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iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

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For Apple, the wording Pro has a very specific meaning: it indicates the devices in the range with the most advanced technical characteristics. The 12.9 ”iPad Pro from 2021 also perfectly embodies this definition. It is the first to feature an M1 chipset, the same one that Apple is also rolling out to Macs, and is the first iPad with 5G connectivity. It has a very bright Liquid Retina XDR screen with extraordinary color fidelity. It can also be configured to have up to 2TB of storage space.
However, if the purpose of the suffix is ​​extended to “Pro” to indicate its intended use, the age-old debate is back today: who are really the professionals for whom this device is intended? And what are the advantages of a tablet that, form factor aside, now has the same specifications and technical capabilities as an iMac or a Mac Mini? During our preview of the new 12.9 ”iPad Pro we tried to answer these and other questions about the most powerful Apple tablet ever.


iPad Pro 12.9 ”2021, in short

  • It is the first iPad to feature the M1 chipset, the same one that Apple has already ported to MacBook Air, MacBook Pro e Mac Mini in December 2020, and on the new colored 24 ”iMacs.
  • There is 5G, and it’s great news for those who need to transfer data (especially photos and videos) on the go. As a result of this novelty, the “cellular” option now costs more than the previous models
  • The Liquid Retina Display XDR screen is excellent. Thanks to the approximately 10,000 microLEDs with which it is backlit, it can guarantee greater contrast and more “real” blacks, as on OLED screens, thanks to the ability to selectively “turn off” entire portions of the screen.
  • The flagship model, like the one we tested, comes in at 2TB of storage. An option that will appeal especially to photographers and more generally to those who need to carry around heavy libraries of photos, videos or audio.
  • The new front TrueDepth camera is now ultra-wide, with a 122 ° angle of view. This feature enables a function called Center Stage: during a video call the iPad can follow the user’s face to keep it always within the frame.
  • The design remains almost unchanged compared to the 2020 model. It only slightly increases the thickness, which made it necessary to revise the Magic Keyboard covers. Previous generation cases are compatible but may not close perfectly.
iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

Why is the M1

The tests conducted on the iPad Pro during our tests speak for themselves: the results are similar to those of the Mac M1s of the end of 2020, halfway between the MacBook Air and the Mac mini. The only difference between this iPad and Mac is that computers in the range with more efficient cooling systems (Mac mini, MacBook Pro and iMac) can maintain peak performance longer. This is not a surprise, since there is no difference between the M1 chipset of these new iPads and that of the Macs. After all, if you look at the nerdy specifications (number, structure and arrangement of the cores) it is clear that the M1 chip is nothing more than the natural evolution of the A14.

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iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

If the transition of Macs to Apple chipsets had not yet begun, perhaps this iPad Pro would have an A14Z Bionic. That processor is called M1 instead, precisely, because Apple needed to put it on Macs: implementing an “A” series chip would not have changed the excellent performance of the new computers in any way, but would have made the marketing of the transition from Intel less effective. to ARM processors. The arrival of the M1 chip on the iPad Pro may therefore seem like a surprising move, but in reality it is a natural step in the evolution of the Apple chipset family. By equipping the new iPads with an M1-labeled chip, Apple has also reinforced a concept that they’ve been advocating in Cupertino for years: these tablets are full-fledged computers, distinguished from Macs only by their form factor and operating system.

How’s the new iPad Pro doing

The M1 chip, in practice, contributes to a substantial performance improvement, as is the case with every generation of iPad Pro. From users of the 2020 model model (A12Z Bionic chip) we can confirm that 50% more power and 40 % more graphics performance declared can be seen and heard. In particular, the performance leap is appreciated in the use of software such as Lightroom and Photoshop, but also in the transfer of large files (in this case the speed of the SSD and the USB 4 Thunderbolt connection also contributes). During our test we developed a photo session made with a Canon R5 professional camera. The new iPad Pro managed to import 26 Gigabytes of RAW photos in minutes, directly from the camera card, a Lexar Professional 300MB / s SD XC. Using a Compact Flash the import speed would have been even higher.

iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

Applying complex edits and advanced profiles to RAW photos on your device is almost instant, as is switching between Lightroom and Photoshop, which happens with “on the fly” conversions in seconds. Correcting or retouching images in Photoshop with Apple Pencil is then a surprising experience: the software recognizes wrinkles, dust and imperfections without making mistakes and automatically corrects the file in a fraction of a second. In these operations, already possible with the iPad Pro of 2020 but now even faster, it is possible to appreciate in particular the difference made by the 16 cores of the M1 Neural Engine. It is the portion of the chip dedicated to the processing of Machine Learning features, such as the retouching function we used on Photoshop.

