In a highly anticipated “Let Loose” virtual event on May 7, 2024, Apple announced its latest iPad Pro models, featuring OLED displays, the thinnest designs yet, and enhanced internals. This upgrade comes as a significant leap for Apple’s flagship tablets, offering improved power and versatility in a sleek form factor.
The new iPad Pros mark Apple’s transition to OLED screens, with the 11-inch and 13-inch models benefiting from the rich color saturation, deeper blacks, and higher contrast ratios that OLED technology provides. This change addresses a long-standing request from users and brings greater visual performance, particularly for fans of the smaller 11-inch model. The OLED display allows the iPad Pros to reach 1,000 nits of peak full-screen brightness and up to 1,600 nits for HDR content, making them ideal for media consumption and professional work.
The 13-inch iPad Pro is Apple’s thinnest device ever, measuring just 5.1 millimeters thick, while the 11-inch variant is slightly thicker at 5.3 millimeters. Apple also introduced a nano-texture glass coating for those who prefer a matte display finish, offering reduced glare and enhanced visibility in bright environments.
The new iPad Pros are powered by Apple’s latest M4 chip, providing a significant boost in CPU performance compared to the previous generation’s M2 chip. Apple claims a 50% increase in CPU speed, with the M4 delivering the same performance as the M2 at half the power consumption, thanks to improved efficiency. The thermal performance has also seen a 20% enhancement, allowing the iPad Pro to handle intense workloads with greater stability.
The Magic Keyboard has been redesigned with premium materials, featuring an aluminum palm rest and a new function key row. The Apple Pencil Pro has also received an upgrade, with added features such as squeeze gestures, Find My location tracking, and a gyroscope for more nuanced drawing controls. Haptic feedback has also been introduced to enhance the user experience when using the Apple Pencil Pro.
The new iPad Pros come in two sizes, with base storage of 256GB, priced at $999 for the 11-inch model and $1,299 for the 13-inch variant. They are available for preorder starting today, with in-store availability on May 15th.
Apple’s shift to OLED technology is a major step forward, eliminating the blooming effect often seen with Mini LED displays and providing consistent high-quality visuals across both iPad Pro sizes. This update reinforces Apple’s vision of the iPad Pro as a viable laptop replacement, offering premium performance in a compact and thin design.
For more information about the new iPad Pros and their features, check out The Verge.
