more: Apple's first 5G iPad will have next-gen micro-LED display in 2021
• Read more: Apple drops $330 million into MicroLED display factory in Taiwan

Apple uses its M1 system-on-chip for the new iPad Pro, packing the same 8-core CPU and 8-core GPU that even the new 2021 iMac uses. The new iPad Pro has 5G connectivity for the first time ever in an iPad, studio-quality microphones and Apple's LiDAR camera on the rear.

The new iPad Pro introduces a new ultra-wide TrueDepth camera that packs a 12-megapixel sensor and 120-degree field of view. Apple says this is key to what they're referring to as "Center Stage". What this does it keeps your position in the center of the 'stage' when you're on a video call. Not only that, but the iPad Pro will automatically crop the video to suit it, expanding the frame if someone walks onto the 'stage' next to you. A small, but impressive touch.

3

The charging port has been upgraded to USB 4.0 but also supports Thunderbolt, with up to 480Gbps of bandwidth -- 4x increase over the previous-gen iPad Pro. The new iPad Pro supports Apple Pencel of course, with Apple Pencil 2 supported with seven languages included in iPadOS Scribble.

Apple's new 11-inch iPad Pro starts at $799 while the larger Mini LED-based 12.9-inch iPad Pro begins at $1099, a $300 premium and we aren't even getting started. Apple's new 12.9-inch iPad Pro fully configured with an insane 2TB of internal storage will cost you over $2000 -- let that sink in for a minute.