Liquid Retina Display XDR e Centerstage

The Liquid Retina XDR display is the technical feature that more than any other makes the generational leap compared to the iPad of 2020 evident “to the naked eye”. The dynamic range of the new screen is nothing short of surprising, and the color rendering is comparable to that of professional studio displays that often cost more on their own than the top-of-the-range version of the iPad Pro. In photo processing the difference is immediately noticeable: the contrast (1,000,000: 1) is extraordinary and the brightness of full-screen peak, now increased to 1000 Nits, is perfect for viewing photos and videos in the best possible way even without completely turning down the lights in the room where you work. Here we put the new display to the test especially in the field of multimedia content creation, but the difference can be seen even just by watching a movie or a Netflix series: the image quality is impeccable and the possibility of having blacks comparable to those of an OLED display makes a difference in the perception of the image. The difference is so obvious that it can even be shown in a photo taken with the iPhone:

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iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

The TrueDepth front camera is also completely new, which retains the functions related to Face ID, but now features an ultra-wide-angle lens and a 12MP sensor. The much wider angle of view (122 °) and the computing power of the M1 chip have allowed Apple to equip the new iPad Pro with the Center Stage function, which keeps the user always within the frame during video calls. . The effect is that of a video camera following the subject, but in reality it is a real-time digital cropping of the image taken by the front camera. The feature is available on FaceTime and most other video conferencing applications, such as Zoom or Skype. It works flawlessly and is perfect for making calls while cooking or cleaning (yes, we did), or to show our interlocutors what is around us by simply moving away from the device. No difference, however, for the rear cameras and the Lidar scanner: in this case the equipment is exactly that of last year.

iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

What needs improvement

iPad Pro 12.9 ”is an excellent and even more powerful device than the 2020 model, which was already appreciated for its excellent performance. Like its predecessor, however, it suffers from a substantial disparity between a hardware equipment that is unrivaled on the market and an operating system (at the moment iPadOS 14.5), which partially limits its enormous potential. The introduction of the M1 chip this year makes it even more evident that a decisive change of pace is needed on the iPad Pro. A total convergence with macOS Big Sur would not make sense, and Apple has repeatedly confirmed that the two worlds will remain complementary but separate for now. However, there is a strong need for a truly “pro” version of the iPad operating system, designed to favor advanced workflows and disconnected from the still strongly monotasking and “serial” vocation of the activities carried out on the device.

iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

In Apple’s intentions, this device speaks to creative professionals who prefer high-focus activities on a single operation: the director who needs a test video feed, the photographer who can equip himself with an excellent quality screen to process. photos on the go as he would in the studio, the creator who can quickly edit his videos to share on social media, and so on. Nevertheless, some limitations of the interface and of the software are not justified even if we consider this potential target of professionals.

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The transfer of very large files such as the one described above, for one thing, is not accompanied by any element of the interface showing the status of the operation on the screen. For example, if you export a movie from LumaFusion or iMovie, the iPad is taken hostage for the entire duration of the operation: moving to another screen, perhaps to browse the web or read emails, would in fact completely block the ‘operation.

Last year iPad OS 14 had introduced general changes to the interface and widgets. The year before, Apple had shown that it was able to listen to user feedback by introducing mouse support, with a hybrid pointing solution that also works very well on the Touch interface. This year at WWDC, we therefore expect to discover a braver iPadOS 15, with updates such as a system export queue, or a dedicated Store for Pro applications. All this perhaps accompanied by the introduction of Apple professional applications such as Logic Pro X or Final Cut, which finally consecrate this extraordinary device to its true nature.

iPad Pro with M1 chip, the preview test

The price

iPad Pro 12.9 “inch has never been the iPad for everyone, it is the tablet for those users who want the non-plus ultra of the Apple experience, or for those already mentioned professionals accustomed to shelling out far more exorbitant prices for cameras. , lenses, lights or monitors for photo processing and video editing. Nonetheless, the addition of this year’s technical innovations makes itself felt in the new price list substantially. The top-of-the-range model, with 2TB of memory, Apple Pencil (135 €) and Magic Keyboard (400 €) as an option and 5G connectivity can cost 3133 €. The good news is that you can settle for a lower configuration (from 256GB or 512GB), an Apple Pencil and a Cover Folio to return to more reasonable prices, between € 1500 and € 2000, adequate in our opinion at the level device technician (however, you have to give up the 16GB of RAM, associated only with 1 or 2TB models).

On the other hand, regardless of the price, the presence of the obsolete and very slow 20W USB-C charger is unjustifiable: it is so underperforming that it cannot keep the iPad Pro in charge during high-intensity operations, such as assembly or export of video in 4K: you can do better. Finally, the presence of the 11 ”model should be noted: it has been updated with the same M1 chip and the new True Depth camera, and costs less. In the face of the more affordable price, however, we unfortunately have to give up the Liquid Retina Display XDR screen, one of the most interesting features of the 12.9 ”model.

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