M2 upgrade for iPad Pro and USB-C for iPad
Apple has introduced the sixth generation of the iPad Pro with M2 chipset and for the first time gives the standard iPad in its tenth edition a USB-C port.
Externally, it is difficult to distinguish the new iPad Pro from its predecessor. Changes only affect components inside and related software functions. In a nutshell: M2, Wi-Fi 6E, ProRes video recording and faster recognition of the Apple Pencil. With the tenth-generation iPad, on the other hand, Apple is making significant colour accents, making the display slightly larger, treating the camera to a higher resolution and switching from Lightning to USB-C.
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iPad Pro: Even faster, new video standard and a floating Apple Pencil
For the M2 chipset in the iPad Pro, Apple is making the usual comparisons: The CPU is up to 15 per cent faster than the M1, the Neural Engine can perform 40 per cent more computing operations and the RAM bandwidth is increased by 50 per cent. Sounds great, but already the M1 in the iPad Pro 2021 is unlikely to have pushed many people to its performance limits.
The M2 chipset then also brings Wi-Fi 6E to the iPad Pro. Compared to the previous models with Wi-Fi 6, this is also only a small, to even only theoretical improvement.
Those who use the iPad Pro for recording videos can now make use of a new codec. ProRes videos are possible at 4K with up to 30 frames per second. However, the iPhone 14 Pro still remains the handier device for this.
If you use the Apple Pencil, you are likely to see and perhaps use one new feature frequently. The iPad Pro recognises the Pencil as early as twelve millimetres above the display and displays a preview of where the Pencil will meet the screen.
iPad: USB-C and many more improvements
The iPad Pro already switched from Lightning to USB-C a long time ago. Now the conventional iPad is following suit. The departure from Apple's own connector may not be entirely voluntary in view of the Vorgaben der EU, but it should make it easier for many people to find the right cable. That is not the only noticeable change.
The predecessor was only offered by Apple in silver and space grey. The tenth generation of the iPad will be more colourful: Silver, pink, blue and yellow are available. In addition, the screen has increased by 0.7 inches to 10.9 inches - with the overall dimensions of the device remaining almost unchanged. The fingerprint sensor for TouchID has moved from the front to the upper edge. This thins the bezel around the display.
The chipset installed is the A14 Bionic, effectively the leap in performance from the iPhone 11 to the iPhone 12, and with it comes the move to 5G, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 - the ninth-generation iPad was still at 4G, Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2.
For the main camera on the new iPad, Apple is increasing the resolution to twelve megapixels - up from eight megapixels previously. The aperture increases in the same move from f/2.4 to f/1.8. And you can now shoot 4K video with iPad
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Prices and availability
Sales of the sixth-generation iPad Pro are scheduled to start on 26 October. You'll still have the choice of an 11-inch or 12.9-inch variant. Price-wise, the small iPad Pro starts at 1049 euros for the WLAN variant and 1249 euros for the LTE version in Germany. In Switzerland, the prices are 929 and 1099 Swiss francs. For the large iPad Pro, the minimum price is 1449 or 1469 euros and 1249 or 1419 francs.
The iPad with USB-C costs at least 579 or 779 euros in Germany. In Switzerland, prices start at 499 and 669 Swiss francs for the WLAN and LTE variants.
When I was but a young student, I'd sit in my friend's living room with all my classmates and play on his SuperNES. Since then I've had the opportunity to test out all the newest technology for you. I've done reviews at Curved, Computer Bild and Netzwelt, and have now arrived at Galaxus.de.