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It is a big day for iPad fans, with Apple launching its top-of-the-range iPad Pro 2024, with the long-awaited M4 chip as its beating heart.
The new iPad Pro has a 10-core GPU, an OLED screen named “Ultra Retina XDR display“, and the surprise debut of the M4 chip with 28 billion transistors. It is available in 11-inch and 13-inch forms and is the thinnest iPad ever at 5.1mm.
The M4 comes with Apple’s fastest Neural Engine, capable of up to 38 trillion operations per second, which is “faster than the neural processing unit of any AI PC today”, according to the tech giant — and allowing for some fascinating AI use-cases on the device.
The GPU architecture brings Dynamic Caching, hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading to iPad for the first time. Which are all good things for gamers in particular.
Apple also unveiled the new iPad Air, also as 11-inch and 13-inch models, and a new ‘Magic Pen Pro‘ and new Magic Keyboard.
The starting storage for either version of the iPad Pro is 256GB —climbing to 2TB — and prices start at $999 for the 11-inch model, and $1,299 for the 13-inch. They will be available in-store on May 15.
There is plenty to unpack from Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad event of May 7, 2024 — let’s dig in.
Key Takeaways
- Apple equips 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models with an OLED display for the first time.
- The new iPad Pro delights fans by debuting Apple’s AI-equipped M4 chip.
- Available for pre-order and in-store from May 15, starting at $999 for the 11-inch model and $1,299 for the 13-inch iPad Pro.
- The base iPad Pro storage begins at 256GB.
- Alongside the new iPad? A new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard with a larger trackpad.
When is the iPad Pro 2024 Release Date?
Release Date: May 15, 2024
The stars aligned for May, with Apple announcing the iPad Pro at the ‘Let Loose’ event on May 7.
The presentation streamed live at 10AM Eastern on Apple’s website, as well as the company’s YouTube channel.
As the presentation was held, pre-orders opened for both models of the new iPad Pro 2024, with Apple promising the tablets will be available in-store on May 15.
iPad Pro 2024 Tech Specs & Features
M4 Chip, OLED Screen, ‘Thinnest Ever Model’
Apple Debuts M4 Chip
Along with the OLED panel, the star of the show is the M4 chip, which Apple says can deliver the same performance as M2 using just half the power and — compared with the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop — can deliver the same performance using just a fourth of the power.
The M4’s Neural Engine is dedicated to accelerating artificial intelligence (AI) workloads, with Apple calling it an “outrageously powerful chip for AI,” allowing AI tasks on-device.
Examples cited by Apple of on-board AI tasks include isolating a subject from its background throughout a 4K video in Final Cut Pro, and automatically creating musical notation in real time in StaffPad by simply listening to someone play the piano.
OLED Screen
The M4 also powers an entirely new display engine designed with what Apple says are pioneering technologies, ‘enabling the stunning precision, color accuracy, and brightness uniformity of the Ultra Retina XDR display — a state-of-the-art display created by combining the light of two OLED panels’.
The new iPad Pro supports 1000 nits of full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR content, and 1600 nits peak for HDR.
iPad Pro Storage
Storage introduces a slight nuance to the flavor of the M4 offering: iPAd Pro models with 256GB or 512GB storage feature the Apple M4 chip with a 9‑core CPU, while iPad Pro models with 1TB or 2TB storage feature the Apple M4 chip with a 10‑core CPU.
A Final Finish… Nano-Texture Glass
An extra touch — albeit a pricey one — is the option to have nano-texture glass on the display.
Most of us will know the feeling of sitting under glare or a bright light-source, meaning you are more likely to change places than continue staring at half a reflection.
Some of us may have gone further and installed a matte-finish screen protector to remove the glare, but this often reduces screen brightness.
Nano-texture glass, where Apple has literally etched a pattern onto the glass itself, combines the best of both worlds:
The etchings dissipate and remove external glare from the screen, without muting the colors or the brightness of the display itself.
The finish is only available on the 1TB and 2TB models at an extra cost of $100. So for a 1TB 13-inch iPad, you would look to spend $1,999.
iPad Pro 2024 Prices
Price: Starting at $999 (11-inch), $1,299 (13-inch)
The Ipad Pro 2024 arrives in shops on May 15 — it can be pre-ordered now — and is priced at $999 for the 11-inch, 256GB base model, or $1,299 for the 13-inch IPad Pro.
Prices rise rapidly when you start adding memory and other features — you will pay $2,599 for the top-of-the-range, 2TB, 5g-enabled, 13-inch iPad Pro.
iPad Pro 2024 Colors
Silver or Space Black
You have a choice of two for now — Silver or Space Black. The new iPad Air also offers Blue, Purple and Starlight, and maybe these variations will come to the iPad Pro in time.
But for now, those are your choices!
The Bottom Line
Central to the 2024 model’s appeal is the iPad Pro 2024 M4 chip and, for the first time, an OLED display. But whether it’s worth an expensive replacement will depend entirely on your specific needs.
However, Apple is correct when it says nothing like this exists in a similar form factor. Welcome to the world, iPad Pro and M4, and welcome to the most advanced tablet on the planet.
